Going beyond policy statement, RBI gives guidance

A change in stance (to neural) or even a rate cut is not ruled out next year, writes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.

The fifth bimonthly monetary policy statement of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had no surprise as the central bank’ action-- or, the lack of it--has been on the expected line but going beyond the statement, for the first time, governor Urjit Patel and deputy governor Viral Acharya have given guidance to the markets.

At the post-policy interaction with the media, Patel has said that if the upside risks to inflation do not materialise, there is a possibility of space opening up for appropriate RBI action. This clearly means that the Indian central bank is not ruling out a change