RBI Monetary Policy 2025 LIVE Updates: Sanjay Malhotra's 4th rate cut, liquidity boost, GDP & CPI forecast revisions—Key takeaways

RBI Monetary Policy 2025 Live: $5-billion dollar-rupee swap 

The RBI will conduct a USD/INR buy/sell swap to the tune of $5 billion on December 16.

The swap will have a tenor of three years. 

A currency swap is a special tool that enables two parties to exchange equivalent amounts of different currencies and then reverse the exchange at a later date. 

RBI Monetary Policy 2025 Live: 10 major takeaways from Dec 1 MPC statement 

• RBI cuts repo rate by 0.25% to 5.25%
• Fifty-three of the economists polled by Zee Business projected a 25-bp rate cut 
• Policy stance remains 'neutral'; MPC decides rate and stance action unanimously 
• Sharp fall in inflation, expected to remain lower than earlier projections
• Rate cut aimed at supporting growth
• RBI's big liquidity boost: Will buy Rs 1 lakh crore worth of government bonds this month
• FY26 GDP growth outlook raised from 6.8% to 7.3%
• FY26 CPI forecast lowered from 2.6% to 2%
• Gold and silver rally accounts for 0.5% of inflation
• Forex reserves strong at $686 billion (as of Nov 28)

RBI Monetary Policy 2025 Live: RBI's latest liquidity measures--A summary

The RBI has announced the following operations this month December to inject liquidity into the banking system:

• OMO purchase auctions of GSecs for Rs 1,00,000 crore in two tranches of Rs 50,000 crore each (to be held on December 11 and December 18) 
• USD/INR buy/sell swap auction of $5 billion for three years (December 16)

The RBI says it will continue to monitor evolving liquidity and market conditions and take measures as appropriate to ensure orderly liquidity conditions.

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE Updates: Pressure on rupee to ease with liquidity measures, says SBI MD

In an exclusive interaction with Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi, SBI MD Ashwini Kumar Tewari says that pressure on the rupee is set to ease given the RBI's latest liquidity measures. 

RBI Monetary Policy 2025 Live: Will there be another rate cut? Ajay Bagga weighs in

Here's what Ajay Bagga says: 

• Expectation of another rate cut in February 
• RBI has signalled that it's easing the policy based on domestic factors 
• Such low levels of inflation should give the RBI the confidence to announce a February rate cut 

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE Updates: Data dependent, commentary dovish, says Ajay Bagga 

Market veteran Ajay Bagga's first reaction to the December 5 policy statement: The decisions are data-dependent and the commentary dovish.

He also says that overall, the policy is pragmatic and courageous. 

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE Updates: Bond yields have been rangebound since October review

The RBI governor points out that the domestic bond yields have moved in a range since the October MPC review. 

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE Updates: Rs 68,600 crore forex reserves as of November 28

The RBI chief states that the country's forex reserves stood at Rs 68,600 crore, as of November 28. 

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE Updates: Strong FDI growth recorded in H1 FY26

The RBI governor says that the economy has witnessed strong growth in foreign direct investment in the first half of the current financial year (April-September 2025).  

RBI Monetary Policy 2025 Live: Purpose of OMOs is to provide sufficient liquidity, says RBI chief

Sanjay Malhotra says that the purpose of open market operations is to ensure sufficient liquidity in the domestic banking system, and not to influence GSec yields.

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE Updates: FY26 inflation projection lowered by 60 bps

The RBI has revised its consumer inflation projection for the current financial year to 2.0 per cent from 2.6 per cent, with quarterly estimates as follows: 

Quarter  Previous  Now

Q3FY26          1.8%        0.6%
Q4FY26          4.0%        2.9%
Q1FY27          4.5%        3.9%

The RBI has pegged inflation at 4.0 per cent in the second half of FY27.

RBI Monetary Policy 2025 Live: MSF cut from 5.75% to 5.50%

The Margin Standing Facility (MSF) is a window that enables commercial banks to borrow overnight funds from the RBI when faced with short-term liquidity shortages.

It is essentially an emergency borrowing option.

MSF allows scheduled commercial banks to borrow funds from the RBI overnight.

The MSF rate is higher than the repo rate -- meaning borrowing under MSF is costlier.

Banks use it only when they have exhausted other borrowing options, like Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF).

RBI Monetary Policy 2025 Live: BREAKING--2025 has been a challenging year, says RBI governor

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE Updates: BREAKING--RBI lowers FY26 consumer inflation projection

RBI Monetary Policy LIVE: BREAKING--Repo rate cut by 25 bps, MPC decision unanimous

RBI MPC Policy Review LIVE: What market guru Anil Singhvi expects today

According to Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi:

• Opinions are mixed on whether interest rates will be cut after a long time
• Growth is strong and inflation is extremely low; even though GDP growth is at 8.2 per cent, a rate cut looks necessary
• With inflation at a record low, nominal GDP growth at 8.7 per cent is very weak
• For stronger growth, double-digit nominal GDP growth is needed along with slightly higher inflation
• All other indicators of the economy are very strong
• In this situation, the RBI should announce a rate cut today
• The RBI governor has clearly indicated an impending rate cut in interview to Zee Business 

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE: Before Dec policy, a summary of key rate action in 2025

From February through June 2025, the RBI has cut the repo rate by 100 basis points in total. 

