RBI Governor LIVE: RBI hikes rates by 40 basis points in an unscheduled meet, attempts to tame inflation

RBI Governor LIVE: Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das today said that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met in an off-cycle meet and voted unanimously to hike the policy repo rate by 40 basis points, taking it to 4.40%. He added that global inflation is expected to remain high in April and RBI’s policy actions are an attempt to curb inflation and maintain growth. He added that MPC decided to hike the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4.5%. CPI inflation climbed to 6.95 per cent in March while WPI (wholesale price index) inflation touched 14.55 per cent in the same month. Economists and market experts have pointed out that the central bank needs to hike rates by 50 basis points in the upcoming June monetary policy meeting. Shaktikanta Das’ decision comes just ahead of the US Federal Reserve policy meeting, where the Jerome Powell-led FOMC is expected to initiate the rate hike cycle.