EMIs to rise as RBI hikes repo rate by 50 bps to 4.90%

In a major announcement, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 0n Wednesday increased the repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.90% with immediate effect. With this, all loan EMIs are expected to go costly. Earlier last month, the central bank had raised the repo rate or short term lending rate by 40 basis points in an off-cycle monetary policy review to check spiralling inflation. That hike was the first-rate hike since August 2018.

The immediate impact of the RBI repo rate hike is on the retail loans such as home loans which are linked to the bank’s external benchmark. Most banks have linked their lending rates to the RBI repo rate and, therefore, the impact is immediate for the borrowers.When the repo rate goes up, the repo rate linked lending rate (RLLR) of banks also goes up. This means an increase in the home loan interest rate for the borrower. In practice, instead of increasing the EMI, in most cases the tenure of the loan is increased by banks.Overall, in a flexible home loan, the rate of interest will keep going up and down. The only way to decrease the home loan EMI or interest burden is to keep replaying the outstanding loan amount as and when you have surplus funds. 

Here are the top highlights of RBI governor Shaktikanta Das announcement 

Unanimous decision by MPC to hike repo rate by 50 bps to 4.9%

Decides to keep policy stance ‘withdrawal of accommodation’

Raises inflation forecast for the year sharply, FY'23 CPI projected at 6.7% vs 5.7% earlier

Inflation projection shows prices cooling only in the last quarter of this financial year

RBI hints at more rate hikes: "We will remain focused on bringing down inflation closer to target and focus on macro stability"

FY23 GDP retained at 7.2% with growth slowing significantly to 4% in the final quarter of the year

Increases MSF & Bank Rate By 5.15% From 4.65%