RBI governor, Sebi chairperson meet FM Sitharaman

NEW DELHI: Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, ahead of the central bank's interest rate-setting panel meeting next month.

The minister separately held a meeting with Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch at her North Block office, according to a post by Sitharaman's Office on X.

These meetings come at a time when the industry is pitching for an interest rate cut, and stock markets are witnessing intense volatility.

The RBI has held the benchmark interest rate or repo rate at an elevated level of 6.5 per cent since February 2023.

Das-headed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled to meet from April 3-5, the first for the 2024-25 fiscal, in which it is expected to spell out inflation and growth trajectory for the financial year beginning April 1.

The RBI, in its policy review last month, projected a GDP growth rate of 7 per cent and average inflation of 4.5 per cent for 2024-25.

The Indian economy is estimated to have grown over 8 per cent in the three-quarters of the current fiscal, aided by strong domestic economic activity and investments. The GDP growth was 7.2 per cent in 2022-23.

Indian equity markets have witnessed high volatility in the past few trading sessions. The BSE benchmark Sensex had touched an all-time high of 74,245.17 on March 7. The index closed at 72,101.69 on Wednesday. Markets have faced highly volatile trends of late. Sharp movements in share prices are also being witnessed in intra-day trade.

From its record-high level, the benchmark is down 2,143.48 points or 2.88 per cent.

Since hitting its all-time high on March 7, the BSE Sensex has had eight trading sessions till Wednesday (March 20). The benchmark ended in the green in four trading sessions, while it registered a decline on the other four trading days.

In a separate post on X, Sitharaman's Office said Swiggy Chief Executive Officer Rohit Kapoor called on the finance minister.