Monetary policy review: RBI likely to maintain its pause on rates

In a move that had surprised the markets, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had unanimously chosen to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.15 per cent in the December 2019 policy review, given the lack of clarity on the evolving growth-inflation outlook, incomplete transmission of past monetary actions, and the growth-supportive measures that may be introduced in the Union Budget for FY21. 

The MPC had sharply revised its CPI inflation forecast for H2FY20 to 5.1-4.7 per cent from 3.5-3.7 per cent, with risks broadly balanced. The subsequent inflation data was unpleasant, with a food price induced hardening of the CPI inflation