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Expressing optimism over cooling off in headline inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has said the headline inflation coming down to 4.7 per cent during April is ‘very satisfying’. He added that the release of the official data gives confidence that the ‘monetary policy is on the right track’.

He further said the RBI is ‘quite optimistic and fairly confident’ about the country's 6.5 per cent real GDP growth rate in FY24 even though other analysts are not so sanguine. Admitting that there is a statistical base effect, he said one must speak to any entrepreneur to understand the growth momentum of higher sales every month.

He highlighted that private investments are also picking up, and enlisted steel, cement and petrochemicals as among the sectors where this is seen. He said if India grows at 6.5 per cent, it will contribute 15 per cent of the world growth in the year, and stressed that this is no mean achievement. He also said that the expenditure on research and development has to go up in both the private sector as well as public sector. He said ‘we also need to continue with reforms and also ensure that we keep accessing the best of technology’.