The Reserve Bank of India has kept the policy rates unchanged for 10 straight policy review meetings in a row spanning over two years. Based on its assessment of the prevailing macroeconomic situation in the country, RBI has kept the repo rate unchanged at four per cent and reverse repo rate and Marginal Standing Facility Rate at 3.35 per cent and 4.25 per cent respectively. The repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends to commercial banks and reverse repo rate is the rate at which commercial banks deposit money with the Central Bank. Marginal standing facility rate is similar to the repo rate with the slight difference that commercial banks can get funds overnight at exclusive rates. These are basically the tools through which the Central Bank regulates the supply of money in the market which, in turn, is related to the balancing between growth and inflation. In the current scenario, Central Banks across the world are concerned about rising inflation. RBI, however, has decided to take a different route. It is more concerned about the below par economic recovery within the country. Through a 5 to 1 majority, the MPC committee has taken an accommodative stance to sustain economic growth in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis — the against vote has come from Jayanth Varma who has been repeatedly voting against such a stance. However, he expressed his support for keeping the repo rate unchanged. Broadly, RBI's decision to retain policy rates can be perceived in context of a positive and a negative push. On the negative side, the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus has disrupted the economy significantly — creating an urge for policy support. The real growth projection for 2022-23 is pegged at 7.8 per cent — 17.2 per cent in Q1, 7 per cent in Q2, 4.3 per cent in Q3 and 4.5 per cent in Q4. On the positive side, the RBI is seeing the prospect of increased food supply on account of strong rabi production in the month of April-June — providing a headroom for growth-oriented policy. Also, the third wave of the pandemic is receding, which will lead to increase in consumption and investment and also moderate the Consumer Price Inflation. The MPC has projected the CPI inflation to be at 4.5 per cent for 2022-23. Breaking it down on quarterly basis, the projections are 4.9 per cent for Q1, 5 per cent for Q2, 4 per cent for Q3 and 4.2 per cent for Q4. These projections have, however, come with certain caveats — possible fluctuations in crude oil prices and uncertainties over the supply prospects. Still, in contrast to other Central Banks across the world, RBI is more confident that it can keep inflation on the margins for some time to provide succor to the economy. It will be interesting to see how this bet plays out in the future for the economy. To manage the liquidity in the market, RBI has also introduced variable repo rate (VRR) operations and variable reverse repo rate operations (VRRRs). Some of the market experts are of the view that the interest rate sensitive sectors like housing, real estate and banking are likely to benefit from the policies. Industries have by and large welcomed the monetary policy review report. There is no doubt that the economy requires an extra bit of handholding at this moment. The RBI's decision to sustain growth appears to be justified. But in case there is fluctuation in international crude oil prices or the food supplies don't turn out as expected, the common man will be further hit by the inflation. It may be pertinent here to put necessary shock absorbing systems in place. Importantly, consumption and investment choices of individual units may have a wider influence on growth prospects. A synchronized focus on growth from both fiscal and monetary ends will likely yield positive benefits but inflation too needs to be taken into account.