RBI Monetary Policy February 2024: 6 Major Announcements By Central Bank You Want To Know

RBI has released its Statement on various developmental and regulatory policy measures relating to Financial Markets, Regulations; and Payment Systems and Fintech.

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday announced to keep the repo rates unchanged at 6.5 percent for the sixth time in a row. This is the first bi-monthly policy following presentation of Interim Budget 2024-25 on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Maintaining, 'tight vigil on inflation' as RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das spoke out the details of RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision, the RBI has projected real GDP growth of 7 percent for FY'25.

Here Are 6 Major Announcements Made By Central Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das That You Want To Know

1. Review of the Regulatory Framework for Electronic Trading Platforms

RBI will review the regulatory framework for ETPs. The revised regulatory framework will be issued separately for public feedback.

2. Hedging of Gold Price Risk OTC Market in the IFSC

RBI has no decided to also allow them to hedge the price of gold in the over the counter (OTC) segment in the IFSC. This will provide resident entities more flexibility and easier access to derivative products in hedging their exposure to gold prices. The related instructions are being issued separately.

3. KFS for Retail and MSME Loans & Advances

RBI has decided to mandate all regulated entities (REs) to provide the ‘Key Fact Statement’ (KFS) to the borrowers for all retail and MSME loans. Providing critical information about the terms of the loan agreement, including all-inclusive interest cost, shall greatly benefit the borrowers in making an informed decision.

4. Enhancing the Robustness of AePS

Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS), operated by NPCI, enables customers to perform digital payment transactions in assisted mode. To enhance the security of AePS transactions, it is proposed to streamline the onboarding process, including mandatory due diligence, for AePS touchpoint operators, to be followed by banks

5. Principle-based Framework for Authentication of Digital Payment Transactions

Governor Das said, though RBI has not prescribed any particular Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA), the payments ecosystem has largely adopted SMS-based One Time Password (OTP). With innovations in technology, alternative authentication mechanisms have emerged in recent years. To facilitate the use of such mechanisms for digital security, it is proposed to adopt a principle-based “Framework for authentication of digital payment transactions”. Instructions in this regard will be issued separately.

6. Introduction of Programmability and Offline Functionality in CBDC Pilot

The CBDC Retail (CBDC-R) pilot currently enables Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) transactions using Digital Rupee wallets provided by pilot banks. It is now proposed to enable additional use cases using programmability and offline functionality, said Governor Das.