A cautious pause, rate cut not anytime soon

In the aftermath of the pandemic, the RBI was tolerating inflation at the higher end of the band. Now, the focus is on bringing it down to the 4% target

Remember Jonty Rhodes’ famous run-out of Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq at the 1992 Cricket World Cup at Gabba in Brisbane? Looking at Rhodes’ action on the field, the commentators wondered: Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Similarly, analysts are trying to dissect the successive pause on the policy rate front by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The questions they are asking: Is it a dovish pause? Is it a hawkish pause?

While pressing the pause button in April, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said, “It’s a pause, not a pivot.”

This had made April’s pause a hawkish one. This time, I would