Mumbai: The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by RBI governor Urjit Patel, began three-day deliberations Wednesday to decide on the key policy rates amid expectations that it would go for a 25 basis points hike to counter the impact of rising oil prices on inflation.
If the RBI raises the interest rate on Friday, it would be third in a row. It hiked key policy rate in this fiscal’s second bi-monthly policy in June after a hiatus of four-and-a-half years. Subsequently, the RBI raised the repo rate or short term lending rate by another 25 basis points in August policy meet.
After two successive hikes, the repo rate currently stands at 6.50 per cent. According to experts, rising crude oil prices, depreciating rupee and widening current account deficit are some of the factors the policy making body would keep in mind while deciding on interest rates.
The rupee Wednesday weakened further to 73.25 against the US dollar while brent crude was trading near USD 85 per barrel. “With petrol and diesel prices moving up, there is a strong expectation that inflation will also move up. So, they (RBI) may take a pre-emptive action. I feel there will be an increase of 25 basis points in the repo rate,” Union Bank of India managing director and chief executive Rajkiran Rai G said. Despite the rise in oil prices, the headline inflation number came down to 3.69 per cent for August as against 4.17 per cent for July. (PTI)
