ZCZC
BCN-33
IMF-RBI-BANK-RATE-INFLATION
IMF welcomes RBI decision to hike interest rates
Washington, Jun 8, 2018 (BSS/PTI) – The IMF today welcomed as an
appropriate step the decision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to increase
the repo rate by 25 basis point to 6.25 per cent amid rising inflation and
additional upside risks due to higher oil prices.
In its second bi-monthly monetary policy of the current fiscal, the Reserve
Bank of India on Wednesday hiked the key short-term lending rate by 0.25 per
cent after a gap of about four and half years. The current repo rate stands
at 6.25 per cent.
“We welcome the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to increase the policy rate
by 25 basis points,” International Monetary Fund Spokesman Gerry Rice told
reporters during his bi-weekly news conference here.
In the context of rising inflation and additional upside risks due to higher
oil prices, exchange rate depreciation and other domestic factors, the IMF
thinks that this was an appropriate step by the RBI, Rice said.
He was responding to a question on the decision of the RBI to increase the
interest rate for the first time in the last four years.
It was in January 2014 that the RBI had increased the repo rate to eight per
cent to keep the inflation under check.
BSS/PTI/HR/1400