Monetary Policy: RBI Keeps Repo Rate Unchanged At 6.5%; Check GDP And CPI Inflation Forecast

On Repo Rate: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the RBI has kept repo rate unchanged at 6.5%. MPC voted to remain unambiguously focused on durable alignment of inflation to target while supporting growth.

On GDP: Real GDP growth in Q2 seen at 7%, Q3 at 7.4%, Q4 at 7.4%, Q1 FY26 at 7.3%.

On Inflation: CPI inflation seen at 4.1% in Q2, 4.8% in Q3, 4.2% in Q4, 4.3% in Q1 FY26.

For all the latest updates follow our RBI Monetary Policy Live Blog here.

The Monetary Policy Committee or MPC of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) chaired by Governor Shaktikanta Das began its 3-day MPC meeting on Monday, Oct. 7, to discuss the fourth bi-monthly monetary policy for the fiscal year 2024-25.

MPC will deliberate on key areas like interest rates, inflation, growth outlook and oil prices before making the necessary announcements during its press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

This will be the second MPC meet after the Union Budget which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented on July 23 and will be the first after the appointment of three new external members to the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee. The panel reconstitution was done on Oct. 1.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the decision of the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 10:00 a.m.

The live streaming of the Monetary Policy announcement will be available on our NDTV Profit YouTube channel here.

MPC outcome will also be streamed on RBI's official YouTube channel here. 

You can also tap on the YouTube video below to watch RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das' press conference live, which begins at 10 a.m.

Viewers can watch the RBI Governor's press conference live on the NDTV Profit TV channel or tune into our Live TV section on the NDTV Profit website.

You can follow our live blog below for all the latest updates from the RBI Monetary Policy press conference.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to maintain the current benchmark interest rate during its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

Only three of the 13 economists polled by Bloomberg expect the MPC to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points, with the remaining expecting a status quo for the tenth straight meeting. The benchmark lending rate is at 6.5%.

According to Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economic advisor at the State Bank of India, the first cut and change in stance is likely in December 2024 or February 2025,

However, Nomura stated that it expects the October meeting to mark the start of monetary policy inflection.

The last hike in the repo rate happened in February 2023 when it was increased to 6.5%, and since then, it has remained unchanged in the subsequent nine bi-monthly monetary policy reviews.

On Oct. 1, the government appointed three new external members, including Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya, and Nagesh Kumar, to the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee. These new members are replacing Mumbai professor Ashima Goyal, IIM-Ahmedabad professor Jayanth Varma, and New Delhi senior adviser Shashanka Bhide, whose tenure ends on Friday. The other members of the committee include Governor Shaktikanta Das, Deputy Governor Michael Patra, and Executive Director Rajiv Ranjan.

Also Read: All You Need To Know About The New External Members of RBI MPC

India's Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the benchmark repo rate unchanged but was ready to act as and when needed, amid sticky inflation at home and banking crisis elsewhere.

Key takeaways from RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das' speech:

• The decision to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% was unanimous.

• The standing deposit facility rate pegged 25 bps below the repo rate, is at 6.25%.

• The marginal standing facility rate, which is 25 bps above the repo rate, is at 6.75%.

The committee had first raised rates by 40 basis points at an unscheduled meeting in May last year, followed by 50 basis points each in June, August and September. It raised rates by a further 35 basis points in December last year, followed by a hike of 25 basis points in February this year.

The MPC decided with 5:1 majority to remain focused on the withdrawal of accommodation, Das said.

Here's how the repo rate has changed over last 22 years.

The next RBI Monetary Policy Committee meetings for FY 2024-25 will be held on the following dates:

• Dec. 4-6, 2024

• Feb. 5-7, 2025

The central bank holds six bi-monthly meetings annually. Previous meetings in this financial year took place in April, June, and August.