MPC Minutes: Stance not required at this stage, says MPC Member Jayanth Varma

Little more optimistic about India's economic growth than few months ago says RBI MPC member Jayanth R Varma

The monetary policy committee (MPC) does not need a stance at this stage, said MPC Member Jayanth Varma.

"I express my reservations on the stance and believe that a stance is not needed at all at this stage," said Varma.

Additionally, Varma also said that if at all there is a stance, it should be neutral.

MPC decision

RBI on December 8 left its key interest rate unchanged for the fifth consecutive meeting, citing a potential resurgence in inflation and signalling that price stability remained its primary objective.

The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee (MPC), as expected, kept the repo rate, at which banks borrow short-term funds from the central bank, at 6.5 percent, as prices remain higher than the central bank’s medium-term target of 4 percent.

The MPC has kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent in the past four monetary policy reviews, after raising the rate by 250 basis points since May 2022.