The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday went against majority expectations and kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.15 percent in its fifth bi-monthly policy review of the year.
A large number of economists exuded confidence that RBI's six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would lower the key interest rate once again as growth in the second quarter reached a six-year low of 4.5 percent.
However, the central bank already cut the repo rate at which banks lend from the RBI, five times since January without any improvement in growth. It seems that the central bank will now explore other options to revive growth.
All six members of the RBI's MPC voted against the cutbut maintained an accommodative stance, allowing it to act whenever necessary.
The central bank also lowered its GDP growth forecastfor the entire year to 5 percent from 6.1 percent, which is another setback.
As per a statement released after the announcement,RBI said, "GDP growth for Q2 turned out to be significantly lower thanprojected. Various high-frequency indicators suggest that domestic and externaldemand conditions have remained weak. Based on the early results, the businessexpectations index of the Reserve Bank's industrial outlook survey indicates amarginal pickup in business sentiments in Q4."
RBI also added that overall sentiments are muted inseveral key sectors including manufacturing and construction. It expressedconcern over contraction in the output of eight core industries as well.
Citing a sudden spike in inflation, it sharply increased its inflation projection from 4.7 to 5.1 percent after retail inflation jumped to a 16-month high of 4.62 percent in October.
