RBI hikes repo rate by 25 basis points

On April 7, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India announced a 25 basis points hike in the repo rate, taking it to 6.25%. Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to hike the rate with a split stance of 4:2, retaining the stance at withdrawal of accommodation. The governor affirmed that core inflation remains sticky and FY24 inflation is likely to remain above the 4 per cent target. The central bank pegged the GDP growth for FY24 at 6.4 per cent, and lowered the inflation forecast to 5.3 per cent. Sectorally, the Auto and Realty indices were the only losers, while IT and Metal indices gained the most by over 1 per cent each. Among stocks, Bharti Airtel slipped 2 per cent despite a 91 per cent YoY rise in its Q3 net profit. Paytm surged over 6 per cent after Macquaire upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘underperform’, and raised the target price to Rs 800 from Rs 450.