RBI will make every effort to bring down inflation to 4%: Governor Shaktikanta Das

New Delhi, June 26 (KNN) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will strive to get headline inflation to its 4% target, said Governor Shaktikanta Das flagging El Nino as a challenge.

In an interview with PTI, Das expressed confidence that the economy will grow at 6.5% in FY24, as estimated by the RBI earlier.

Since May 2022 the central bank's rate hikes by a cumulative 2.50% along with supply-side measures from the government, have helped get the inflation down to 4.25% in May from a peak of 7.8% in April last year, Das said.

He said the RBI continues to be watchful on the inflation front as they expect inflation to be at 5.1% in FY24.

“We will continue to strive and get it down to 4%,” he added.

On the high borrowing costs, Das said interest rates on loans may have a direct relation with inflation, and if inflation cools down on a durable basis, people can expect lower interest rates on loans.

The governor explained that the Russia-Ukraine war, which led to a shoot-up in the commodity prices, led to a surge in inflation, but added that crude prices are not a concern from an inflation perspective now as they've come down to USD 76-76 a barrel.

Food inflation has also come down, Das said, adding that measures like the Food Corporation of India releasing wheat and rice stocks have also helped.  (KNN Bureau)