India is still in the middle of the world’s largest lockdown in an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. To ease the economic pressure, India’s central bank pulled a surprising move by cutting its key lending rate in hopes to reignite growth. India’s economy has suffered greatly due to the lockdown measures imposed on its residents.
Amid the lockdown, the Reserve Bank of India has cut the benchmark lending rate by 0.4 percentage point to reach a record low of 4%. The Reserve Bank of India’s Gov. Shaktikanta Das stated that domestic economic activity has been severely hindered by the lockdown, which has lasted nearly two months so far, in an announcement on Friday. Alongside the benchmark lending rate cut, the central bank also extended the moratorium on loan payments until August to provide relief.
Read More: India’s Central Bank Combats Coronavirus Pain With a Surprise Rate Cut