Ceylon Today, FT, 3rd August 2017. India's central bank has cut interest rates in line with forecasts in August 2017, in its first easing of monetary policy since last September on the back of a softening inflation outlook.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) trimmed its repo rate from 6.25 per cent to 6 per cent this month, and said it was keeping its overall policy stance in 'neutral' gear. A fall in inflation has given the RBI more move to manoeuvre on its benchmark interest rate which is now at its lowest since 2010. Yesterday's cut was also the second time policy had been eased under central bank Governor Urjit Patel who joined the RBI last August, replacing Raghuram Rajan, a former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund.
India's monetary policy committee said the threat of rising inflation had "reduced or not materialized" in recent months but that policymakers would keep a close eye on......incoming data on price pressures. The RBI targets headline inflation of 4 per cent, within a 2 percentage point range. The rupee gained against the dollar on the decision, and is up 0.44 per cent to Rs 63.805 at publication time.