MONETARY POLICY

The Reserve Bank has been placing the main points of discussion of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Monetary Policy meeting in public domain with a lag of roughly four weeks after its meeting. The minutes of the twenty-fifth meeting of the TAC held on July 20, 2011 were placed in public domain on August [...] Full Article

India recovered from the crisis sooner than even other emerging economies, but inflation too caught up with us sooner than elsewhere. Inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI), which actually went into negative territory for a brief period in mid-2009, started rising in late 2009, and it has remained around 9-10 per cent since January 2010 reflecting both supply and demand pressures. Supply pressures stemmed from elevated domestic food prices and rising g.. Full Article

Monetary policy as an arm of public policy has set objectives and priorities. These objectives are derived from the respective mandates of central banks. It ranges from a single objective of price stability, considered to be the dominant objective of monetary policy, to multiple objectives that include growth and financial stability as well. Central banks strive to achieve these objectives indirectly through instruments under their direct control and on the basis of t.. Full Article

Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee has said that by announcing an increase of 25 basis points in repo rate, from the existing 7.25 per cent to 7.50 per cent, RBI has sought to maintain an interest rate environment that moderates inflation and checks inflationary expectations. The Finance Minister was reacting to the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy announcement made today. Full Article

Monetary Measures -On the basis of the current macroeconomic assessment, it has been decided to increase the repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 7.25 per cent to 7.5 per cent with immediate effect.Consequent to the above increase in the repo rate, the reverse repo rate under the LAF will stand automatically adjusted to 6.5 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate to 8.5 per cent with immediate effect. Full Article

Financial stability is the toughest task for autonomy-less central banker who gets torn between governmental priorities and regulatory overlap, making them look like the mythological Greek character Sisyphus who endlessly rolls up a boulder uphill, only to see it slide back. India had set up the Financial Stability and Development Council after recognising the need for stability, but it needs to establish conventions and practices to prevent its 'spillover' into monetary.. Full Article

The Reserve Bank will soon release guidelines for implementing its proposal to locate at least a quarter of the new bank branches in the unbanked areas, which generally fall in the rural areas. RBI will issue guidelines for 25% rural branches soon, said a banker present at the central bank's post-policy meeting today. Full Article

The global financial crisis has challenged the conventional views on the role of monetary policy. Post-crisis, the weight of arguments tilts towards acceptance of financial stability as an objective of central bank or monetary policy. However, the key challenge is to evolve a consistent framework for implementation. While interest rate can continue as the dominant instrument for implementing monetary policy, supplementing it with other quantity or macro-prudential instru.. Full Article