RBI leaves key interest rate unchanged

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday, December 5, left the repo rate unchanged while maintaining the stance of 'calibrated tightening' of policy. The key rate remains unchanged at 6.5 percent. This is for the second time in a row that the central bank did not tinker with the interest rate.

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"The decision of the Monetary Policy Committee is consistent with the stance of calibrated tightening of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/-2 per cent, while supporting growth," RBI said.

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The central bank also retained the GDP growth projection for FY19 at 7.4 per cent. For the first half of 2019-20, the GDP growth has been projected at 7.5 per cent.

RBI said inflation in the second half of the current fiscal is projected at 2.7-3.2 per cent. While the decision on keeping the policy rate unchanged was unanimous, Ravindra H Dholakia voted to change the stance to neutral.