RBI maintains status quo; leaves benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4%

Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent and decided to continue with its accommodative stance in the backdrop of elevated level of inflation.

This is the tenth time in a row that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has maintained the status quo. RBI had last revised its policy repo rate or the short-term lending rate on May 22, 2020 in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.

This is the first MPC meeting after presentation of Budget 2022-23 in Parliament on February 1.

MPC has decided to keep benchmark repurchase (repo) rate at 4 per cent, Das said while announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy review.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate will continue to earn 3.35 per cent interest for banks for their deposits kept with RBI.