Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday left interest rates unchanged in his final monetary policy review, as his three-year term draws to a close. Rajan will give up his post on September 4. The repo rate – the rate at which the RBI lends to commercial banks – remains at 6.5%. The RBI had maintained the same repo rate in is previous monetary policy review in June.

The repo rate helps control inflation, which is one of the major concerns of RBI. Rajan was expected to leave it unchanged and wait for his successor to make any changes to it if necessary. The reverse repo rate – which commercial banks use to charge the central bank – also remained the same at 6%, Rajan said at the bi-monthly review.

It also maintained the Gross Domestic Product outlook at 7.6%. The bank rate remains at 7.0%. The cash reserve ratio also stays at 4%. CRR is the minimum percentage of deposits that banks have to hold in cash or as deposits with the central bank. This is also used to control money supply in the economy.

Rajan had announced in June that he would not continue as RBI governor after his term ended. He had said he would return to academia. The economist had been roundly criticised by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy, who claimed he kept interest rates high on purpose, while accusing him of leaking "sensitive financial information". However, Rajan has been praised by others for keeping inflation low and helping India achieve its fiscal targets.