The repo rate is the RBI's policy rate: the rate at which it lends overnight money to banks against government securities. Around it sit two standing facilities: the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), where banks park surplus money, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF), where they borrow in an emergency. Together they form the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) corridor, which keeps overnight interest rates close to the repo rate. This part explains how each piece works, how the reverse repo rate lost its place as the floor in 2022, and how a change in the repo rate reaches a home-loan EMI. As of 24 October 2026 the rates are: repo 5.50%, SDF 5.25%, MSF and Bank Rate 5.75%.
This part assumes you know what the RBI is and what it does. If not, read the history and evolution of the RBI and the functions and responsibilities of the RBI first. The monetary policy framework itself (the inflation target, the Monetary Policy Committee, transmission and policy stances) is covered in Part 3, how monetary policy works in India. This part covers the instruments.
In the news
- 21 October 2026: MPC minutes published. All six members voted for the October hike, but Dr Nagesh Kumar and Prof. Ram Singh preferred to keep the stance neutral. Why it matters for the exam: minutes come out on the fourteenth day after a meeting, and a split on the stance is not a split on the rate.
- 15 October 2026: SBI passes on the hike. SBI raised its EBLR and RLLR by 25 bp from 15 October. Why it matters for the exam: repo-linked loans reset at least every three months, so policy changes reach borrowers fast.
- 7 October 2026: first repo hike since February 2023. The MPC unanimously raised the repo rate by 25 bp to 5.50%, taking the SDF to 5.25% and the MSF and Bank Rate to 5.75%, and, by a 4–2 vote, changed the stance from neutral to "calibrated tightening". Why it matters for the exam: the SDF and MSF move automatically, 25 bp either side of repo.
- September 2026: record surplus absorbed through VRRR auctions. Surplus liquidity touched about ₹10.3 lakh crore in early September. The RBI ran 55 VRRR auctions between the August and October policies, with cut-offs of 5.24% against a 5.25% repo rate, and sold ₹1 lakh crore of bonds through OMOs. Why it matters for the exam: VRRR cut-offs sit between the SDF and the repo rate.
- February to August 2026: four holds at 5.25%. The MPC left the repo rate unchanged on 6 February, 8 April, 5 June and 5 August, with a neutral stance. Why it matters for the exam: the next meeting is on 2–4 December 2026.
- 5 December 2025: repo cut to 5.25%. The last cut of the 2025 cycle came with ₹1 lakh crore of OMO purchases and a US$5 billion buy/sell swap to add liquidity. Why it matters for the exam: the 2025 cuts totalled 125 bp, from 6.50% to 5.25%.
- 29 November 2025: CRR reaches 3%. The last of four 25 bp tranches of the CRR cut announced on 6 June 2025 took effect, releasing about ₹2.5 lakh crore in all. Why it matters for the exam: CRR is a reserve requirement, not a policy rate.
- 30 September 2025: revised liquidity framework. The RBI kept the call rate as its operating target and the ±25 bp corridor, and made 7-day VRR/VRRR operations the main tool in place of 14-day ones. Why it matters for the exam: "main liquidity operation" now has a 7-day answer.
What a repo is
Sale now, buy back later
A repo (repurchase agreement) is a short-term loan dressed as two trades. The borrower sells securities to the lender for cash today and agrees to buy them back on a fixed future date at a fixed, higher price. The difference between the two prices is the interest. The rate implied by that difference is the repo rate.
The RBI Act defines it in the same way. Section 17(12AB) lets the RBI deal in repo and reverse repo. Its Explanation defines a repo as "an instrument for borrowing funds by selling securities" (central or state government securities, or other specified securities) "with an agreement to repurchase the said securities on a mutually agreed future date at an agreed price which includes interest for the funds borrowed". A reverse repo is the mirror image: lending funds by buying securities with an agreement to resell them.
In Indian policy usage, both are named from the RBI's side: the RBI's "repo" injects money into the system and its "reverse repo" absorbs it. This has been the convention since 29 October 2004, when the RBI swapped the two names to match international usage.
Collateral and haircuts
Because the lender holds securities, a repo is a collateralised loan. The RBI accepts government paper: central government dated securities, Treasury Bills and state development loans (SDLs).
The RBI does not lend the full market value of the collateral. It applies a haircut (the RBI calls it a margin), which protects it if the securities lose value before the bank repays. Since 2018 the margin has depended on the type of security and its residual maturity: lower for short-dated central government paper, higher for long-dated paper and state government securities.
