Participants from the Reserve Bank of India: Shri Sanjay Malhotra – Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri T. Rabi Sankar – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri Swaminathan J. – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Moderator: Shri Puneet Pancholy – Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India

Participants from Reserve Bank of India: Shri Shaktikanta Das – Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Dr. Michael D. Patra – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri T. Rabi Sankar – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri Swaminathan J. – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Dr. O. P. Mall – Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India Dr. Rajiv Ranjan – Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India Moderator: Shri Puneet Pancholy - Reserve Bank of India Puneet Pancholy: Hello and good afternoon. Welcome to this Post Monetary Policy Press Conference. Friends, we have with us, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Shri Shaktikanta Das; Deputy Governors Dr. M.D. Patra, Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao, Shri T. Rabi Sankar and Shri Swaminathan J. We also have with us Dr. O. P. Mall, Executive Director and Executive Director Dr. Rajiv Ranjan and other colleagues from Reserve Bank. Sir, to begin with, I would request you to make your opening remarks. After that, we will have the Q&A, please.

Participants from the RBI:

Shri Shaktikanta Das – Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Dr. Michael D. Patra – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Shri T. Rabi Sankar – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Shri Swaminathan J. – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Dr. Rajiv Ranjan – Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India

Moderator:
Shri Puneet Pancholy – Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India

Participants from the RBI: Shri Shaktikanta Das – Governor, Reserve Bank of India Dr. Michael D. Patra – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri T. Rabi Sankar – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri Swaminathan J. – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Dr. O. P. Mall – Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India Dr. Rajiv Ranjan – Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India Moderator: Shri Puneet Pancholy – Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India

Participants from the RBI:
Shri Shaktikanta Das – Governor, Reserve Bank of India
Dr. Michael D. Patra – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
Shri T. Rabi Sankar – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
Shri Swaminathan J. – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
Dr. O. P. Mall – Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India
Dr. Rajiv Ranjan – Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India

Moderator:
Shri Puneet Pancholy – Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India

Puneet Pancholy:
Hello and good afternoon. Welcome to the Post-Policy Press Conference. Today we have with us the Governor, Reserve Bank of India – Shri Shaktikanta Das, Deputy Governors – Dr. M.D. Patra, Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao,

Participants from the RBI: Shri Shaktikanta Das – Governor, Reserve Bank of India Dr. Michael D. Patra – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri T. Rabi Sankar – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Shri Swaminathan J. – Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India Dr. O. P. Mall – Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India Dr. Rajiv Ranjan – Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India  Moderator: Shri Yogesh Dayal – Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India  Yogesh Dayal: Good afternoon everyone. Hello and welcome to the First Policy of 2024-25. Today with us we have Governor, Shri Shaktikanta Das, Deputy Governors, Dr. M.D. Patra, Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao, Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Shri Swaminathan J., and two Executive Directors, Dr. O. P. Mall and Dr. Rajiv Ranjan. So, as is customary, I would request the Governor to make some opening remarks and then we will go for Q&A.  Shaktikanta Das: Namaskar. I guess I will not be off the mark if I say that the policy overall is on expected lines. So, it demonstrates, I think, the Reserve Bank, the market participants, the market players and perhaps, the media and analysts and all, every stakeholder, thinking is at the moment, well aligned so far as Monetary Policy is concerned. But having said that, I just want to make five observations: