Indian shares edged higher on Friday after the central bank kept its key lending rate unchanged at a record low, opting to support post-pandemic economy growth despite rising inflation due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.3 per cent at 17,691, as of 0443 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.25 per cent to 59,181.17.
The monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India held the lending rate, or the repo rate, at 4% and voted to keep its monetary policy stance "accommodative."
The decision comes against the backdrop of several global peers, including the US Federal Reserve, starting to raise rates to counter a price surge.
Even though India's inflation has breached the 6 per cent upper limit of the central bank's target range for two months, economists polled by Reuters expect the RBI to wait at least a few more months to raise interest rates.
For nearly two years, the RBI has kept the key repo rate at 4 per cent and stuck with an accommodative stance so that the economic recovery is firmly entrenched. India's 10-year benchmark bond yield rose to 6.973 per cent after the policy decision, while the rupee strengthened against the dollar to 75.86.
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