India keeps interest rates on hold

MUMBAI: India's central bank kept interest rates unchanged on Tuesday as it awaits more evidence that high inflation is easing in Asia's third largest economy.

After a meeting in the financial capital Mumbai, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the benchmark repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, would remain at a steep 8.0 percent.

The move was widely expected by economists who said the RBI was likely to hold rates steady until the impact of just-ended annual rains that farmers rely on and deregulation of fuel price.