RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das to hold a press conference at 10 am – What to expect

New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das will address a press conference at 10 am on Friday amidst expectations that he will announce measures to ease the financial stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic..

This will be his third press conference (the other two being on March 27 and April 17). In his last conference the RBI Governor said that the central bank will ensure adequate liquidity in the system. The RBI reduced the reverse repo rate - the rate at which banks park their fund with the central bank - by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent, to encourage banks to lend to the productive sectors of the economy.

RBI has tweeted

Watch out for RBI Governor @DasShaktikanta live address at 10:00 am today (May 22, 2020) #rbitoday #rbigovernor

YouTube: https://t.co/JgSypUF6AO

Twitter:@RBI@RBIsayshttps://t.co/X2ON7Fqu16 — ReserveBankOfIndia (@RBI) May 22, 2020

As per media reports the RBI governor is expected to announce an extension of the loan moratorium for a few more months following the extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 31. It may be recalled that on March 27, 2020 the RBI had permitted lending institutions (LIs) to grant a moratorium of three months on payment of current dues falling between March 1 and May 31, 2020. 

Das may also announce continuation of the liquidity support measures for NBFCs and small industrial units. In his last presser, the RBI Governor had said that in order to ease the liquidity position at the level of individual institutions, the LCR requirement for Scheduled Commercial Banks is being brought down from 100 per cent to 80 per cent with immediate effect. The requirement shall be gradually restored back in two phases – 90 per cent by October 1, 2020 and 100 per cent by April 1, 2021.

The RBI Governor may also make comments on the announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the Rs 20 lakh crore Atma Nirbhar Bharat package.