RBI Keeps Repo Rate at 5.50%; Dovish Pause Signals Growth Support: Dr. Poonam Tandon

Dr. Poonam Tandon, Chief Investment Officer at IndiaFirst Life:

“The RBI unanimously voted to keep the Repo rate unchanged at 5.50% and retained a neutral stance (4-2 votes). The MPC noted that inflation continues to remain benign with projections lowered to 2.6% while revising the real GDP growth projections upward to 6.8% in FY 25-26. The RBI also announced several key measures to strengthen the banking sector and improving credit flows pertaining to ECL provisioning framework, Basel III Capital adequacy norms, risk-based deposit insurance, relaxation in large exposure framework which are majorly positive for the capital markets as well. The Governor concluded that recent macro conditions have opened policy space for supporting growth. Overall, the policy decision seemed like a dovish pause, with an emphasis on data dependence.”