oppn parties MPC Holds Rates, Maintains Accommodative Stance

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  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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MPC Holds Rates, Maintains Accommodative Stance

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-02-06 07:07:09

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The MPC of the RBI decided to hold interest rates in its meeting yesterday. It also voted unanimously to maintain the accommodative stance for as long as it is necessary to revive the economy. The committee pegged growth at 10.5 percent in 2021-22, which is lower than the 11.5 percent put out by the IMF. The committee also lowered its inflation forecast from 5.8 percent in December to 5.2 percent now. These decisions on part of the MPC suggest that for now, monetary policy will be guided by growth considerations and other factors will come into play once economy is well on the path of robust recovery.

Since inflation is showing a downtrend - with prices coming down and even future trends showing moderation - the committee did not have much trouble in maintaining this stance. Although global oil prices are firm and the prolonged farmers' stir in India not showing any signs of being resolved soon, as demand increases, idle capacity will be pressed in service and there will be no scarcity of products. With logistics constraints also getting resolved slowly, markets will be flush with products and there will not be any undue pressure on prices. RBI expects inflation to further reduce to as low as 4.3 percent by the third quarter of 2021-22.

Another thing that the RBI assured all was on liquidity. There were concerns in some quarters that the apex bank would squeeze out liquidity to prevent the unrealistic premium being attached to financial assets. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had warned recently that financial assets were overpriced. But the RBI said that it would stagger the hike in the cash reserve ratio to ensure that there was ample liquidity in the system.

Das also wanted the continuation of the current framework in setting monetary policy. He said "the experience with successfully maintaining price stability and the gains in credibility for monetary policy since the institution of the inflation targeting framework, barring the COVID-19 period, need to be reinforced in the coming years." Although some experts want the RBI to move away from the inflation targeting framework, allowing the MPC greater space to remain accommodative, one feels that the RBI governor is right. The government must heed Das and must not introduce unpredictability in monetary policy by frequently changing the framework.