RBI keeps policy rate on hold for second meeting in a row

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its repo rate on hold at 6.25 percent for a second straight policy meeting, opting to wait for more clarity on inflation trends and on how a radical crackdown on "black money" is impacting economic growth.

The RBI's monetary policy committee on Wednesday voted 6-0, its third unanimous decision in a row since being established in September.

Before the meeting, analysts were split on what the RBI would do. In a Reuters poll last week, 28 of 46 participants saw the central bank cutting the repo rate by a quarter point and two expected a 50 bps cut.

 

But others correctly predicted the RBI would wait until its next policy review in April.

(Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury and Rafael Nam; Editing by Richard Borsuk)