RBI Monetary Policy 2023 Highlights: Status Quo In Interest Rates For 5th Time; RBI Keeps Rate Unchanged At 6.5%

New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rates unchanged. Announcing the outcome of the 6-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meet, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that the central bank has decided to keep the repo rates unchanged at 6.5 percent. The 3-day MPC meet of the RBI began on December 6. This is the fifth consecutive time of the ongoing fiscal when RBI maintained status quo in its key interest rates.

Consequently, the Standing Deposit Facility rate remains at 6.25% and the Marginal Standing Facility rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75%

RBI had in October announced the outcome of the MPC decision, keeping the repo rates unchanged at 6.5 percent. Announcing the MPC's decision Das said that the committee has unanimously decided to keep the repo rate unchanged.

A year is divided into six bimonthly reviews of the central bank's monetary policy. Additionally, there are out-of-cycle reviews, where the central bank holds extra sessions in urgent situations.

08 December 2023

15:41 PM

RBI Policy 2023 Live Updates: Indian Economy Poised For Stable Inflation 

SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara said, “The RBI policy announcement is a clear affirmation that the Indian economy is poised for a stable inflation and high growth regime with the possibility of growth breaching 7% for the 3rd successive year. The measures regarding liquidity will facilitate better fund management by banks. The enhancement of limits under UPI for education and healthcare will ensure that UPI truly emerges as a public good. Furthermore, moving towards a unified regulatory framework for connected lending and a regulatory framework for web-aggregation of loan products will ensure better pricing, transparency, and enhanced customer centricity”.

15:40 PM

RBI Monetary Policy Live Updates: Small Finance Banks To Benefit

Rajeev Yadav, MD & CEO, Fincare Small Finance Bank said, “The RBI is keeping things steady with a 6.5% repo rate, aiming to control inflation and support economic growth. This is good news for Small Finance Banks, as it provides a stable environment. With a close eye on inflation, expected to be around 5.4%, Small Finance Banks can benefit from a predictable and supportive monetary policy, helping them navigate and grow smoothly."

15:35 PM

RBI Monetary Policy Live Updates: RBI Policy Successful In Disinflation

Ajit Banerjee, Chief Investment Officer, Shriram Life Insurance said "From the RBI Governor's comments, it can be inferred that the MPC has drawn some comfort on the fact that there has been broad-based easing in core inflation, which also indicates that the RBI monetary policy action has been bearing results of successful disinflation. The Governor though has expressed concern on potential inflation risk which can emanate from food inflation which can lead to an uptick in inflation numbers of November and December."

14:07 PM

RBI Monetary Policy Live Updates: Digital Lending Announcements A Welcome Move

Harsh Dugar - Executive Director at Federal Bank said, "Announcement of framework on Web Aggregation of Loan products and setup of Fintech Repository is a welcome move to enable responsible growth in digital lending by ensuring fair practices, customer protection and transparency. Cloud facility for Financial Institutions (FIs) is a step in the right direction for ensuring data privacy, date security and integrity." 

13:09 PM

RBI Policy 2023 Live Updates: Good Policy, Favours Business Continuity

Achala Jethmalani, Economist at RBL Bank said, "This is a good policy as it favours business continuity. We see the Repo rate at 6.50% with nimble approach on liquidity management continuing till March 2024."

13:04 PM

RBI Policy Live Updates: RBI Stance Echoes Market Expectations

Palka Arora Chopra, Director, Master Capital Services Ltd said, "Nifty 50 hits the 21,000 mark for the first time just around the RBI outcome announcement. Indian market movements ahead will depend upon a combination of International macros and domestic macros and earnings."

13:04 PM

RBI Policy Live Updates: Revised GDP Projection Reflects Resilience Of Indian Economy 

Sampath Reddy, Chief Investment Officer, Bajaj Allianz Life said, "The  RBI has revised GDP growth projection upwards to 7% for FY24 compared to previous estimate of 6.5%. This reflects the resilience of the Indian economy despite global uncertainties."

13:02 PM

RBI Policy Live: Stable Interest Rates To Boost Housing Demand

Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, PropTiger.com & Makaan.com said, "This move is particularly significant for India's real estate sector, which is currently experiencing a surge in demand not seen in over a decade. Stable interest rates are poised to boost home purchases and instill confidence in developers, enabling them to present more attractive offerings during the ongoing festive season, extending into the new year. This stability sets a positive tone for the real estate sector as we step into a new phase of growth in 2024.”

