The on-tap targeted long-term repo operation (TLTRO) will be expanded to cover other stressed sectors, said Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday while announcing the decisions taken by the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

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"This is to encourage banks to extend credit to stressed sectors," he said.

The central bank has announced on-tap TLTRO for Rs 1 lakh crore at 4 percent till March 2021.

"The regional rural banks can now access LAF and call money market. Draft norms on credit default swaps and guidelines on the derivatives market will be issued soon," Das added.

The monetary policy committee, meanwhile, decided to keep the key interest rates steady amid persistently high inflation, and after a better-than-expected reading on economic growth. It, however, retained an accommodative policy stance at least for the current financial year and into the next year to revive growth on a durable basis.

The key lending rate of the RBI or the repo rate was left unchanged at 4 percent while the reverse repo rate or the key borrowing rate stayed at 3.35 percent.

The central bank has slashed the repo rate by 115 basis points (bps) since late March to cushion the shock from the coronavirus crisis and sweeping lockdowns to check its spread.

Read full coverage on RBI policy here

First Published:Dec 4, 2020 10:36 AM IST