The monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India started its three-day deliberations on Tuesday amid expectations of a status quo on rates because of high food prices.

All the 59 economists of a Reuters poll have predicted the RBI would hold the repo rate at 6.50 per cent — and their case got buttressed by Crisil's latest 'Thalinomics' report on Tuesday.

Vegetable thali's price increased 11 per cent in July compared with June this year due to higher prices of tomatoes on a monthly basis, according to a Crisil's monthly 'Roti Rice Rate' report stated.

Non-veg thali also turned costlier by 6 per cent in July compared with June 2024.

Retail inflation based on consumer price index (CPI) increased to a four-month high of 5.08 per cent in June as food items, including vegetables became dearer. The government will release the data for July later this month.

"We expect the RBI MPC to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at the August 8 meeting at 6.50 per cent, with a 4:2 vote in favour," Goldman Sachs said.

The RBI is likely to retain the monetary policy stance of "withdrawal of accommodation, sound relatively optimistic on growth, and continue to reiterate the commitment to the 4 per cent headline inflation target," it said.

The central bank last hiked the repo rate to 6.5 per cent in February 2023 and since then it has held the rate at same level in its last seven bi-monthly monetary policy reviews.

Radhika Rao, executive director and senior economist, DBS Bank, said policymakers will monitor developments in the US Fed policy as markets price in a near-certain rate cut in September.

Thalinomics

The cost of veg thali, which comprises roti, vegetables (onions, tomatoes and potatoes), rice, dal, curd and salad was at ₹32.6 per plate in July against ₹29.4 per plate in June 2024, according to the report.

However, on a year-over-year basis, prices of veg thali eased by 4 per cent. In non-veg thali, the costs declined 9 per cent to ₹61.4 in July 2024 when compared with ₹67.8 in the year-ago period mainly on an 11 per cent fall in broiler rates.

Meanwhile, banks have written off loans worth ₹9.90 lakh crore in the last five financial years, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

During 2023-24, banks loan write-off was at ₹1.70 lakh crore against ₹2.08 lakh crore in the previous fiscal, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Write-off was highest at ₹2.34 lakh crore during 2019-20, which came down to ₹2.02 lakh crore in the following year.