Following are the highlights of RBI’s bi-monthly monetary policy statement:
Short-term lending (repo) rate unchanged at 8%
Cash reserve ratio unchanged at 4%
SLR retained at 22% to unlock banking funds
Estimates GDP growth at 5.5% for current fiscal
High Q1 GDP may not be sustained in Q2 and Q3
Q4 growth outlook looks promising
Targets 8% CPI inflation by Jan 2015, 6% by Jan 2016
Reduces liquidity under export credit refinance from 32% to 15%
Guidelines on small and payments banks by end-November
RBI to carry forward banking sector reforms
Next bi-monthly policy statement on December 2.