Spreading disinflation over 2-3 years to reduce output loss, says RBI

'There is no blanket ban on opening of current accounts', said M Rajeshwar Rao

After the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC’s) decision to hold the benchmark rate at 4 per cent and continue with its accommodative stance, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, deputy governors Michael Debabrata Patra, M K Jain, T Rabi Sankar, and M Rajeshwar Rao took questions from the media and addressed the raging topics in the financial sector. Edited excerpts:

How does one read the conflicting messages on inflation? 

Das: We are dealing with extraordinary situations and there are several currents and cross-currents. There are many conflicting objectives that the RBI has to manage. The policy action has to be nuanced, it cannot be uni-directional,