Is RBI leaning towards an interest rate hike? Minutes of meeting suggest so

A majority of the six-member panel flagged upside risks to inflation earlier in April when the central bank retained the benchmark repurchase rate at 6% as expected

The most hawkish member of India’s monetary policy panel is likely to get support from an influential colleague, signaling an interest rate increase is more probable than a cut.

At the April 4-5 policy meeting, Deputy Governor Viral Acharya said there was a revival in investment activity and an improvement in capacity utilization, which boded well for the economy. As a result, he was switching from a neutral stance to shift “decisively to vote for a beginning of ‘withdrawal of accommodation’ in the next monetary policy meeting in June.”

Minutes of the policy meeting this month showed most members of India’s monetary