RBI Gov meets Jaitley ahead of monetary policy review

Ahead of the monetary policy review next week, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to discuss issues related to the monetary policy.

The RBI, which is set to announce its bi-monthly monetary policy review on December 1, is likely to keep key policy rates unchanged.

"Meeting is always good and cordial," Rajan said after his discussion with Jaitley yesterday.

It is understood that the RBI Governor discussed current macroeconomic conditions and the global economic scenario in the wake of an expected US Fed rate hike next month.

Policymakers and analysts expect the RBI is likely to maintain status quo as the retail inflation is high and there is possibility of a Fed rate hike during December.

In the last policy review on September 29, the RBI had cut interest rate by 0.5 percent, much higher than the anticipated 25 basis points.

The benchmark repurchase (repo) rate has subsequently come down from 7.25 percent to 6.75 percent, the lowest in four-and-a-half years.

Earlier this month, Rajan had mentioned that the central bank is comfortable with the current rate of interest.