Mumbai, Oct. 7 -- The RBI will hike the key repo rate by a steeper 0.50 per cent at the next monetary policy review in December, economists at the country's largest lender SBI said on Wednesday.

The Reserve Bank of India raised its benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 per cent on Wednesday, its first hike in nearly four years.

The 0.25 per cent hike along with a shift in the stance to "calibrated tightening" is a decisive policy message, they said.

"Given the steepening inflation trajectory currently underway, we believe that the December policy cycle could mostly deliver a jumbo 50 bps rate hike depending on the global conditions," they said in a note.

SBI said that global conditions are likely to turn more volatile soon, a...