Tenor
Repos can run overnight or for a fixed term. The RBI runs overnight operations, term operations (the main ones are now 7 days) and longer operations when needed.
The policy repo rate and market repo rates
The policy rate is a legal term
The RBI Act gives "Policy Rate" a precise meaning. Section 2(cccci), inserted in 2016, defines it as "the rate for repo-transactions under sub-section (12AB) of section 17". Under Section 45ZB, the Monetary Policy Committee determines this rate, and its decision binds the RBI. So when the news says "the RBI raised the repo rate", it means the six-member MPC voted to change the rate at which the RBI lends to banks in the LAF. Part 3 covers how the MPC decides.
Market repo, TREPS and the call rate
The policy repo rate is one rate set by one lender. Banks, mutual funds, primary dealers and others also lend to each other every day at market rates that float. The main overnight markets are:
- the call money market: unsecured overnight lending between banks and primary dealers;
- market repo: bilateral repos in government securities;
- TREPS (tri-party repo): repos run through the Clearing Corporation of India, which took over from the CBLO product on 5 November 2018.
The RBI's operating target is the weighted average call rate (WACR), the average rate on overnight call loans. It has been the target since 2011, and the September 2025 review kept it. The aim is to keep the WACR close to the repo rate, and the corridor is the tool that does it.
The Liquidity Adjustment Facility
From 1999 to 2004
In April 1999 the RBI introduced an Interim Liquidity Adjustment Facility (ILAF). In June 2000 this became a full Liquidity Adjustment Facility, under which the RBI adjusted system liquidity every day through repo and reverse repo against government securities. The LAF ran on auctions from April 2001 and on fixed rates from 29 March 2004.
In this period the RBI moved two policy rates separately, the repo and the reverse repo, and the gap between them often changed. Markets were not always sure which rate mattered.
2011: the repo rate becomes the single policy rate
A Working Group on the Operating Procedure of Monetary Policy under Deepak Mohanty, then an Executive Director, reported in March 2011. It recommended a single policy rate (the repo rate), the WACR as the operating target and a fixed corridor.
The RBI adopted the core of this in its Monetary Policy Statement of 3 May 2011:
- the repo rate became the single independently varying policy rate, raised that day to 7.25%;
- the reverse repo rate was fixed at 100 bp below the repo rate (6.25%) and stopped moving independently;
- a new Marginal Standing Facility was set 100 bp above the repo rate (8.25%), available from the fortnight beginning 7 May 2011.
The corridor was thus 200 bp wide. The Mohanty group had proposed a 150 bp corridor and an "Exceptional Standing Facility" at the Bank Rate. The RBI chose a wider corridor and a different name.
Narrowing the corridor
The corridor then narrowed in two steps:
| Date | Repo | Reverse repo | MSF | Width |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 May 2011 | 7.25% | 6.25% | 8.25% | 200 bp |
| 5 April 2016 | 6.50% | 6.00% | 7.00% | 100 bp |
| 6 April 2017 | 6.25% | 6.00% | 6.50% | 50 bp |
On 6 April 2017 the repo rate itself did not change. The RBI raised the reverse repo by 25 bp and cut the MSF by 25 bp, so the corridor shrank to ±25 bp. That symmetric 50 bp corridor is still in place, with the SDF in the old reverse repo position.
Term repos, VRR and VRRR
Since August 2014 the RBI has not lent unlimited amounts at the fixed overnight repo rate. Most liquidity now moves through auctions in which banks bid rates:
- VRR (variable rate repo): the RBI injects money, and banks bid at or above the repo rate.
- VRRR (variable rate reverse repo): the RBI absorbs money, and banks bid below the repo rate, in practice above the SDF rate.
Under the February 2020 framework, the main operation was a 14-day VRR or VRRR. The revised framework of 30 September 2025 made 7-day operations the main tool, with overnight to 14-day tenors at the RBI's discretion. Longer VRR/VRRR operations, open market operations and forex swaps remain for durable liquidity.
The September 2026 auctions show how this works. With repo at 5.25% and SDF at 5.00%, banks put ₹5.42 lakh crore into a single three-day VRRR on 4 September at a cut-off of 5.24%, earning almost the repo rate instead of the SDF's 5.00%.
Reverse repo: the old floor
How it worked
Under the fixed rate reverse repo (FRRR), a bank with spare cash lent it to the RBI overnight at a fixed rate and received government securities as collateral. Since a bank could always earn that rate risk-free, it had no reason to lend in the call market for less, so the reverse repo rate was the floor.
