RBI policy highlights: Prioritising inflation over growth, says Das

RBI Monetary policy updates: As expected by market participants, RBI retained status quo on key interest rates. Governor Shaktikanta Das said. "Approach needs to cautious, but proactive". Stay tu

10:07 AM

RBI MPC committee in today’s policy announcement, decides to keep Repo Rate unchanged at 4%

RBI  MPC committee in today’s policy announcement, decides to keep Repo Rate unchanged at 4%

10:06 AM

RBI has responded with bold, unconventional, resolute measures to uphold economy in pandemic: RBI governor

RBI has responded with bold, unconventional, resolute measures to uphold economy in pandemic: RBI governor

 

10:03 AM

RBI Monetary policy LIVE updates: Shaktikant Das' address begins

RBI Monetary policy LIVE updates: Shaktikant Das' address begins

10:02 AM

RBI Monetary policy LIVE updates: Shaktikanta Das' to begin shortly

RBI Monetary policy LIVE updates: Shaktikanta Das' to begin shortly

9:49 AM

Since October 2019, RBI has been continuing with the accommodative stance to revive growth

Since October 2019, RBI has been saying that it will “continue with the accommodative stance as long as it is necessary to revive growth”.

 

9:46 AM

Will RBI shift away from accommodative stance?

“There is a reasonable likelihood that the RBI will take its first reluctant step towards policy rate normalisation by changing stance from ‘accommodative’ to ‘neutral’, but we expect it to balance it with dovish guidance,” global research firm Nomura said.

 

“We expect a policy pivot in June and continue to expect 100bp in cumulative repo rate hikes in 2022.”

9:43 AM

Guv Shaktikanta Das to announce first MPC policy for FY23 at 10 am

Guv Shaktikanta Das to announce first MPC policy for FY23 at 10 am

9:32 AM

RBI Policy: Key things to watch out for

Interest Rates & Stance

Outlook revision

Government Borrowing

9:22 AM

RBI MPC LIVE: RBI may raise inflation forecast, says HSBC

“In the April meeting, we expect the RBI to raise its inflation forecast and prepare markets for future changes via a revised forward guidance,” Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC Holdings Plc, has been quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “Rate changes will likely follow in subsequent meetings.”

9:19 AM

Market may open with small gains; RBI's policy decision eyed

SGX Nifty:

 

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 11 points at the opening bell.

Investors are awaiting the RBI's policy decision today amid expectations that the central bank might retain status quo on interest rate. In the previous meeting, MPC left the key policy rates unchanged.

 

Global markets:

 

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading lower on Friday after a comeback on Wall Street as investors continued to digest the Fed's plans to fight inflation.

 

US stocks rebounded on Thursday, following back-to-back losing sessions, as investors reassessed the Federal Reserve's latest plans to tighten monetary policy and combat rising inflation.

 

Investors on Thursday continued to monitor the Ukraine-Russia war, as Ukraine asks NATO for more weapons and the EU and U.S. weigh a ban on Russian coal. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate passed a bill banning Russian oil and gas imports.

 

Domestic markets:

 

Back home, the key equity benchmarks extended losses for the third session on Thursday. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 575.46 points or 0.97% at 59,034.95. The Nifty 50 index shed 168.10 points or 0.94% at 17,639.55.

 

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 5,009.62 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,774.70 crore in the Indian equity market on 7 April, provisional data showed.

9:08 AM

Arvind Panagariya asks Niti Aayog to use exchange rate as policy instrument

"The Reserve Bank of India’s work is cut out here...The right instrument to use right now is the exchange rate,” said Arvind Panagariya, the former vice chairman of Niti Aayog, in an interview with TV channel ET Now. The Ukraine war "is a shock that happened externally and therefore we need to support our exports and also provide some ability to compete against imports because the immediate impact of these things is going to be on the current account," he said.

8:26 AM

Monetary policy could nudge but not rock the boat

The RBI, if it goes for a “neutral” stance in its April policy, will provide the MPC with more operational flexibility to move in case the inflationary pressures intensify. However, the RBI might opt for a more calibrated modification of the forward guidance by altering the relative weights of growth and inflation, rather than an outright change in stance to “neutral”, writes Samiran Chakraborty.

 

8:18 AM

RBI likely to consider open-market operations

Expectations are for the RBI to consider measures such as open-market operations or Operation Twists -- selling shorter-dated notes and buying longer-maturity bonds to keep yields down -- to support the market amid record debt supply. It employed both tools during the height of the pandemic, Bloomberg reported. 

 

8:17 AM

RBI may extend rate pause, revise inflation outlook: Survey

All economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the Reserve Bank of India’s six-member monetary policy committee to hold the benchmark repurchase rate at 4 per cent Friday, while just four out of 29 polled as of Thursday morning see a hike in the reverse repurchase rate -- a tool the RBI uses to remove excess cash from lenders.

 

8:01 AM

RBI likely to hike inflation forecast, say economists

With the pump prices of petrol and diesel going up by Rs 8 in less than two weeks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to increase its inflation forecast from 4.5 per cent for the current fiscal year, said all 10 participants of a poll conducted by Business Standard earlier this week.