RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said retail inflation is expected to remain close to the targeted level by the last quarter of the current fiscal year. However, it is likely to stay above the tolerance level at 6.8 % for the quarter that ended in September 2020. Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to keep the key policy repo rate unchanged at 4 %, Mr. Das said while announcing the outcome the central bank’s bi-monthly policy review meeting. It also decided to continue with the accommodative stance of monetary policy as long as necessary — at least during the current financial year and into the next year — to revive growth on a durable basis and mitigate the impact of COVID-19, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward. The RBI has kept the retail inflation target of 4 % with a bias of plus/minus 2 %. Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is projected at 6.8 % in Q2 of 2020-21. Subsequently, large favourable base effects are expected to pull it down to 5.4 % in Q3, and 4.5 % confidence intervals for headline inflation in Q4 of 2020-21 are 3.2-5.9 % and 2.4-6.6 %, respectively, RBI said in the policy statement.

(The Hindu)