Job to curb price rise not over yet: MPC members

Members of the central bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) have reaffirmed their commitment to bring down inflation to the 4% target amid a sudden spike in vegetable prices, minutes of the MPC meeting released on Thursday showed.

- Gopika Gopakumar

Earlier this month, MPC unanimously voted to keep repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for the third straight meeting. The members, however, did not signal the need for any rate action at this point unless food inflation gets generalized. Still, the majority of members said their job to bring down inflation is not over yet, despite raising policy rates by 250 basis points since May 2022.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das sounded cautious about the second-round impact of food-price shocks, according to the minutes. “Headline inflation has softened from last year’s elevated level, but it still rules above the target. Our task is still not over," Das said.