Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday that the central bank would launch a pilot project for QR code-based coin operated vending machines (QCVM) in 12 cities across the country. These vending machines dispense coins against debiting the customer’s account via Unified Payments Interface (UPI) instead of physically dispensing bills.
“This will make coins easier to access. Based on the findings from the pilot, guidelines will be issued to banks to encourage the distribution of coins using these machines,” the governor said.
Regarding the outcome of monetary policy for calendar year 2023, the Central Bank Governor said that the RBI will launch QR code based coin machine to facilitate coin access.
In a move that will further increase the cost of borrowing for businesses and individuals, the RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by the governor Shakkanta Das raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 percent on Wednesday.
According to the governor, a rate hike of 25 basis points is considered appropriate at this time. “Reducing the size of the rate hike provides an opportunity to assess the impact of the measures taken so far on the inflation outlook and the economy at large,” he added.
When inflation is high, the central bank tries to reduce the flow of money into the economy. One way to achieve this is by increasing the repo rate. This makes borrowing a costly proposition for businesses and industries, which in turn slows down investment and the supply of money in the market.
