RBI to announce its 3rd bi-monthly policy statement for current fiscal this afternoon

Reserve Bank will announce it third bi-monthly policy statement for 2018-19, this afternoon. Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel had began its 3-day meeting in Mumbai on Monday.

In a release, RBI said, Monetary Policy Committee has decided to continue the practice of a three-day meeting format as adopted in the meeting for the Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement of June 6, 2018. 

According to the economic research department of country's largest lender SBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will go in for a status quo



in key policy rates in its third bi-monthly policy today. 

The call is contrary to the expectations of a majority of analysts predicting for another hike given the rise in inflation lately.The SBI economists have said the only reason why the RBI may go for a hike will be "to satiate the self-fulfilling prophecy of market expectations" of a rate hike to stem the rupee depreciation. 

The central bank had voted unanimously for a rate hike of 0.25 per cent at the last review in June.