Home loan rates are safe for now
The Hindu
Key interest rates remain unchanged; banks, housing finance institutions see uptick in loan disbursals. By Balaji Rao
The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by the RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das, as expected, kept the interest rates unchanged and the stance continues to be ‘accommodative.’ The repo rate would remain at 4% (repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to banks on short-term basis which also is considered as the benchmark rate for deposit and lending across the financial markets).
In the wake of COVID-19-based economic disruptions the focus of the central bank continues to be economic growth and bringing back GDP on track (Gross Domestic Product is the growth yardstick of an economy).
The MPC retained its GDP forecast for the financial year 2021-22 at 9.50% and also lowered the inflation projection from 5.70% to 5.30%. Despite the sharp spike in petrol and diesel prices in the last few months, inflation surprisingly has receded, which is good news.