India’s central bank holds interest rates steady, says growth needs to be ‘self-sustaining’

India’s central bank holds interest rates steady, says growth needs to be ‘self-sustaining’

India's central bank kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday in a widely expected move. The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee voted to keep the repo rate — the rate at which the central bank lends to commercial lenders — unchanged at 4%. The committee agreed to retain the RBI's accommodative policy stance for as long as necessary to revive and sustain India's growth momentum, while keeping inflation within target. The RBI's reverse repo rate, or the rate at which commercial banks lend to the central bank, remained unchanged at 3.35%. "The domestic recovery is gaining traction, but activity is just about catching up with pre-pandemic levels and will have to be assiduously nurtured by conducive policy settings till it takes root and becomes self-sustaining," the central bank . Private consumption remains below pre-pandemic levels, while demand for contact-heavy services could be affected if India takes pre-emptive steps to contain the fallout of the new omicron Covid variant, the statement said. The moved slightly following the monetary policy committee's decision. It changed hands at 75.50 Indian rupees per dollar as of 4:19 p.m. HK/SIN. "The overarching tone of today's statement and forward guidance is less hawkish than what we