RBI follows global central banks, cuts repo by 75 bps to fight coronavirus
Following in the footsteps of global central banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday lowered the key repo rate by 75 basis points (bps) to 4.4 per cent, to help arrest the economic slowdown in the wake of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. The reverse repo rate now stands at 4 per cent, down 90 bps. Repo rate is the rate at which a country’s central bank lends money to commercial banks, and reverse repo rate is the rate at which it borrows from them. MPC voted 4-2 in favour of the reduction of the repo rate by 75 bps, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in an address to media. The governor informed that the members of the MPC met on March 24, 25 and 27. "It is our effort to ensure normal functioning of the market," Das said. The governor further said that the economic growth and inflation projection would be highly contingent depending on the duration, spread and intensity of the pandemic. "Need of the hour is to shield the economy from the pandemi