The Reserve Bank of India on Friday retained its growth projection for the financial year 2021-’22 at 9.5%.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the real Gross Domestic Product growth is projected at 7.9% in the second quarter, 6.8% in the third quarter and 6.1% in the fourth of the current financial year. He said that the growth for the first quarter of the financial year 2022-’23 is predicted at 17.2%.
The central bank also kept the key lending rate or the repo rate unchanged at 4%. It also did not change the reverse repo or the borrowing rate kept at 3.35%.
The repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends to its clients generally against government securities. The reverse repo rate allows banks to deposit funds with the central bank and earn interest on it.
On Friday, Das said that monetary policy stance would remain accommodative as long as it was necessary to revive and sustain growth and mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic while ensuring that inflation remains within the target.
This is the eight consecutive time that the central bank has maintained status quo on the repo and the reverse repo rates.
Das also said that the inflation in the consumer price index was projected at 5.3% for 2022-’23 financial year. It was expected to grow at 5.2% in the first quarter of the next financial year. The consumer price index is an indicator for rise in prices.
Meanwhile, Das proposed to increase the Immediate Payment Service transaction limit to Rs 5 lakh from the current limit of Rs 2 lakh, according to PTI.
The Immediate Payment Service, or the IMPS, is an instant inter-bank electronic funds transfer system available on an individual’s netbanking account and mobile phones. The service is available all year, even during bank holidays.
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