• February 2025: Cut by 25 bps to 6.25%
• April 2025: Cut by 25 bps to 6.00%
• June 2025: Cut by 50 bps to 5.50% (CRR reduced by 100 bps to boost liquidity)

After June, in the subsequent reviews (August and October), the repo rate was held unchanged at 5.50 per cent. 

RBI MPC December 2025 Review LIVE: Take a look at GDP projections

In the October statement, the RBI stated that agriculture and rural demand prospects were further brightened by an above normal monsoon, good progress on the kharif sowing front and adequate reservoir levels, with buoyancy in services sector coupled with steady employment conditions being supportive of demand (also expected to get a further boost from GST 2.0). 

As per the October review, the RBI pegs GDP growth as follows:

• FY26: 6.8%
• Q2: 7.0%
• Q3: 6.4%
• Q4: 6.2%
• Q1 FY27: 6.4%

RBI MPC Policy Review LIVE: Take a look at inflation projections

At the October policy review, the RBI said that domestic inflation conditions remain benign "with actual outcomes turning out to be significantly lower than projections", attributing lower inflation mainly to a sharp fall in food inflation.

Core inflation -- inflation excluding volatile elements like energy and food -- remained largely contained, stated the RBI.

After the October statement, the inflation reading hit a record low of 0.25 per cent in October. 

As per the October statement, the RBI's inflation forecasts are as follows:

• FY26: 2.6%
• Q2: 1.8%
• Q3: 1.8%
• Q4: 4.0%
• Q1 FY27: 4.5%

RBI MPC Meeting 2025 LIVE Update: Will the RBI tweak inflation or GDP forecasts today?

Four-fifths of the economists polled by Zee Business expect revisions in both GDP and CPI projections.

In October, the MPC raised its FY26 growth projection by 30 bps to 6.8 per cent and cut its inflation projection by 50 bps to 2.6 per cent. Read more about October policy review

RBI MPC Policy Review 2025: Key things to watch out for in December policy

According to Zee Business research, the RBI’s commentary will be closely tracked for the following:

• Rupee depreciation
• Future rate-cut signals
• Open Market Operations (OMO)
• Consumption growth and demand outlook

RBI MPC Review LIVE: Will Sanjay Malhotra announce change in policy stance today?

Two-thirds of economists polled by Zee Business expect the MPC to maintain a ‘neutral’ policy stance in today's review.

A neutral stance of policy allows flexibility in either direction. In fact, it also means the RBI can even keep the policy unchanged.

The remaining one-third of economists expect a shift to ‘accommodative’ in the December review. .

RBI MPC Review LIVE: What to expect in today's policy review? Will there be a repo rate cut?

Fifty-three per cent of the economists polled by Zee Business expect no change in the repo rate in December, with the remaining 47 per cent anticipating a cut of 25 basis points (bps). Read more on what to expect in today's policy

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE: What is a policy stance and what does a 'neutral' stance indicate? 

A policy stance reflects the MPC’s overall approach or bias toward future rate moves. Practically, it tells the market whether the RBI is leaning towards raising rates, cutting rates or holding them steady over the next few reviews.

The current stance of policy -- which is the 'neutral' stance -- means the RBI is not tilted either towards raising or lowering key lending rates, but is rather keeping all options open.

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE: What is repo rate and how does it impact the common man?

Repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI lends short-term funds to commercial banks.

Simply put, it is the rate at which banks borrow from the RBI when they require quick funds.

It is this very interest rate that decides how easy or expensive it is to borrow money in the system, impacting loan EMIs, FD returns, inflation, business activity and employment.

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE: Rate cut already cut by 100 bps in three revisions so far this year

The MPC has already trimmed the repo rate -- the key interest rate at which the RBI lends to commercial banks -- cumulatively by 100 basis points (bps) across three revisions in the current easing cycle since February. The December review follows the MPC’s status quo on rate and stance in October.

The repo rate currently stands at 5.50 per cent, with the stance at ‘neutral’.

The RBI kicked off the three-day MPC review on Wednesday.

The panel meets six times a year for scheduled reviews and any additional number of times if required, especially in emergencies like the pandemic. 

RBI MPC Meeting LIVE: Will last policy review of 2025 bring a change in policy stance? 

All eyes will be on RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday morning as he announces the outcome of the bi-monthly review of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) today.

This is the last scheduled review of the calendar year and comes days after official data showed India’s GDP growth hitting a six-quarter high with retail inflation at an all-time low -- settings that typically favour a rate cut.

Yet, economists remain divided on whether the Malhotra-headed panel will cut the benchmark lending rate in December, after keeping both the repo rate and the policy stance unchanged in the previous meeting.