RBI governor addresses media, announces cut in reverse repo rate by 25 bps

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das held a media briefing today (Friday) at 10 am after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government extended the coronavirus lockdown till May 3. He announced the latest measures being taken to boost the economy. He has carefully observed every aspect and evolution and promised to take action. He assured that this would not be the last meeting and that the process would go ahead and the RBI would look into every aspect of coronavirus and tackle any catastrophe. He said his aim was to see that there is no corona effect on economy.

"We are closely monitoring the coronavirus situation and are constantly reviewing the economy," Shaktikanth Das said. He thanked the employees of RBI who worked hard 24 hours a day. "The services of the banks are also admirable. We have taken care of banking services across the country without any disruption. The ATMs are working efficiently, "the RBI governor asserted. They have not seen the crisis since the 1930s and are ready to face any situation.

The Governor has announced a financial provision of Rs.50,000 to financial institutions such as NABARD, SIDBI and NHB. It was announced that the reverse repo rate would be cut by 4% by .25%. This brings the current rate to 3.75%. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on the other hand, will announce a fiscal stimulus package to revive the economy today. In the wake of the covid-19 crisis last month, the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which had earlier reviewed the RBI has reduced the key interest rate by 75 basis points to 4.16

5 per cent from 5.40 per cent. The government will reportedly sell 20 billion crores of bonds.