RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.5 pc
Mumbai (PTI): The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday hit the pause button and decided to keep key benchmark policy rate at 6.5 per cent even as inflation is trending above its tolerance level.
The rate hike has been paused after six consecutive rate increases aggregating to 250 basis points since May 2022.
Announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will not hesitate to take action in the future.
While keeping the interest rate intact, Das said core inflation remains sticky.
Core inflation generally refers to inflation in manufactured goods.
Retail inflation in February stood at 6.44 per cent compared to 6.52 per cent in the previous month. MPC takes into account retail inflation numbers for setting the interest rates.
However, inflation is expected to moderate in the current fiscal. Many institutions, including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, have predicted that inflation would cool down to about 5 per cent this financial year.
For the next fiscal, RBI projected a growth rate of 6.5 per cent as compared to 6.4 per cent estimated in February. In the latest Economic Survey of the finance ministry, growth was projected at 6-6.8 per cent for 2023-24.
Last month, the US Federal Reserve announced another 25 basis points interest rate hike to tame inflation.
With the hike, the Fed has increased the federal funds rate from nearly zero in March 2022 to a range of 4.75-5 per cent.
The European Central Bank and Bank of England have also hiked their benchmark rates.
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Body of Bihar Police personnel found hanging in barracks in Patna
Patna (PTI): The body of a Bihar Police personnel was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in his barracks here, a senior officer said on Sunday.
Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Kartikeya Sharma said a havildar with Bihar State Armed Police-1, popularly known as "Gorkha battalion", died allegedly by suicide as he had been suffering from some ailment.
The deceased left behind "two suicide notes", one in Hindi and the other in his native language Nepali.
"From the suicide notes, it appears that Navraj Sunar, the deceased havildar, had been suffering from some ailment which had caused him much mental anguish and may have driven him to take the extreme step," the SSP said.
The body was being sent to the native village of the deceased in Nepal after a post-mortem examination, while further investigations were on, with forensic experts inspecting the site of the incident.
