RBI Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: RBI Hikes Repo Rates by 25 Basis Points to 6.50%, Loan EMIs to go Up

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: RBI's MPC has decided 4:2 vote to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodative policy.

New Delhi: In a move that will raise borrowing costs for corporates and individuals even further, the RBI Monetary Policy Committee led by Governor Shaktikanta Das hiked Repo Rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 percent on Wednesday.

Repo is the rate at which Reserve Bank of India lends funds to commercial banks when needed. It is a tool that the central bank uses to control inflation. This is the third hike since the beginning of the current financial year, taking the rate is back to pre-pandemic levels in order to tame the inflationary pressure.

The six-member Monetary Policy Committee headed by Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das started deliberations on the bi-monthly policy review on Monday. 

Governor Shaktikanta Das said that 4 out of 6 members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted in favour of the rate hike.

Stay Tuned For Live Updates on RBI Monetary Policy

08 February 2023

16:26 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023: RBI Rate Hike in Consonance With Expectations

Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI said, "“RBI decision to hike the rate was in consonance with the expectations. Continuing strong job data from Fed has made monetary policy making a delicate balancing act for emerging economies central banks. Beyond the rate hike, there are a bouquet of policies that attend the micro structure of the market. The proposal to address the issue of penal charges on services will bring a rule based regulation. The initiatives on climate risk will improve compliance, capital budgeting and financial disclosures for banks. Providing further impetus to TReDS platform in terms of further augmentation of activities and allowing lending and borrowing government securities will add depth and aid price discoveries across markets.”

15:07 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023: No Sweeping Impact on Real Estate Sector 

“RBI’s decision to hike the repo rate by 25 basis points may be one of the last in the ongoing rate hike cycle, as we have witnessed inflation moving toward a comfortable zone. We do not expect any sweeping impact on the real estate sector or housing sales for now, given the demand has remained upbeat and the recent budget announcements will spur the growth momentum," Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO - India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE said.

15:05 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023: RBI Stance to Strengthen Medium-Term Growth Prospects

Sachchidanand Shukla, Chief Economist - Mahindra Group said, "The policy as exactly what the doctor ordered and is in line with expectations. Core inflation remains sticky and larger global central banks continue to raise rates and hence the RBI stance as well as the rate move, which may be the last in this cycle, to break core inflation persistence and contain second-round effects will strengthen the medium-term growth prospects of the Indian economy."

15:04 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023: Macro-Economic Challenges Still Continue

The RBI hiked repo rate by 25bps today and maintained its stance of ‘withdrawal of accommodation’, this was largely on expected lines and also in line with consensus expectations. The macro-economic challenges still continue and core inflation remains sticky. However, the resilience of the Indian economy, firming up of urban consumption demand and improving rural demand reinforce our optimism on the growth front and we expect steady demand for gold loans. Further, given the various measures announced in the Union Budget recently, including the rise in capex by 33 percent, demand is further expected to increase. RBI measures to expand the scope of TReDS will improve the cash flows to MSMEs, this coupled with recent announcement in the budget towards the MSMEs will surely give support to MSME sector which were most impacted during the pandemic. We do believe that the large part of the RBI rate hike cycle is behind us, unless inflation flares up unexpectedly. Our borrowing cost may rise slightly going ahead but we are confident of maintaining our margins at the current levels," said George Alexander Muthoot, MD, Muthoot Finance 

12:41 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023: Rate Hike as Expected; Demand May Not Be Impacted

Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India said, “The 25bps hike in REPO rate announced by the RBI is a well-balanced approach between handling inflation and economic growth. This was expected by the industry as inflation rate has remained above the tolerance band, though it has softened in the last few months. This hike will further help moderate inflation in the economy. A 25bps hike in Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) and Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate respectively to withdraw surplus liquidity would further support in stabilizing inflation in the economy."

