Business Standard

Ahead of monetary policy, Urjit Patel holds meeting with Arun Jaitley

Currently, the key rate at which the RBI lends to banks is 6%

rbi, urjit patel

Urjit Patel, Governor, RBI during a press conference announcing the RBI monetary policy in Mumbai on Wednesday | Photo: Kamlesh Pednekar

Press Trust of India New Delhi

Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel held a meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and is believed to have discussed the current economic situation, ahead of the first bi-monthly monetary policy review next week, according to sources.

This would be the first monetary policy announcement for 2018-19.

Patel held a meeting with Jaitley on Thursday, sources said without divulging specific details.

Pressure has been mounting on the RBI to cut interest rate in the wake of declining retail inflation and the need to fuel growth momentum.

However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would have to do a tightrope walk as globally interest rates are moving northwards, experts opined.

 

Currently, the key rate at which the RBI lends to banks is 6 per cent.

ALSO READ: RBI may hold rates for now but likely to cut rates in future: BS Poll

The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), is to meet on April 4 and 5 to decide the monetary policy.

The industry has been pitching for a cut in interest rate.

The retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which the RBI factors in while deciding policy rate, fell to a 4-month low of 4.44 per cent in February. It was at 5.07 per cent in January.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: Mar 31 2018 | 12:59 AM IST

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