India, Feb. 7 -- The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India maintained status quo on interest rates and policy stance in its first meeting of the year and also the first after the Union Budget, bringing to an end the current rate reduction cycle that began a year ago. The move comes even as India's economy is expected to do better than previously expected in 2025-26, and with the announcement of trade deals with the EU and the US, the country's two biggest trading partners.

As a result, the policy rate continues to be at 5.25% and the policy stance neutral. While the rate was kept unchanged unanimously, one external MPC member dissented on the decision to maintain a neutral policy stance.

The MPC resolution has dee...