The Reserve Bank of India has kept interest rates unchanged for the second consecutive meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, with the repo rate remaining at 6.5%. Governor Shaktikanta Das suggested that the real interest rate meant a cut in policy rates was possible as the interest rate cycle may have peaked. The inflation target mandate, a monetary policy objective aimed at controlling the rate of price increases, emerged in 2016 after years of price increases led to negative real interest rates and spawned financial instability.