RBI MPC Meet December 2022: Amid the call of slowing down the rate hike, the Reserve Bank of India’s three-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting has commenced on December 5. The meeting will conclude on December 7 when the RBI will announce its decision regarding the rate hike. Markets, investors and those people having a running loan or those planning to take a loan will be keenly watching the RBI MPC Meeting outcome. The meeting is being watched closely also because consumer inflation is still above the 6% target band, causing concern for many. The current policy repo rate is 5.9 per cent. The RBI monetary policy meeting comes against the backdrop of slowing GDP growth.
The RBI has hiked key benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points (bps) thrice since June over and above an off-cycle 40 bps increase in the repo in May. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das would be announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy on Wednesday (December 7) after the three-day of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. According to experts, the central bank is expected to go for a moderate rate hike due to the existing economic circumstances and demands from the industry bodies. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has already urged the RBI to consider moderating the pace of rate hikes.
RBI MPC Meeting Rate Hike Expectation, Prediction in December 2022
State Bank of India, the country’s largest public sector lender said in a research report authored by Group Chief Economic Adviser Soumya Kanti Ghosh, that the RBI is expected to hike rates in smaller magnitude in December policy attuned to emerging market central banks and the overall rate-setting tone. It predicted a rate hike of 35 bps.
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Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist of Bank of Baroda, predicted a rate hike in the magnitude of 25-35 bps. “We do believe that the terminal repo rate for the financial year will be 6.5 per cent, which means there will be one more rate hike in February,” he said.
D K Pant, Chief Economist, India Ratings & Research, said the second quarter inflation and GDP numbers are in line with RBI’s forecast and the inflation is likely to decline further. “We believe RBI may go for a 25 bps hike in repo rate in December 2022 monetary policy,” he said.
Shanti Ekambaram, the whole-time director, Kotak Mahindra Bank, predicted a rate hike between 25 and 35 bps given the last lower inflation reading and a slight softening in Fed speak.