President ICC Mr. Pradeep Sureka on the hike in repo rate has commented, “RBI hikes repo rate to contain inflation. Hence, ICC is cautiously optimistic about RBI’s unscheduled move to hike the repo rate by 40 basis points. ICC believes this move will contain rising inflation, support financial stability and take care of concerns related to falling currency.
This move was very much expected as indicated by RBI earlier with retail inflation firming up in India, impacted by supply-side constraints and the rising price of the crude – the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation stood at around 7% in March and the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) reflected a four-month high of 14.55%. The hike in the repo rate is likely to impact lending rates. ICC is hopeful that monetary policy calibration will continue to promote growth and access to capital at competitive rates.”