The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its key repo rate for the first time in nearly five years on Friday to provide stimulus to the sluggish economy, which is expected to grow at its slowest pace in four years in the current fiscal year.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which consists of three RBI and three external members, cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent after having kept the rate unchanged for eleven straight policy meetings.

All six MPC members voted to cut the repo rate and maintained its monetary policy stance at “neutral”.

The MPC noted that though growth is expected to recover, it is much lower than last year and inflation dynamics have opened space for rate easing, RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra said in the first policy review since his appointment in December.

India’s government has forecast annual growth of 6.4 per cent in the year ending in March, below the lower end of its initial projection, weighed by a weaker manufacturing sector and slower corporate investments. Growth is seen in a 6.3 to 6.8 per cent range in the next fiscal year as well.