No pause in sight: A 25-basis-point rate increase in Feb can't be ruled out

The key takeaway from the governor's 3,000-word statement is 'the battle against inflation is not over'

There are no surprises in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) latest monetary policy – the last for calendar year 2022. The repo rate has been hiked by 35 basis points (bps) – which is par for the course – as mentioned in the December 5 column. One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point.

All eyes have been firmly on the future guidance. Is the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the central bank’s rate-setting body, through with its rate-increase cycle, which started in May 2022 and has raised the rate from 4 per cent to 6.25