With inflation under check, the Reserve Bank on Tuesday pressed the pause button on hike in key rates, barring a marginal increase in statutory deposits to suck out some liquidity.

RBI has sought to keep monetary policy stable, given the desired moderation by banks and financial institutions in credit disbursals to housing and consumer segments, even though the priority sector loans have shown an upswing, analysts said.

While keeping its overnight lending (repo), borrowing (reverse repo) and bank rate unchanged, it increased by 0.5 per cent the Cash Reserve Ratio - under which commercial banks will now to have park 7 per cent of depositors' money with the central bank.

Bank rate was left unchanged at 6 per cent, repo at 7.75 per cent and reverse repo at 6 per cent.

Although there was no rate hikes in the previous policy meeting on April 24, the central bank had raised the benchmark lending and borrowing rates five times and CRR thrice since mid-2006.

The CRR hike, the second this year, will help suck out excess money from the system, but belies expectations of the common man for an immediate fall in interest rates in view of easy liquidity and low inflation.

However, any further increase in consumer interest rates are also unlikely as the benchmark lending rates have been spared from a hike.

RBI maintained the economic growth projection at 8.5 per cent for 2007-08, and said there was no change in the outlook for inflation - which it seeks to keep within 4-4.5 per cent in medium term and 5 per cent for the fiscal.

The annual rate of inflation on July 14 was 4.41 per cent.

• Highlights of the credit policy