AS EXPECTED the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept the interest rates unchanged obviously because of the inflationary winds that are blowing in the country. Since inflation remains a major concern for the Apex Bank it was a foregone conclusion that status quo would be maintained on interest rates regime. In the last few weeks the inflation rate has climbed to five-year high of over 7 pc in December on the back of unprecedented rains in most parts of the country affecting food production significantly, leading to spike in prices of food items. However, RBI Governor Mr. Shaktikanta Das has assured that though the Apex Bank has not lowered the interest rates priority sectors like infrastructure, real estate and MSME would not be starved of credit flow. The Bank would be using other tools which are available to it to meet priority sector requirement of funds. Accordingly banks would be offered some window to meet these needs. This is necessary to spur growth which has been hit hard due to general slowdown.