RBI Press Conference: RBI cuts reverse repo rate by 0.25 percent, GDP growth estimated to be 1.9 percent

New Delhi, Business Desk. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das held a press conference on Friday to deal with the severe economic crisis that has arisen on the economy from Corona. During this he made many big announcements. The central bank reduced the reverse repo rate from 4 per cent to 3.75 per cent and retained the repo rate. The Governor said that India's growth rate is still expected to be positive amidst the forecast of global recession and according to the IMF it will be 1.9 percent. RBI announced relief for NABARD, SIDBI and National Housing Bank. Assistance of 50000 crores was announced to NABARD, SIDBI and National Housing Bank. NABARD will get Rs 25,000 crore under Special Refinance.

RBI will infuse Rs 50,000 crore into the system through LTRO. The governor said that ATMs are operating with 91 percent capacity. Apart from this, there is no problem in mobile and netbanking in lockdown. The RBI announced new steps to maintain liquidity in the system. New proposals for bank credit flow exemption were considered. Let us know that there has been a rapid increase in liquidity after 27 March.

Das said that the global economy could go into a huge recession. He said the macroeconomic situation declined after March 27. The governor expected India's GDP growth rate to be 1.9 percent. Significantly, the services PMI declined in March. The export situation in March 2020 has been much worse. He said that despite the lockdown, the sowing situation in the agriculture sector has been better. Therefore, there is hope for better demand from rural areas than the forecast of normal monsoon.

According to the RBI governor, the forex reserve is currently 476.5 billion which is sufficient. On behalf of the central bank, Shaktikanta Das said that every effort is being made to stop the Corona crisis. The RBI is closely watching the situation in Corona. He said that liquidity management and financial supervision are ready. The RBI said that India's GDP growth is expected to be the best in the G20 economy.

What is a reverse repo?

This is in sharp contrast to the repo rate. The reverse repo rate is the rate at which banks receive interest on the money deposited by them in the RBI. Reverse repo rates are used to control the liquidity of cash in markets. Whenever there is too much cash in the market, RBI increases the reverse repo rate and when there is a shortage of cash, it reduces it so that liquidity is not reduced.