Why it lost that role
The reverse repo has a built-in limit. The RBI must hand over securities every time it borrows, so it can absorb only as much as its stock of unencumbered government securities allows. This is the collateral constraint, and it bites when surplus liquidity is very large.
The pandemic added a second problem. On 27 March 2020 the RBI cut the repo rate by 75 bp to 4.40% but the reverse repo by 90 bp to 4.00%, to make parking money with the RBI unattractive. It cut the reverse repo to 3.75% on 17 April and, on 22 May 2020, set repo at 4.00%, reverse repo at 3.35% and MSF at 4.25%. The corridor was now asymmetric and 90 bp wide. With huge surplus liquidity, overnight rates sank towards the reverse repo rate, which in practice became the rate that mattered.
Status today
The RBI did not abolish the reverse repo. On 8 April 2022 it said the SDF "will replace the fixed rate reverse repo (FRRR) as the floor of the LAF corridor" and that the "FRRR rate is retained at 3.35 per cent". The RBI website still lists the Fixed Reverse Repo Rate at 3.35% (October 2026), 215 bp below the repo rate, so no bank uses it while the SDF pays 5.25%. It survives as a discretionary tool, not a policy rate. Variable rate reverse repo auctions (VRRR) are different and remain in heavy use.
The Standing Deposit Facility
The law
The SDF needed a change in the law, because Section 17(1) of the RBI Act lets the RBI accept deposits only "without interest". The Finance Act, 2018 inserted Section 17(1A) into the RBI Act. It allows the RBI to accept "money as deposits, repayable with interest, from banks or any other person under the Standing Deposit Facility Scheme, as approved by the Central Board, from time to time, for the purposes of liquidity management". The power sat unused for four years, until 8 April 2022.
Introduction, 8 April 2022
With the repo rate at 4.00%, the RBI introduced the SDF at 3.75%, replacing the FRRR as the floor and restoring the pre-pandemic 50 bp corridor (SDF 3.75%, repo 4.00%, MSF 4.25%). The RBI called it "an additional tool for absorbing liquidity without any collateral" which, "by removing the binding collateral constraint on the RBI", strengthens the operating framework.
Features
From the RBI's operational press release of 8 April 2022, updated by the September 2025 framework:
- Collateral: none. The bank simply deposits money with the RBI.
- Rate: 25 bp below the repo rate (5.25% now).
- Tenor: overnight, though the RBI can absorb for longer under the SDF if needed.
- Eligibility: all LAF participants. Since the 2025 review, standalone primary dealers also have access.
- Minimum: ₹1 crore, and multiples of ₹1 crore.
- Timing: every day, including Sundays and holidays. The window is now 7:00 pm to 11:59 pm, with no limit on amount.
- Reserve treatment: SDF balances do not count towards CRR, but they are an eligible asset for SLR.
| Fixed rate reverse repo | Standing Deposit Facility | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Section 17(12AB), RBI Act | Section 17(1A), inserted by Finance Act, 2018 |
| Collateral | RBI gives government securities | None |
| Limit on RBI's absorption | RBI's stock of securities | No collateral limit |
| Rate today | 3.35% (fixed since 22 May 2020) | 5.25% (repo minus 25 bp) |
| Role | Floor until 7 April 2022; now discretionary | Floor of LAF corridor since 8 April 2022 |
| Moves with repo? | No | Yes, automatically |
The ceiling: MSF and Bank Rate
Marginal Standing Facility
The MSF is the emergency borrowing window, now at 5.75% (repo + 25 bp). Its special feature is that a bank may dip into securities it needs for its SLR: it can borrow against excess SLR holdings plus up to 2% of NDTL below the required SLR. The limit was 1% in May 2011, 2% from April 2012, and temporarily 3% in 2020–21.
No bank pays much more than the MSF rate overnight when the RBI will always lend at it, so the MSF is the ceiling. The spread has varied: in July 2013 the RBI raised it to 300 bp to squeeze rupee liquidity during the taper tantrum, then cut it back to 100 bp by 29 October 2013, 50 bp in April 2016 and 25 bp from 6 April 2017.
Bank Rate
The Bank Rate is the oldest rate in the RBI Act. Section 49 requires the RBI to publish "the standard rate at which it is prepared to buy or re-discount bills of exchange or other commercial paper". Since 13 February 2012 it has been aligned with the MSF rate, and it is now 5.75%. It still matters because it sets penal rates. Under Section 42(3), a scheduled bank that falls short of its CRR pays penal interest at 3% above the Bank Rate on the shortfall. If the shortfall continues into the next fortnight, the rate rises to 5% above the Bank Rate.
