Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated on Saturday that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent move to raise key policy interest rates is part of a globally coordinated event by central banks.
Ms Sitharaman stated at a media gathering that the RBI’s decision to raise policy rates did not surprise the government.
The rate hike came as a surprise since it occurred between two monetary policy reviews, she explained.
On May 4, the RBI raised the policy repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.40 per cent. In addition, the central bank announced a 0.50 per cent rise in the cash reserve ratio (CRR).
The decision was made during an emergency meeting of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
The MPC resolved to convene an off-cycle meeting on the 2nd and 4th of May 2022 to examine the emerging inflation-growth dynamics and the effect of developments after the MPC meeting on April 6-8, 2022, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said when the rate rise was announced.
The repo rate is the rate at which the RBI loans banks short-term money.
The standing deposit facility (SDF) rate has been reduced to 4.15 per cent, while the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate have been reduced to 4.65 per cent.