The Reserve Bank of India today left its key policy rates unchanged, in it monetary policy review. Headed by Reserve Bank governor, Urjit Patel, the Monetary Policy Committee for the fourth straight time kept the repo rate, the rate at which the RBI lends to banks, unchanged at 6.25 per cent. The reverse repo, the rate at which the RBI borrows, was also kept steady, at 6 per cent. Five of the six MPC members were in favour of maintaining status quo on the monetary policy decision. But the Reserve Bank slashed the Statutory Liquidity Ratio, SLR, or the percentage of deposits that banks have to park in government securities, by 0.5 per cent, to 20 per cent. The move is expected to raise buoyancy in the loans market, as banks will have more funds for lending. The RBI said the current state of the economy underscores the need to revive private investment, restore banking sector health and remove infrastructural bottlenecks. The apex bank lowered its GDP forecast to 7.3 per cent for the current fiscal, from 7.4 per cent earlier. The RBI said implementation of the Goods and Services Tax is not expected to have a material impact on overall inflation. Later addressing a press conference in Mumbai, the RBI Governor said, the demands for farm loan waivers have raised the risk of fiscal slippages. On demonetisation, Mr Patel said, new figures released by Central Statistics Office present a better picture of the economy as a whole.