Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said that the monetary authority will be “proactive, agile and flexible” to bolster growth in Asia’s third-largest economy. 

“Policymaking has to be both pragmatic and visionary for India’s growth to leapfrog,” said Malhotra. The RBI will “continue” its attempt to support economic growth, he added, just days before the RBI is set to announce its rate decision on April 9. 

The South Asian economy likely slowed to 6.5 per cent in the last fiscal year, which would be its weakest expansion since the pandemic. While the government forecast growth of 6.3 per cent to 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal year, it is way slower than the 8 per cent it says is needed to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of making India a developed country by 2047.

Malhotra, who began his tenure in December, has taken a more growth-friendly approach to monetary policy so far, including cutting interest rates for the first time in five years and injecting nearly $60 billion worth of liquidity into the banking system. 

To bolster growth, the RBI will work with financial institutions to expand access and ask banks to leverage data and advanced tech to enhance their capacity to lend, Malhotra wrote. 

“This has the potential to accelerate supply of credit in the economy. without compromising on financial stability, to drive investments and economic growth,” he wrote, listing out the core responsibilities of the RBI on its 90th anniversary. 

The governor said the RBI will also continue to take initiatives to internationalize the rupee and globalize India’s payments systems. 

On price stability, the governor said the RBI will work with federal government to evaluate the inflation targeting framework that’s up for review in March 2026 to get the “Goldilocks conditions” for growth and inflation. 

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