The rupee declined 31 paise to settle at 90.65 against the US dollar on Friday, weighed down by geopolitical uncertainties over the US-Iran talks, and a sharp rise in global crude oil prices.
With the 115 bps reduction in repo rate beginning February, banks have already transmitted 72 bps to the customers on fresh loans and some large banks have transmitted as much as 85 basis points.
Benchmark lending rates unchanged with repo rate at 5.25%
Mukherjee said uncertainty was still there on oil prices front due to unrest in West Asia and North Africa.
After raising interest rate by a cumulative 250 basis points in 11 months, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday unexpectedly kept benchmark rate unchanged as global banking woes added uncertainty to the economic outlook. Five out of six members of MPC voted to remain focused on the withdrawal of accommodation to ensure inflation aligns with target while focusing on growth, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday. The Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank decided to take a pause after a rate hike seen in previous six consecutive policies.
Activity in the corporate bond market is set to gain momentum following a 25-bp policy repo rate cut by the rate-setting panel of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). State-owned public cebPower Finance Corporation (PFC) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) are planning to raise up to Rs 11,500 crore through bonds on Tuesday as issuers expect borrowing costs to ease.
The muted CPI inflation print at 5% earlier this week, followed by a similar WPI number released Wednesday, seems to have spurred India's central bank into action, is how the economists are reading into Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan's 25 basis point cut in repo rate.
'The government's decision to keep interest rates unchanged on small savings schemes will certainly constrain banks' ability to cut deposit rates further.'
The Reserve Bank has kept the key policy rates unchanged, while the Cash reserve Ratio (CRR) has been cut by 25 bps to 4.25%.
Investors with a 6 to 12 month horizon may consider them. They should align their holding period with the fund's maturity profile and prefer schemes with a lower expense ratio.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra stated that preventing second-round effects of supply shocks, where inflation expectations rise due to prolonged disruptions, is the primary role of monetary policy. He also defended the RBI's foreign exchange market interventions, asserting it did not commit to an 'indefensible peg'.
Today, the economy requires a certain amount of push not just from the monetary policy but also from its transmission: Das.
CRR remains unchanged at 4%; first repo rate cut since May 2013.
Bank lending to companies is expected to go up in the coming quarters because the difference in interest rates between corporate bonds and bank loans has narrowed. In addition, recent policy reforms by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), including allowing domestic banks to do acquisition financing, are expected to give further support to corporate lending, analysts said.
The Reserve Bank of India has no plans to cut the short-term repo rate for some time, a senior central bank official said on Thursday.
The primary focus of monetary policy remains the containment of inflation and anchoring of inflation expectations.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra stated that recent regulatory measures to address foreign exchange market volatility, such as capping banks' net open positions, are temporary and aligned with current market conditions, not signalling any structural shift in policy.
The economic growth is likely to moderate to 6.1 per cent, slowest in over seven quarters, from 6.6 per cent last year same period.
Titan surged 2.98 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, ITC, JSW Steel, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Maruti. Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
High frequency indicators suggest that a growth recovery is underway, but very tentatively and with weak legs, says Saugata Bhattacharya.
Majority of the experts expect a 25 basis point reduction.
The repo rate, at which RBI lends to the banking system, will be at 7.5%
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra, and Deputy Governors Poonam Gupta, T Rabi Sankar, Swaminathan J, and S C Murmu on Friday addressed issues during the post-policy media interaction.
The repo rate, at which the central bank lends to the system, will come down to 5.75 per cent after the cut.
Beyond the fourth quarter of 2019, the report does not see space for further cuts primarily as headline inflation is likely to pick up and cross the 4 per cent target by the end of the year, and output gaps are also estimated to close.
State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Sunday said it has cut its benchmark lending rate linked to repo rate by 50 basis points in line with the RBI's rate reduction. Meanwhile, private sector HDFC Bank reduced its Marginal Cost of Funds-based Lending Rates (MCLR) by 10 basis points across tenure, which will benefit borrowers whose loans are linked to this benchmark.
The net liquidity surplus in the banking system fell to Rs 16,875 crore on Thursday the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed, lowest since 22 January.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday announced to increase the policy repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.9 per cent, the second hike in five weeks aimed at quelling the inflation. The MPC vote was unanimous and has decided to keep stance withdrawal from accommodative, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in a press conference on Wednesday. The decision was taken during a three-day meeting of the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to review the interest rates in the country. The MPC voted unanimously to increase the policy repo rate by 50 bps to 4.90 per cent," Das said.
Home purchase affordability has improved in the first half of calendar year (CY) 2025, after the RBI reduced the repo rate by 100 basis points (bps), according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank India.
The new rate will be effective from December 8. The primary liquidity made available to the system through these measures is worth over Rs 3,00,000 crore (Rs 3,000 billion), RBI Governor D Subbarao said in Mumbai.
From the Sensex firms, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, HCL Tech, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra and Infosys were among the major winners. However, Hindustan Unilever, Eternal, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, and Sun Pharma were among the laggards.
Mixed views were expressed by top economists on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to hold the repo rate at 5.5% and maintain a neutral stance. While some say the decision was as expected and one more rate reduction is expected this fiscal, there is also a view that rate cut by MPC was warranted given the evolving global situation.
Markets will look for clear guidance on how the MPC interprets the uncertainty and what it implies for the future course of monetary policy, points out Rajeswari Sengupta.
'Economic activity appears to have peaked in the second quarter of FY26, with industrial output, exports, and business confidence all softening from October 2025.'
Even if the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee decided to hold interest rates in the October meeting, it acknowledged the scope for further rate cuts while waiting for the impact of the past steps to play out.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to cut the repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.5% was contrary to the expectations of many economists. Firstly, most of the economists expected the MPC to cut the repo rate by 25 bps citing the weakening of inflation, prospects of economic growth, geopolitical uncertainty and comfortable system liquidity.
While participants in the domestic financial market are expecting a 25 basis-point policy repo rate cut in the December meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), economists remain torn between a reduction in rate cut and a pause.
A neutral monetary policy stance, heavy government borrowing, and issuers adjusting to a higher-for-longer yield environment have set the stage for a largely stable corporate bond market in 2026.
This is the fifth straight cut in rates by the Reserve Bank of India in as much policy reviews in 2019, and takes the total quantum of reductions to 1.35 per cent.
Banks are witnessing a surge in hiring for sales staff in secured segments such as home, vehicle and gold loans as compared to the recovery category, driven by a boost in business growth, and a host of regulatory measures aimed at improving ease of doing business, according to industry experts.
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