by Pankaj Yadav

NEW DELHIluckytigercasino$60nodeposit, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent.

Repo rate is the RBI's interest rate for short-term loans extended to the commercial banks in the South Asian country.

This was the ninth consecutive time when the repo rate was kept unchanged, media reports said.

Announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy in the country's financial hub Mumbai, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that India's growth remained strong, and that inflation was broadly on a declining trajectory.

He said the country's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for financial year 2024-25 starting from April was projected at 7.2 percent.

Domestic growth was holding up well on the back of steady urban consumption and improving rural consumption, coupled with strong investment demand, said the RBI governor, adding that the monetary policy's commitment was to ensure price stability, which would strengthen the foundations for a sustained period of high growth.

"Hence, the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) reiterated the need to continue with the disinflationary stance of withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation progressively aligns to the target, while supporting growth," said Das in a statement.

Withdrawal of accommodation means reducing the money supply in the economic system in order to control inflation while also supporting economic growth.

The RBI chief further said that the headline consumer price index (CPI) inflation, or retail inflation, edged up to 5.1 percent in June 2024 due to higher-than-expected food inflation. Fuel remained in deflation for the 10th consecutive month. Core inflation moderated to a historic low in May and June, he added.

On the country's financial stability, the RBI governor said the Indian financial system remained resilient and was gaining strength from broader macroeconomic stability. "Its well-capitalized and unclogged balance sheet is reflective of higher risk absorption capacity," he added.■