oppn parties MPC Holds Rates, Maintains Accommodative Stance

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
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.