Monetary Policy Reaction: Utsav Johri, Partner, JSA

30 Sep 2022 , 11:56 AM

The Monetary Policy Committee, in a bid to tame inflation, has hiked the Repo Rate by 50 basis points to 5.90%. With this third hike in the Repo Rate this financial year, the Repo Rate now stands almost back at the pre-pandemic levels. As the cost of borrowing for corporates and individuals will further increase, the Repo Rate hike may further slowdown the local lending activity in the country till the market adapts to the new rates. The Governor, in his speech, also announced a discussion paper on securitization of stressed assets. Such framework, once implemented, will provide alternate mechanism for securitization of stressed loans in addition to the currently available route of transfer to asset reconstruction companies, providing new avenues to banks and financial institutions to deal with stressed loans. The Governor also announced the discussion paper on the expected credit loss framework for loan loss provisioning for banks, this is also a welcome step to develop a more robust banking culture.