Repo rate at nine-year low after RBI announces first-ever cut of 35 bps

FY20 growth projection cut to 6.9%; RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das says slowdown cyclical

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday moved for an unconventional repo rate cut by 35 basis points, the first of such magnitude by the central bank, to arrest falling economic growth while insisting that banks must now pass on the benefits to their customers.

The central bank has lowered the growth projection for the current financial year to 6.9 per cent from 7 per cent earlier. It kept its inflation projection unchanged at 3.1 per cent.

In response to the policy, State Bank of India (SBI), which recently lowered the deposit rates, cut its lending rate by 15 basis points