ICRA expects extended policy rate pause

An extended pause on policy rates is expected going ahead unless India's economic growth materially undershoots the projections, rating agency ICRA has asserted in a report, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in an unprecedented move reduced repo rate when both GDP and inflation are congenial.ICRA expects the rate cut cycle to have come to an end. "Any further rate easing would only be likely if there is a material downward undershooting in growth outcomes, which leads to a cut in growth projections," the ICRA report read. "While the tone of the policy document was benign, we believe that today's rate cut is the final one in the current easing cycle."In ICRA's view, the downward revision in the MPC's quarterly CPI inflation projections is largely along expected lines. However, some of the