RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra calls rate hike talks premature

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra pushed back against market expectations of interest rate hikes, calling such discussions premature and reiterating a data-dependent wait-and-watch mode with a neutral policy stance. The repo rate was kept unchanged at 5.25% at the June 6 MPC meeting, with retail inflation at 3.93% in May and core inflation around 2.4%. He flagged geopolitical de-escalation in West Asia and moderating crude and fertilizer prices as supportive, while cautioning that monsoon performance and fragile supply chains remain key risks; the MPC revised FY27 growth forecast down to 6.6% and inflation projection up to 5.1%.