The corridor today
| Rate (24 October 2026) | Level | Position | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSF rate | 5.75% | Ceiling | Emergency overnight borrowing, against securities |
| Bank Rate | 5.75% | Aligned with MSF | Section 49 rate; basis for penal interest |
| Policy repo rate | 5.50% | Centre | Set by the MPC; lending against collateral |
| SDF rate | 5.25% | Floor | Uncollateralised overnight deposits with the RBI |
| Fixed reverse repo rate | 3.35% | Outside the corridor | Retained at RBI's discretion |
| CRR | 3.00% of NDTL | Not a rate of interest | Cash kept with the RBI, earns nothing |
Where the call rate sits tells you about liquidity: in surplus it drifts towards the SDF floor, and in deficit towards the MSF ceiling. On 7 October 2026 the RBI said the WACR had averaged 14 bp below repo since the August policy, the mark of a system in surplus.
Worked examples
Example 1: interest on an overnight repo
A bank borrows ₹1,000 crore from the RBI overnight at the repo rate of 5.50%. Assuming a 365-day year:
- Interest = principal × rate × days ÷ 365
- = ₹1,000 crore × 0.055 × 1 ÷ 365
- = ₹1,000 crore × 0.000150685
- = ₹0.1507 crore, or about ₹15.07 lakh
For comparison, one night at the MSF (5.75%) would cost about ₹15.75 lakh, and parking the same sum in the SDF (5.25%) would earn about ₹14.38 lakh. The ₹1.37 lakh gap is the 50 bp corridor in rupees.
Example 2: the effect of a haircut
A bank needs ₹1,000 crore and offers government securities. For illustration, say the haircut on those securities is 2%.
- Money lent = market value × (1 − haircut).
- If the bank offers securities worth ₹1,000 crore, it gets ₹1,000 × 0.98 = ₹980 crore.
- To get the full ₹1,000 crore, it must offer securities worth ₹1,000 ÷ 0.98 = ₹1,020.41 crore.
The extra ₹20.41 crore is the RBI's cushion against a fall in bond prices. Longer-dated securities, whose prices swing more, carry higher margins.
Example 3: a 25 bp hike and a home-loan EMI
Since 1 October 2019, new floating-rate retail loans must be linked to an external benchmark such as the repo rate and reset at least every three months. A repo-linked rate (EBLR or RLLR) is the repo rate plus a spread, so a 25 bp hike raises the loan rate by 25 bp at the next reset.
Take a ₹50 lakh home loan with 20 years (240 months) left, priced at 8.00% before the hike.
The EMI formula is EMI = P × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ [(1 + r)^n − 1], where r is the monthly rate and n the number of months.
- Before: r = 8.00% ÷ 12 = 0.6667% a month; EMI = ₹41,822.
- After a 25 bp hike to 8.25%: r = 0.6875% a month; EMI = ₹42,603.
- Increase: ₹781 a month, or about ₹9,375 a year.
Many banks first extend the tenure and keep the EMI unchanged. At ₹41,822 a month and 8.25%, the loan would take about 252 months to repay instead of 240, so about 12 extra months.
As a rough check, 25 bp on ₹50 lakh is about ₹1,042 a month of extra interest at the start. The EMI rises by less (₹781) because the extra cost is spread over 20 years as the principal falls.
Repo rate history: key changes
All figures are from the RBI's own records. The repo rate is the LAF repo rate before 3 May 2011 and the single policy rate after.
| Effective date | Repo rate | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 30 July 2008 | 9.00% | Peak before the global financial crisis |
| 21 April 2009 | 4.75% | Low point after crisis cuts |
| 3 May 2011 | 7.25% | Repo becomes single policy rate; MSF introduced |
| 25 October 2011 | 8.50% | Peak of 2010–11 tightening |
| 5 April 2016 | 6.50% | Corridor narrowed to ±50 bp |
| 4 October 2019 | 5.15% | Fifth cut of 2019 (135 bp in all) |
| 27 March 2020 | 4.40% | Pandemic cut of 75 bp; reverse repo cut 90 bp |
| 22 May 2020 | 4.00% | Held here for about two years |
| 4 May 2022 | 4.40% | Off-cycle hike starts a 250 bp tightening |
| 8 February 2023 | 6.50% | End of the hiking cycle |
| 7 February 2025 | 6.25% | First cut in nearly five years |
| 6 June 2025 | 5.50% | 50 bp cut; CRR cut of 100 bp announced |
| 5 December 2025 | 5.25% | Last cut of the 2025 cycle |
| 7 October 2026 | 5.50% | First hike since February 2023 |
Common exam traps
Reverse repo vs SDF. Both absorb money from banks, but the SDF needs no collateral, sits 25 bp below repo and is the floor since 8 April 2022. The fixed reverse repo needs the RBI to hand over securities and is stuck at 3.35%. If a question asks for the current floor, the answer is the SDF.
