"Economic Recovery Still Delicate, Policy Support Necessary": RBI Governor
NDTV
RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Minutes: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das-led MPC left the key lending rates unchanged at record lows earlier in the month for the eighth time in a row
A continued policy accommodation is necessary as the economic recovery still remains delicately poised and the growth is yet to take firmer roots, with the rise of inflation less steeper than expected, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said in the minutes of the latest monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting.
The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 20.1 per cent year-on-year during the first quarter of the current fiscal, driven by a large favourable base effect.
''However its momentum was dragged down by the second wave of the pandemic. The level of real GDP in Q1 was 9.2 per cent below its pre-pandemic level two years ago,'' added the RBI Governor.
RBI Governor underlined that the external environment - which had been supportive of aggregate demand over the past few months, may lose momentum for several reasons such as a sudden surge in infections, persistence of Covid-related supply bottlenecks, a binding shortage of key inputs like semi-conductors, and the spike in gas prices.