As expected, RBI keeps its policy rate unchanged at 4 pc: HDFC Bank

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 4: The RBI kept its policy rate unchanged at 4%, as expected, and continued to keep its policy stance accommodative, said a senior officer of HDFC Bank.
He said some sections of the market had anticipated the Central Bank to act on the rising surplus liquidity in the system in light of the increasing inflationary pressures. “However, the absence of any major liquidity absorption measures in the midst of a prolonged inflationary episode and indeed the upward revision of both the RBI’s growth and inflation forecasts might be somewhat puzzling,” he added.
The HDFC officer said that it could mean that the RBI is still cautious about the durability of growth given the myriad uncertainties related to growth and it sees inflation as principally a supply side-problem amenable to supply rather than monetary intervention.
“It also means that RBI is willing to tolerate higher inflation as long as growth impulses become firmly entrenched and it perhaps expects some natural moderation in liquidity as the Government usually goes into collection mode in the last quarter of the fiscal,” he said.
The official said, given its emphasis on growth revival and the suggestion that there is still some more space left for monetary support, another 25-50 basis point cut in 1H CY2021 cannot be ruled out.