New Delhi, Mar 27 (KNN) In a bid to diminish negative impact of COVID-19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday announced rate cuts.

Das announced a cut of 75 basis points in the repo rate to 4.4 per cent, after an unscheduled meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee. Four out of the six members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted in favour of the move.

Apart from this, a moratorium of three months of EMIs on all outstanding loans was also announced.

"All commercial, regional, rural, NBFCs and small finance banks are being permitted to allow 3-month moratorium on payment of instalments in respect of all term loan EMIs outstanding on March 31," RBI said in a statement.

This means that for the next three months, no EMI would be deducted from the account of anyone who has a loan outstanding. And all this without any hit on credit score. EMIs will resume after the moratorium period gets over.

Das predicted a big recession coming for all the world, and said India won't be immune. It all depends how India responds to the situation, Das said.

''We are living through an extraordinary and unprecedented situation. Everything hinges on the depth of the COVID-19 outbreak, its spread and its duration. Clearly, a war effort has to be mounted and is being mounted to combat the virus, involving both conventional and unconventional measures in continuous battle-ready mode,'' Das added.

Life in the time of COVID-19 has been one of unprecedented loss and isolation. Yet, it is worthwhile to remember that tough times never last; only tough people and tough institutions do, he said.