12:12 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023: Expect a Long Pause From RBI 

Amar Ambani, Group President & Head – Institutional Equities, YES Securities said, "The central bank maintained its policy stance on the withdrawal of accommodation, deviating from the market expectations of a change in stance. RBI emphasized that further monetary policy action is warranted given that core inflation remains sticky and though headline inflation has moderated, it will continue to remain above the 4% target. RBI projections state an average CPI of 5.7% for Q4 and 6.5% for FY23. For FY24, RBI sees inflation averaging 5.3%, versus the market consensus of 5%. On growth, RBI portrayed a resilient economy, with GDP growth projections for FY23 upgraded to 7% from the prior estimate of 6.8%. For FY24, RBI remains optimistic at 6.4% versus the market consensus of 6%."

12:10 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023: Expect Prolonged Pause on Rates 

Upasna Bhardwaj, Chief Economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "The MPC delivers a hike in line with our expectations given the need to anchor inflationary expectations. Further the reinforcement of need for action as inflation remains above medium term target of 4% signals the MPCs focus on inflation. Going ahead as inflation begins to moderate we expect real rates to reach near pre pandemic soon and hence the need for incremental rate hikes remain limited. We expect a prolonged pause on rates with a likely shift in stance in the coming April policy."

12:10 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023: Rate Hike Was Expected

“The 25 basis points rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India today has been in line with the consensus expectations. We, however, felt the possibility of a rate pause this time around was at least 50%. On the inflation front, the major softening in India post April 2022 was there main reason for us to expect a standstill in this policy. On the contrary, the Reserve Bank of India seems to have been more bothered about the high and sticky core inflation for more than a year. More importantly, the continued rate hikes by the Bank of England, the ECB, and the US Federal Reserves and the implications of these in the foreign exchange market influenced the decision of the Reserve Bank of India to go for another rate hike. Unless there is an unexpected flare in inflation, we would expect the Reserve Bank of India to maintain unchanged policy rate for the remainder of 2023. This would be positive both for the debt and equity markets,” said Sujan Hajra, Chief Economist and Executive Director, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers

11:32 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: RBI Rate Hike Not Surprising

Naveen Kulkarni , Chief Investment Officer, Axis Securities PMS said, "The RBI’s 25 bps repo rate hike was not surprising. The rate hike is a reflection of the easing inflation, which has been below the regulator’s tolerance band with a moderation of 105 bps in the last two months. There could be another rate hike in the coming months before a pause on the interest rates. The RBI has increased its growth estimates to 7% vs 6.8% earlier for FY23, while FY24 growth is likely to remain at 6.4%. Similarly, inflation might continue to tread downward with a revised estimate of 6.5% for FY23 vs 6.7% earlier and improve further to 5.3% for FY24. As per the latest print on 27 Jan’23, while credit growth was healthy on a YoY basis, it de-grew marginally on a fortnightly basis, probably hinting at a reluctance to borrow at higher rates. However, easing inflationary pressures should support credit growth. While NIMs have moved with a positive bias so far for most banks, with deposit rates now catching up, banks are likely to witness margin compression going into FY24, despite healthy credit growth."

11:31 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: Rate Hike in Line With Expectations

Anu Aggarwal,  Head Corporate Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "The RBI hikes policy rates by 25 bps, which is in line with our expectations. It's a clear indication from the governor that the central bank's first priority is inflation. While we have seen some capex from corporate India, a decisive action will be easier if the rate cycle stabilises and demand continues to remain bouyant."

11:29 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: RBI Rate Hike in Line With Market Expectations

Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer, Acuité Ratings & Research said, “RBI MPC has hiked its benchmark repo rate by 25 bps in line with market expectations but importantly, has continued its stance at “withdrawal of accommodation”, maintaining a hawkish tone in its statement. There is no indication of any pause in the rate hike and the likelihood of further moderate hikes in the repo rate remains, depending on the upcoming data prints."

