Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants:

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

In its monetary policy today, RBI has taken the unexpected stance of keeping the repo rates unchanged. This is surprising and contrary to the industry’s expectations, which skewed more towards an increase on the back of increasing inflation and depreciation of the rupee. This move could have been seen as favourable for the real estate sector in the short-term; however, banks have already started increasing their lending rates even before the monetary policy was announced. It is, in fact, a worrisome development from a macro-economic long-term perspective. It will result in increased fiscal deficit, which does not bode well for any industry, including real estate, and also in further erosion of the rupee’s value.