Axis Bank expects 35-50 bps rate hike from RBI

Axis Bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Chaudhry expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to increase repo rates between 35 basis points (bps) and 50 bps, ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee's decision on Friday. Chaudhry also expects at least two more hikes depending on how the inflation situation pans out in the coming months.

“My view is somewhere between 35 bps and 50 bps. It is not the end of the hike cycle, there could be a couple of more hikes depending on how inflation plays out,” Chaudhry told CNBC-TV18.

RBI has been taking steps to control inflation also and that balancing act of getting the inflation right, getting the demand growth to come in, Chaudhry said.

"I am quite sure the government and RBI will get it right,” he added.

On India, the Axis Bank MD and CEO said that India is looking like an island of prosperity.

“India does look like an island of prosperity."

The new world will have some kind of instability because of the various factors involved and one will have to accept that volatility as a given, he added.

Chaudhry believes Indian consumers are looking for the right proposition and if it is offered to them, they grab it.

“A lot of people are looking forward to the festive season, which has already started. The evidence which we are seeing especially for the right products, right brands is huge."