11:28 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: RBI Pushes Interest Rates to a Seven Year High

Apurva Sheth, Head of Market Perspectives & Research, SAMCO Securities said, “RBI hiked the policy rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.5% which is a seven-year high. Interest rates were at this high level last in 2018 and 2016. The market seems to be slightly disappointed because the RBI has continued to maintain its withdrawal of accommodation stance as against an expectation of a shift to a neutral stance. With interest rates at a seven-year high and inflation under the upper tolerance limit RBI will now keep an eye on global central banks actions and is expected to take its next steps.” 

10:38 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: Balanced, Non-Committal, Data-Dependent

"The RBI MPC expectedly increased the policy rate by 25bps with a balanced tone, albeit non-committal and data dependent, partly as inflation is still around the 6% upper tolerance mark, even though it is poised to ease," Madhavi Arora, Lead Economist, Emkay Global Financial Services on RBI MPC said

10:37 IST

Rbi Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: Monetary Policy to Remain Agile, Alert to Inflation

Rate hike of 25 bps is considered appropriate at this juncture, monetary policy to remain agile, alert to inflation: says RBI Governor

10:36 IST

RBI projects retail inflation at 6.5 pc for 2022-23; 5.3 pc for next fiscal

10:36 IST

Reserve Bank projects GDP growth at 6.4 percent for 2023-24

10:35 IST

Retail inflation expected to average 5.6 percent in Q4: RBI Guv

10:35 IST

RBI to maintain strong vigil on evolving economic situation: RBI Guv

10:34 IST

Core inflation remains sticky

10:32 IST

Weak global demand, current economic environment would be a drag on domestic growth: RBI Governor

10:32 IST

Amid volatile global developments, Indian economy remains resilient: RBI Governor

10:31 IST

Weak global demand, current economic environment would be a drag on domestic growth: RBI Governor

10:17 IST

Rbi Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: World Economy Does Not Look So Grim Now

World economy does not look so grim now, inflation coming down: RBI Governor

10:16 IST

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: Unprecedented Events in Last 3 Yrs Put to Test Monetary Policy

"Unprecedented events of the last three years have put to test monetary policy across the world. Emerging market economies are facing sharp tradeoffs between supporting economic activity and controlling inflation while preserving policy credibility," said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das

10:08 IST

Rbi Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: MPC Decided 4:2 Vote to Hike Rates

RBI's MPC decided 4:2 vote to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodative policy

10:07 IST

Rbi Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: Repo Rate Hiked by 25bps

RBI Monetary Policy Committee led by Governor Shaktikanta Das hiked Repo Rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 percent 

09:49 IST

Rbi Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: Nothing New in Fed Chief's Speech

“Fed Chief Powell has simply reiterated that fact which the market already knows. He has mentioned that the further course of interest rates will be data dependent. Jobs report and inflation are the two main deciding factors for interest rates. Job market is still overheated but inflation is on its way down and I expect it to be significantly lower in second half of the year. Fed Chief has tried to maintain a hawkish tone but the market has already factored in that a peak in interest rates coming soon,” Apurva Sheth, Head of Market Perspectives & Research, SAMCO Securities

09:28 IST

Rbi Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: Probability of Vote Split

Some experts are saying that they can't also rule out a possibility of a split in the MPC on the rate

09:01 IST

Rbi Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: Probability of a Pause Too

The probability of a pause has also increased due to the last two monthly inflation figures

09:00 IST

Rbi Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: 25 bps Hike Likely

There could be a 25 bps hike or perhaps even lower hike in the repo rate, experts say

08:59 IST

Rbi Monetary Policy 2023 Live Updates: Modest Hike Likely

Analysts believe that there is a higher likelihood of a modest hike in the repo rate in today’s RBI policy

08:58 IST

This will be first policy meeting of RBI MPC in the Calendar Year 23

08:57 IST

Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer, Acuite Ratings & Research has said that the MPC Committee decision is unlikely to be based on consensus