Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said it would be 'too early' to change the monetary policy stance and the apex bank would have to avoid a 'bold' approach on the rates front.
Speaking at broadcaster ET Now's Leadership Dialogues here, Das said the Reserve Bank is monitoring the high trading volumes in the futures and options segment with SEBI, but any action on this will be taken by the market regulator.
He also said there is a possibility that the current account deficit for the March quarter, to be announced next week, will come down from the 1.2 per cent figure for the first nine months of financial year 2023-24.
For the first nine months of the fiscal year, the CAD declined to 1.2 percent of GDP from 2.6 percent of GDP in the same period a year ago due to lower merchandise trade deficit.
Amid talk of increased inflows following the country's inclusion in global bond indices, the Governor said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will continue to build reserves to act as an essential tool to prevent future volatility.As part of its reserves diversification strategy, it will continue to add gold.
Das said the RBI is confident that the economy will grow at a projected 7.2 per cent in FY2025, underlining that the number is a conservative estimate and its internal analysis is pointing to higher-than-expected growth in the June quarter .
On inflation, he said that even though core inflation has come down, food inflation remains high and there are uncertainties around it.
Das said it would be too early to change the policy stance and any adventurism should be avoided, adding that the central bank remains vigilant on this front.
The six-member rate-setting panel stuck to the current "accommodative return" stance and has maintained the current repo rate by opting for status quo in eight consecutive bi-monthly reviews.However, the number of dissenters in the committee has now dropped to two.
Reiterating his comments made earlier, Das said it is the last leg of inflation that is the stickiest.
He said, inflation is coming down but at a very slow pace, RBI is confident that the downward march of inflation will continue at a slow pace. “If the decline in inflation is to accelerate, we will have to take into account the sacrifices on the growth front,” he said."
Speaking at broadcaster ET Now's Leadership Dialogues here, Das said the Reserve Bank is monitoring the high trading volumes in the futures and options segment with SEBI, but any action on this will be taken by the market regulator.
He also said there is a possibility that the current account deficit for the March quarter, to be announced next week, will come down from the 1.2 per cent figure for the first nine months of financial year 2023-24.
For the first nine months of the fiscal year, the CAD declined to 1.2 percent of GDP from 2.6 percent of GDP in the same period a year ago due to lower merchandise trade deficit.
Amid talk of increased inflows following the country's inclusion in global bond indices, the Governor said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will continue to build reserves to act as an essential tool to prevent future volatility.As part of its reserves diversification strategy, it will continue to add gold.
Das said the RBI is confident that the economy will grow at a projected 7.2 per cent in FY2025, underlining that the number is a conservative estimate and its internal analysis is pointing to higher-than-expected growth in the June quarter .
On inflation, he said that even though core inflation has come down, food inflation remains high and there are uncertainties around it.
Das said it would be too early to change the policy stance and any adventurism should be avoided, adding that the central bank remains vigilant on this front.
The six-member rate-setting panel stuck to the current "accommodative return" stance and has maintained the current repo rate by opting for status quo in eight consecutive bi-monthly reviews.However, the number of dissenters in the committee has now dropped to two.
Reiterating his comments made earlier, Das said it is the last leg of inflation that is the stickiest.
He said, inflation is coming down but at a very slow pace, RBI is confident that the downward march of inflation will continue at a slow pace. “If the decline in inflation is to accelerate, we will have to take into account the sacrifices on the growth front,” he said."
