Top News Podcast: RBI raises inflation, lowers GDP forecast; Covishield’s booster dose price; Deepak Parekh on HDFC twins merger and more

Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the repo rate and reverse repo rate unchanged in its first bi-monthly policy meeting of FY23, Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday.

However, the central bank has decided to continue with its “accommodative” stance but with a focus on withdrawal "to ensure inflation remains within target while supporting growth".

RBI raised the inflation projection for the current fiscal to 5.7 percent from the earlier forecast of 4.5 percent. It also revised India's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate to 7.2 percent from February's 7.8 percent for FY23.

Halting a 3-day losing streak, Sensex and Nifty made a comeback after RBI left key rates unchanged and continued with its 'accommodative' stance. Gains across sectors, led by financial, oil & gas and metal shares, pushed the headline indices higher.

Mutual funds data also came in today. Mutual funds that invest in equity saw a net inflow of Rs 28,252.4 crore in March, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India. This is up 43.8 percent compared with the previous month.

Meanwhile, Deepak Parekh, the chairman of HDFC said that he hopes to hear from RBI about the merger plan of HDFC and HDFC Bank shortly as it needs the approval of the central bank.

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