New Delhi: Commenting on the latest monetary policy announcement, Sanjiv Mehta, President, FICCI, has said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has maintained consistency in the policy statement made today by focusing on withdrawal of accommodation to contain inflation.

“The central bank has delivered the third consecutive increase in the policy rate today – increasing the benchmark repo rate by a total of 140 bps since May this year. Inflation has been over the comfort range of the Central Bank, however the recent moderation in global commodity prices should hopefully offer some respite going ahead,” he said.

“The uncertainty on the external front remains on fore. Nonetheless, the central bank has retained the growth forecast for 2022-23 at 7.2 percent – which is encouraging. The capacity utilization rate for Q4 2021-22 at 75.3 is over the long-term average and should lead to improvement in investment activities going forward,” he said.

“The medium-term growth drivers for India are very much intact and recovery is expected to find a firmer ground by the latter part of this fiscal year. We further hope as inflation ebbs, RBI will dynamically manage its monetary policy stance and continue to support growth impulses in the economy,” added Mehta. /BI/