Mumbai, June 24 -- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Sanjay Malhotra on Tuesday said it was "premature" to discuss interest rate hikes, pushing back against market expectations of monetary policy tightening and reiterating that the banking regulator remains in a "wait-and-watch mode".

In a televised interview with ET Now and ET Now Swadesh, Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had deliberately retained a neutral stance in June because the inflation outlook remains uncertain.

"What we have said is that we are cautious. We are aware that there could be risks, both on inflation as well as on growth. and we will continue to remain data dependent."

He rejected suggestions that the central bank had prepared markets for a rate...