Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
RBI holds interest rates, slashes growth forecast City woman hit by train as chain snatcher attacks her WHAT HAPPENED
DEMONETISATION EFFECT Central bank says fall in prices may only be temporary
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday decided to hold the repo rate at 6.25%, going against all predictions and triggering a fall in the stock markets.
The repo rate influences interests on loans since this is the rate at which the RBI lends money to banks. Everyone expected the central bank to cut the rate in the wake of the government’s decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes, which culled 86% of the currency in circulation and left the economy reeling.
RBI’s monetary policy committee, which voted 6-0 in favour of the status quo, attributed the move to its assessment that any moderation in prices following demonetisation would be temporary. “The prices of wheat, gram, and sugar have been firming up... while discretionary spending on goods and services in the CPI could have been affected by restricted access to cash, the prices of these items may weather these transitory effects,” RBI governor Urjit Patel said.
Underscoring the uncertainty brought in by the currency recall, the central bank sent out the message it was not willing to cut rates to shore up growth. It put the onus on banks to cut lending rates, as they will be flush with money on which the usual interest is 4%, compared to the lending rates that run well into double digits. The RBI’s statement did acknowledge the adverse impact of the demonetisation on the economy and cut its forecast for the GDP growth this financial year from 7.6% to 7.1%.
A 24-year-old bank employee was run over by a train after falling on the tracks while being attacked by a chain snatcher at Kurla station on Tuesday. RPF officers and other commuters caught the chain snatcher on the spot.
The police said the accused, Subhashish alias Reppy Bairagi Charan Malik, 19, did not have money to return to his native place and tried to snatch the chain out of desperation.
According to the police, the woman, Sapna Shukla, who is from Uttar Pradesh, was living in Ghatkopar.
An officer from Kurla GRP, on condition of anonymity, said, “Shukla, who worked with a bank at BKC, was going back home and was standing at the edge of platform number 1 alone waiting for 8.19pm train when the chain snatcher attacked her