12:22 PM

RBI Bi-Monthly Policy Review Live: Inflationary Concerns Remain

Mukesh Kochar, National Head of Wealth at AUM Capital said that though RBI has given its decision on the repo rate, concerns over food inflation still remains

"In line with market expectations, the MPC's decision to maintain interest rates as well as its policy stance is unchanged. Inflation projections were maintained, although the near-term concerns over food inflation have not gone away," he said.

12:21 PM

RBI Policy Review Live: No Surprise From RBI 

Indranil Pan, Chief Economist at YES BANK said that there were no surprises in the policy from the rates and the stance perspective except for the growth estimate, which has been hiked to 7% from 6.5% earlier.

"...While liquidity has taken center-stage in terms of policy announcements over the past two policies, there were no fresh announcements today on the liquidity front. Further, tensions on an imminent OMO was taken off and may be used only if liquidity flows turn out to be humongous in light of the bond market inclusion related flows,” Pan said.

11:29 AM

RBI Policy 2023 Live Updates: Rate Cut In Line With Expectations

Suman Chowdhury, Chief Economist and Head – Research, Acuité Ratings & Research said, "Expectedly, RBI-MPC has persisted with the pause mode on the monetary policy with the repo rate at 6.50% and the stance unchanged at “withdrawal of accommodation”. However, the intensity of hawkishness in the policy statement has clearly subsided and a balance has been brought in. The governor has also highlighted that “over-tightening” can also pose growth risks to the economy which possibly provides a signal that the policy stance may be subject to review in the subsequent MPC meetings."

11:10 AM

RBI Monetary Policy Live Updates: Rate Cut To Boost Sentiments

"A sustained GDP growth forecast and a manageable inflation has helped RBI to maintain the status quo on the key policy rates. The pause on the interest rate is expected to push sentiments further for home buyers, and this continued pause in rates is likely to boost the real estate sector significantly. Expected inflation within the comfortable range will further rekindle the hope of a declining rates regime," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO - India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE

11:06 AM

RBI Monetary Policy Live Updates: Sterling Developers MD Says RBI Decision Aaugurs well for Realty sector

Ramani Sastri, Chairman and MD, Sterling Developers said The pause in policy rate augurs well for the residential real estate sector.

"The economy is looking robust with high investments across businesses in recent times. A recovery in property prices and rise in yields has made investment in residential properties attractive yet again and has been responsible for continued demand in the sector.  The long-term benefits of owning a home have led to sustainable growth in the segment and we see this up-cycle continuing in 2024...Going forward, there can be further uptick in demand with reduction in rates, making it even more enticing for prospective homebuyers and bolster overall market confidence,".

11:05 AM

RBI Monetary Policy Live Updates: Cloud Facility For Financial Sector

RBI is working on establishing a cloud facility for the financial sector in India for this purpose that facility would enhance data security, integrity and privacy. It would also facilitate better scalability and business continuity. The cloud facility is intended to be rolled out in a calibrated fashion over the medium term, said Shaktikanta Das

11:04 AM

RBI Policy Review Live: Setting Up Of Fintech Repository 

"...For better understanding of developments in the Fintech ecosystem and to support this sector, it is proposed to set-up a Fintech Repository. This will be operationalised by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub in April 2024 or earlier. FinTechs would be encouraged to provide relevant information voluntarily to this Repository," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das 

11:03 AM

RBI Policy Live: Regulatory Framework For Web-Aggregation of Loan Products

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has announced that the central bank will lay down a regulatory framework for web-aggregation of loan products. This is expected to result in enhanced customer centricity and transparency in digital lending, he said

10:48 AM

RBI Monetary Policy Review 2023 LIVE: UPI Payment Limits Hiked

In what will come as a huge respite for people using digital transaction, RBI has hiked UPI payment limits for hospitals and educational institutions to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh per transaction

10:43 AM

RBI Monetary Policy Outcome Live: Repo Rate Points

RBI raised the repo rate by 250 basis points cumulatively to 6.5 percent since May 2022 in the fight against inflation, keeping aside the latest rate pauses

