RBI keeps key rates unchanged as virus lashes economy
The Hindu
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept interest rates steady at record lows on Friday, as widely predicted, as it assesses the impact of a devastating second wave of COVID-19 infections on the economy.T
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept interest rates steady at record lows on Friday, as widely predicted, as it assesses the impact of a devastating second wave of COVID-19 infections on the economy. The RBI held the repo rate, its key lending rate, at 4% and kept the reverse repo rate, the borrowing rate, unchanged at 3.35%. The RBI has slashed the repo rate by a total of 115 basis points (bps) since March 2020 to soften the blow from the pandemic. This follows 135 bps worth of rate cuts since the beginning of 2019.
The latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) by MoS&PI reveals a transformative shift in India’s economic landscape. For the first time in over a decade, granular data on Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE) highlights a significant decline in the proportional share of food spending—a classic validation of Engel’s Law as real incomes rise. Between 1999 and 2024, both rural and urban consumption pivoted away from staple-heavy diets toward protein-rich foods, health, education, and conveyance. As Indian households move beyond subsistence, these shifting Indian household spending patterns offer vital insights for social sector policy, poverty estimation, and the lived realities of an expanding middle-income population.












