MPC should raise rates by 25 bps next week: Economists tell RBI

Say current dynamics warrant hike, but RBI should keep liquidity stance flexible

At a meeting on Monday with senior officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), economists suggested that the central bank raise the repurchase, or repo, rate by 25 basis points (bps) at its next policy review, which begins on April 3, as the prevailing dynamics of domestic growth and inflation warrant more tightening.
 

The Monetary Policy Committee will release its statement on April 6. The repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks.
 

While the MPC’s next meeting comes amid the turmoil in the global banking sector, sparked by the collapse of