MSF vs Bank Rate. They are equal (5.75%), but they are different things. The MSF is an overnight borrowing window under the LAF. The Bank Rate is a published rate under Section 49, used today mainly for penal interest. Equal rates do not make them the same facility.
Repo vs CRR. The repo rate is a price (the cost of borrowing from the RBI). The CRR is a quantity (the share of NDTL a bank must keep with the RBI as cash, under Section 42). A repo hike makes money dearer. A CRR cut releases money for lending. In 2025 the RBI did both kinds of easing: repo cuts, plus a 100 bp CRR cut to 3%.
Who decides what. The MPC decides only the repo rate. The SDF and MSF follow automatically, and the RBI itself sets the corridor width, CRR and liquidity operations.
"Reverse repo rate abolished." It was not. It stopped being the floor in April 2022, but the RBI still lists it at 3.35%.
Key facts at a glance
| Repo rate (24 October 2026) | 5.50% (raised 25 bp on 7 October 2026) |
| SDF rate | 5.25% (floor of LAF corridor) |
| MSF rate | 5.75% (ceiling of LAF corridor) |
| Bank Rate | 5.75% (aligned with MSF since 13 February 2012) |
| Fixed reverse repo rate | 3.35% (unchanged since 22 May 2020) |
| CRR | 3.00% of NDTL (since 29 November 2025) |
| Corridor width | 50 bp, symmetric ±25 bp around repo (since 6 April 2017, restored 8 April 2022) |
| "Policy Rate" in law | Section 2(cccci): repo rate under Section 17(12AB), RBI Act |
| SDF legal basis | Section 17(1A), RBI Act, inserted by Finance Act, 2018 |
| SDF introduced | 8 April 2022 at 3.75% |
| MSF introduced | Announced 3 May 2011; from fortnight beginning 7 May 2011 |
| LAF | Interim LAF April 1999; full LAF June 2000 |
| Single policy rate | Repo, since 3 May 2011 (Deepak Mohanty Working Group, March 2011) |
| Operating target | Weighted average call rate (WACR) |
| Main liquidity operation | 7-day VRR/VRRR (framework of 30 September 2025) |
Exam corner: what to remember
- Repo injects, reverse repo absorbs, both named from the RBI's side. The names were swapped to international usage on 29 October 2004.
- The repo rate became the single policy rate on 3 May 2011, following the Deepak Mohanty Working Group. The MSF was born at the same time.
- Corridor width: 200 bp (2011) → 100 bp (5 April 2016) → 50 bp (6 April 2017). It was widened to 90 bp in the pandemic and restored to 50 bp on 8 April 2022.
- The SDF is the floor since 8 April 2022. It is uncollateralised, rests on Section 17(1A) (Finance Act, 2018) and counts for SLR but not CRR.
- The fixed reverse repo is still on the books at 3.35%, but it is not the floor.
- MSF = Bank Rate = repo + 25 bp. MSF is a borrowing window; the Bank Rate (Section 49) sets penal interest (Section 42(3)).
- Current corridor: SDF 5.25% | repo 5.50% | MSF 5.75%, after the 7 October 2026 hike, the first since February 2023. The stance is now "calibrated tightening".
- VRRR cut-offs sit between SDF and repo (5.24% when repo was 5.25% in September 2026). The main operation is now 7-day (since September 2025).
- Repo-linked loans reset at least every three months (external benchmark rule from 1 October 2019).
For exam-specific syllabus and pattern details, see our pages for RBI Grade B, SBI PO and IBPS PO.
Test yourself
From which date did the Standing Deposit Facility replace the fixed rate reverse repo as the floor of the LAF corridor?
Show answer
Answer: (c) The SDF was introduced at 3.75% on 8 April 2022 and became the floor of the corridor.
Which provision of the RBI Act empowers the RBI to run the Standing Deposit Facility?
