Policy repo rate unchanged; focus on withdrawal of accommodation to align inflation with the medium term target.
The Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the policy rate unchanged and to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure inflation progressively aligns with the medium term CPI target of 4 per cent within the tolerance band while supporting growth. The MPC based this stance on resilient domestic growth, moderating but volatile inflation-particularly food price pressures-and upside risks from adverse weather, commodity and geopolitical shocks; members set out projections, voting positions, and emphasised anchoring inflation expectations and close monitoring of transmission and supply side developments.

Trade Balance Improvement: services growth and selective merchandise gains narrow the overall trade deficit for the year.
India's FY 2023-24 overall exports (merchandise and services) are estimated slightly above the prior year, driven by higher services exports and sectoral merchandise gains in electronic goods, drugs and pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, iron ore, textiles-related items, agricultural commodities and ceramics. Merchandise exports fell year on year while services exports rose, yielding a larger services surplus and a substantially improved overall trade deficit. Monthly March 2024 estimates show declines in exports and imports versus March 2023, and services data for March remain provisional pending central bank release.

Trade agreement negotiations progress, consolidating regulatory chapters and procedural mechanisms to advance bilateral commercial rules.
Negotiations between India and Peru advanced a bilateral Trade Agreement with substantive convergence across chapters including Rules of Origin, Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Movement of Natural Persons, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation, Trade Remedies, Exceptions, Dispute Settlement, and institutional provisions; delegations pursued stakeholder-informed modalities, intersessional virtual consultations, and an expedited schedule to resolve outstanding issues and establish predictable regulatory and procedural frameworks for deeper economic cooperation.