In response to a once-in-a-century pandemic in which a health crisis rapidly mutated into a macroeconomic and financial shock, the Reserve Bank of India mounted an unprecedented policy response. While the entire response involved an intertwining of monetary, regulatory, and technological measures, this paper focuses on monetary policy initiatives. Distinguishing between conventional and unconventional policy measures, the paper makes an impact assessment in terms of key macroeconomic and financial variables. The lessons drawn from this unique experience are evaluated, with emphasis on framework flexibility, the critical role of communication in anchoring expectations under extreme uncertainty, and the approach of strategic restraint in the face of a normalisation/ tightening bandwagon across advanced and emerging countries. The paper concludes by peering into the near future in which India prepares to manage the spillovers from divergent monetary policies across the world and geopolitical tensions.
