MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India held interest rates steady at 7.75 percent on Tuesday after easing monetary policy just three weeks ago, leaving its next move probably until after the government presents its annual budget at the end of this month.
Instead, the RBI cut the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) - or the amount of bonds that lenders must set aside - by 50 basis points to 21.5 percent of deposits from the two-week cycle starting on Feb. 7 in a bid to spur banks to inject more credit into the economy.
Most economists polled by Reuters had expected the RBI to keep its repo lending rate steady, and reduce rates later so long as the budget, due to be unveiled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Feb. 28, does not disappoint.
(Reporting by Rafael Nam and Neha Dasgupta)
