Hyderabad : The Reserve Bank has maintained the “accommodation withdrawal” stance while hiking the repo rate by 35 basis points to 6.25 percent to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward; it is the fifth increase since May 2022. The central bank is still concerned about the stickiness of core inflation, and all immediate efforts would be directed toward breaking it without impeding economic growth. The buoyancy in rural demand, non-food credit and private consumption in general is very comforting, but external factors like US Fed rate hikes, oil prices, and international geopolitical issues continue to be a source of concern.