10:43 AM

RBI Monetary Policy Review 2023 LIVE: E-mandate For Recurring Payments Raised 

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that e-mandate for recurring payments have been raised to Rs 1 lakh from current Rs 15,000

10:37 AM

Monetary Policy 2023 LIVE: Stable Repo Rates Good For Housing, ANAROCK Chairman

"...This is an extension of the festive bonanza that RBI gave to the homebuyers in its last policy announcement. It gives homebuyers yet another opportunity to make cost-optimized home purchases...Going forward, we may expect the momentum in housing sales to continue in the wake of the unchanged repo rates coupled with the resultant stable home loan rates and positive economic outlook on India," said Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Group

10:27 AM

RBI Policy Live Updates: CPI Inflation Projection

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das  said that consumer price index (CPI) inflation is projected at 5.4% for the current year 2023-24, Q3 to be at 5.6% and Q4 at 5.2%. CPI inflation for Q1 of 2024-25 is projected at 5.2%, Q2 at 4% and Q3 at 4.7%. The risks are evenly balanced

10:18 AM

Monetary Policy 2023 LIVE: GDP Growth Projection Raised

RBI has raised the GDP growth projection for current fiscal from 6.5 percent previously to to 7 percent now, said Governor Shaktikanta Das.

10:16 AM

Monetary Policy 2023 LIVE: Nifty Hits 21,000

Meanwhile the Nifty has hit 21,000 level, Nifty 50 stocks touched 52-week high

10:14 AM

Monetary Policy 2023 LIVE: Withdrawal Of Accommodation

5:1 majority ratio of the Monetary Policy Committee to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation

10:08 AM

RBI Policy 2023 LIVE: Unanimous Decision To Keep Rates Steady

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the Monetary Policy Committee has decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.5% in a unanimous decision. Consequently, the Standing Deposit Facility rate remains at 6.25% and the Marginal Standing Facility rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75%

10:07 AM

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 LIVE Updates: Status Quo In Repo Rates

The RBI MPC has decided to keep the repo rates unchanged at 6.5 percent, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has announced

09:57 AM

Monetary Policy 2023 LIVE: SBI Research Expects No Rate Reversal Cycle till June 24

"We expect the RBI to continue pause stance in upcoming policy. Downward revisions in US non-farm payroll, higher GDP growth expectations, decline in inflation, excess savings still to the tune of $ 1 trillion seem to have pushed back on market expectations for a quick pivot to rate cuts. Domestically, we believe at 6.50%, we are in for a prolonged pause, no rate reversal cycle till Jun’24," said SBI research report

09:45 AM

RBI Policy 2023 LIVE: Markets Open With Moderate Gains

BSE Sensex rose 120.72 points to 69,642.41 in early trade while Nifty edged higher by 46.05 points to 20,947.20

09:33 AM

RBI Policy 2023 LIVE: Hedonova CIO Expects Cautious Stance By RBI

Suman Bannerjee, CIO, Hedonova, a US based Hedge fund, said, "I anticipate the RBI to maintain a cautious stance, keeping the repo rate at 6.5%, despite the high GDP growth of 7.6% in the July-September quarter. There might be a marginal upward revision in the annual growth forecast, with the central bank's continued focus on liquidity management and credit growth."

09:17 AM

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 LIVE: SBI Report Expects Rate Status Quo

"Based on all the scenarios, RBI may keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%, although control in CPI demands the lower repo rate but taking all factors together, this is the time of status quo…AS SUCH, FIRST RATE CUT NOT BEFORE Q2’FY25 (as of now)," SBI report said.

08:47 AM

RBI Policy 2023 LIVE: SBI Research Comments On Repo Rate

The RBI MPC may keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent, said the SBI Research report

08:35 AM

Monetary Policy 2023 LIVE: Silver Factor For MPC

A better-than-expected Q2 GDP growth could be a deciding factor for the outcome of the MPC meeting. Couple of other factors that could be the silver linking are lower global oil prices, and a drop in global bond yield

08:34 AM

RBI Monetary Policy 2023 LIVE: 3-Day MPC Meet

RBI's three-day Monetary Policy Committee meeting began on December 6, with final outcome of the being being scheduled for today