INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
RBI kept repo rat unchanged at 4%.The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that the Reserve Bank remains in
"whatever it takes" mode to revive growth as it kept the GDP growth forecast unchanged at 9.5 per cent for the current financial year
quarter and 6.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of the current financial year.RBI's GDP estimates come in the backdrop of a reduction in
GDP forecast for India amid looming concerns over a possible third wave
Last week, the International Monetary Fund lowered its 2021-22 economic growth forecast for India by 300 basis points to 9.5 per cent from
the earlier 12.5 per cent."The recovery remains uneven across sectors and needs to be supported by all policy makers
The Reserve Bank remains in "whatever it takes" mode, with a readiness to deploy all its policy levers - monetary, prudential or
regulatory," RBI Governor Das said in the Monetary Policy Statement.The RBI governor's comments came after the Reserve Bank of India's
six-member monetary policy committee kept repo rate unchanged at record low of 4 per cent at its seventh straight meeting while maintaining
its "accommodative" stance as the economy is yet to recover from impact of second Covid wave.Commenting on the outlook of the Covid-19
pandemic Governor Das said, "As the COVID-19 second wave ebbs, there is optimism that with adequate pandemic protocols and ramp-up in the
vaccination rate, we should be able to tide over a third wave, if it occurs
As a nation, we should continue to be vigilant and ready to proactively deal with any resurgence of the pandemic with more rapidly
transmissible mutants of the virus, should it happen."
