The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce its policy decision on Friday. CNBC-TV18 polled economists and market watchers to get an understanding of what the street is expecting.

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It is widely agreed that this is going to be one of the most crucial policies of recent times amid uncertainties caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, commodity prices have gone through the roof, oil is on the boil and perhaps for the first time since the pandemic, inflation has emerged as a bigger concern than growth for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Thus comments on the subject and the projection for the road head will be keenly watched.

With this backdrop, most expect the MPC to hold rates steady for the 11th consecutive time despite some now starting to voice that the RBI may perhaps be behind the curve compared to other central banks.

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90 percent of the respondents to CNBC-TV18’s poll expect no action on the reverse repo rate front which would then set the stage for an eventual repo rate hike.

70 percent expect the reverse repo lift off only by June. The MPC is also seen hiking repo rates only by August as per 50 percent of the respondents. The others expect it by September or perhaps later.

There is a divide when it comes to the quantum of rate hikes to be seen this year. A total repo rate hike of anywhere between 25 basis points (bps) to 75 bps is what is expected by the end of the fiscal. While RBI may not change its stance just yet, the street is expecting a change in at least the wording of the stance and forward guidance, which could guide market participants for a potential change in stance to neutral sometime soon.

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Watch the accompanying video of CNBC-TV18’s Ritu Singh for more details.

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(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)

First Published:Apr 7, 2022 2:27 PM IST