RBI to announce its 3rd bi-monthly policy statement for current fiscal today

Mumbai, August 1: Reserve Bank will announce its third bi-monthly policy statement for 2018-19, this afternoon. Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel had begun its 3-day meeting in Mumbai on Monday.

 

In a release, RBI said, Monetary Policy Committee has decided to continue the practice of a three-day meeting format as adopted in the meeting for the Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement of June 6, 2018.

According to the economic research department of country's largest lender SBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will go in for a status quo in key policy rates in its third bi-monthly policy today.

The call is contrary to the expectations of a majority of analysts predicting for another hike given the rise in inflation lately.

The SBI economists have said the only reason why the RBI may go for a hike will be "to satiate the self-fulfilling prophecy of market expectations" of a rate hike to stem the rupee depreciation.

The central bank had voted unanimously for a rate hike of 0.25 percent at the last review in June.