RBI hikes repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%

The RBI raises rates after 4.5 years as crude price surges

June 06, 2018 03:00 pm | Updated December 04, 2021 10:44 pm IST - Mumbai

A view of RBI headquarters in Mumbai. File

A view of RBI headquarters in Mumbai. File

The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday increased the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%.

The MPC arrived at the unanimous decision as the outlook for inflation had become ‘uncertain’ following a surge in international crude oil prices.

This is the first rate hike in four-and-a-half years; the last was in January 2014.

Interest rates may go up

Banks may have anticipated the RBI’s move as major lenders such as the State Bank of India, the ICICI Bank and the Punjab National Bank had raised their lending rates last week. While banks that have already raised rates may not increase them immediately, those yet to act are likely to announce revisions.

The RBI increased its inflation projection to 4.8%-4.9% in the first half (H1) of the financial year and 4.7% in the second half, as compared with 4.7-5.1% in H1 and 4.4% for H2. “A major upside risk to the baseline inflation path in the April resolution has materialised, viz., 12% increase in the price of Indian crude basket, which was sharper, earlier than expected and seems to be durable,” the central bank said, adding that the Indian crude basket surged to $74 a barrel from $66 since the last policy meeting in April.

“Crude oil prices have been volatile and this imparts considerable uncertainty to the inflation outlook — both on the upside and the downside,” RBI said.

Consumer price index-based inflation, or retail inflation, rose to 4.6% in April from 4.28% in March.

The central bank also observed that inflation expectations were on the rise, evident from its survey of households.

While the central bank has increased the inflation projection, it has maintained the ‘neutral’ stance for monetary policy, meaning interest rates can move either way.

“It is not conflicting at all… a neutral stance leaves all options open and other central banks also do the same,” RBI governor Urjit Patel said in the post-policy media interaction, asked if an increase in inflation projection along with a neutral stance sent conflicting signals. “The committee felt there was enough uncertainty for us to keep the neutral stance and yet respond to the risk to inflation targets that has emerged in recent months,” Dr. Patel said.

The outlook for GDP growth for 2018-19 has been retained at 7.4% as projected in the April policy. GDP growth is projected to be in the range of 7.5-7.6% in H1 and 7.3-7.4% in H2, with risks evenly balanced, the RBI said.

Market participants said they anticipate more rate increases in the coming months due to further risks to inflation.

“This is not likely to be the end of the hike cycle as domestic price risks such as MSP hikes and firm global commodity prices would warrant further monetary action.” said Abheek Barua, chief economist, HDFC Bank.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.