Following are the highlights of the monetary policy announced by RBI governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday:

• Interest rates left unchanged for 4th time in a row;
• Short-term lending rate (repo) stands at 4 pc;
• RBI decides to continue with accommodative stance as long as necessary;

• RBI governor says Indian economy is poised to move in only one direction and that is upwards;
• RBI projects GDP growth at 10.5 pc for 2021-22;
• RBI revises retail inflation outlook; 5.2 pc for Q4:2020-21, 5 pc in H1:2021-22 & 4.3 pc for Q3:2021-22;
• Das says Union Budget has provided strong impetus for revival of sectors like health, infrastructure;
• RBI to restore CRR to 4 pc in two phases beginning March 2021;
• RBI proposes to provide funds from banks under TLTRO on tap scheme to NBFCs for incremental lending;
• RBI announces new scheme to incentivise new credit flow to MSMEs;
• RBI to set up panel to provide a medium term road map for strengthening of primary (urban) co-operative banks;
• Retail investors to get direct access to government securities market; with this India will join select countries providing such facility;
• Round-the-clock helpline for digital payment services to be set up for grievance redressal;
• RBI will integrate all ombudsman schemes & introduce centralised processing of grievances;

The next meeting of the RBI governor headed rate-setting panel MPC to take place during April 5 to 7.

IMAGE: Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das announces the policy decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), via live streaming, in Mumbai, February 5, 2021. Photograph: PTI Photo.