Mumbai, Jun 19 (PTI) RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra emphasised to remain watchful and wary about the generalisation of inflation in the coming months, while voting for status quo on interest rates earlier this month, according to MPC minutes.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday released the minutes of meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held during June 3-5. Other five members of the panel too voted for keeping the benchmark interest interest rate unchanged.

The RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent and also announced a raft of measures to attract foreign capital and support the rupee amid growing risks to growth and inflation from the prolonged West Asia conflict.

Malhotra opined that there was high uncertainty in the assumptions made for projections of both inflation and growth on account of several reasons – the duration of the conflict and the disruption in supply chains, the intensity and geographical spread of monsoon and its impact on energy, food and other commodity prices, according to the minutes.

"I would prefer to adopt a “wait and watch” approach. Accordingly, I vote for a status quo on the policy rate while retaining the neutral stance," he said.

The Governor also emphasised to remain watchful and wary about the generalisation of inflation in the coming months.

RBI has projected retail inflation for 2026-27 at 5.1 per cent, and GDP growth at 6.6 per cent. PTI NKD NKD ANU ANU

Inflation vigilance and a wait-and-watch monetary stance shape the policy response amid uncertainty and price pressures. The Monetary Policy Committee minutes record a wait-and-watch approach to monetary policy amid heightened uncertainty over inflation and growth. The Governor supported maintaining the policy rate unchanged while retaining a neutral stance, citing risks arising from conflict-related disruption, supply-chain pressures, and the impact of monsoon conditions on energy, food, and other commodity prices. The minutes also stress the need to remain watchful about the generalisation of inflation in the coming months.