Show answer
Answer: (a) Section 17(1A), inserted by the Finance Act, 2018, allows the RBI to accept deposits under an SDF scheme for liquidity management.
Which of these lets the RBI absorb liquidity without giving any collateral?
Show answer
Answer: (c) The SDF is uncollateralised, which removes the RBI's collateral constraint. Reverse repos require the RBI to give securities.
The repo rate became the single independently varying policy rate in:
Show answer
Answer: (c) This happened on 3 May 2011, when the MSF was also introduced, following the Deepak Mohanty Working Group.
A bank borrows ₹500 crore overnight under the MSF at 5.75%. Assuming a 365-day year, the interest is closest to:
Show answer
Answer: (c) ₹500 crore × 5.75% ÷ 365 = ₹0.0788 crore, or about ₹7.88 lakh; (b) is the answer at the repo rate of 5.50%.
A bank offers G-secs with a market value of ₹200 crore in a repo with a 3% haircut. How much can it borrow?
Show answer
Answer: (a) ₹200 crore × (1 − 0.03) = ₹194 crore; the ₹6 crore haircut protects the lender.
A scheduled bank that falls short of its CRR pays penal interest, in the first fortnight, at:
Show answer
Answer: (b) Section 42(3) sets penal interest at 3% above the Bank Rate, rising to 5% above it if the shortfall continues.
Which statement about the Bank Rate is correct today?
Show answer
Answer: (c) The Bank Rate has moved with the MSF rate since February 2012 and is now 5.75%.
At its meeting of 5–7 October 2026, the MPC raised the repo rate to 5.50% and changed its stance to:
Show answer
Answer: (d) The MPC moved from neutral to calibrated tightening, which rules out cuts in the near term.
Under the RBI's revised liquidity management framework of September 2025, the main operation for managing short-term liquidity is:
Show answer
Answer: (b) The 14-day VRR/VRRR was replaced by mainly 7-day operations, with other tenors at the RBI's discretion.
Further reading
- Report of the Working Group on Operating Procedure of Monetary Policy (Deepak Mohanty, March 2011): the report behind the 2011 single policy rate. It explains why the RBI moved away from two policy rates.
- Report of the Internal Working Group to Review the Liquidity Management Framework (RBI, September 2019): a clear history of the LAF from 1999 to 2019 and the basis for the February 2020 framework.
- Report of the Internal Working Group to Review the Liquidity Management Framework (RBI, August 2025): the latest review, chaired by Deputy Governor Poonam Gupta, covering the SDF era and the case for 7-day operations.
- RBI press release on the revised liquidity management framework, 30 September 2025: the current rules for the corridor, SDF and MSF timings and the main operation, all on one page.
- Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies, 8 April 2022: the RBI's own reasoning for introducing the SDF and restoring the 50 bp corridor.
- Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy: Major Monetary Policy Rates and Reserve Requirements: every change in repo, reverse repo, SDF, MSF, Bank Rate, CRR and SLR since 2007, with notes on the corridor's history.
- Report of the Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework (Urjit Patel Committee, 2014): the report that reshaped liquidity management in 2014, with the move to term repos, as well as inflation targeting.
- Duvvuri Subbarao, Who Moved My Interest Rate? (Penguin, 2016): the Governor who introduced the single policy rate and the MSF, and who ran the 2013 MSF squeeze, explains the thinking behind them.
Sources
- RBI, Governor's Statement, 7 October 2026: repo rate raised 25 bp to 5.50%, SDF 5.25%, MSF and Bank Rate 5.75%, unanimous vote, stance changed to calibrated tightening, 55 VRRR auctions and ₹1.0 lakh crore OMO sales since the August policy, net LAF absorption of ₹7.8 lakh crore in September, WACR 14 bp below repo (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI, Minutes of the MPC meeting of 5–7 October 2026 (released 21 October 2026): unanimous hike, two members preferring a neutral stance, next meeting 2–4 December 2026 (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI website home page, Current Rates: repo 5.50%, SDF 5.25%, MSF 5.75%, Bank Rate 5.75%, Fixed Reverse Repo Rate 3.35%, CRR 3.00%, SLR 18.00% (accessed 24 October 2026)
- Business Today, 21 October 2026: SBI raised EBLR and RLLR by 25 bp from 15 October 2026; EMI illustration for a ₹50 lakh, 20-year loan (accessed 24 October 2026)
- Free Press Journal, 4 September 2026: two three-day VRRR auctions on 4 September 2026 absorbing ₹6.02 lakh crore at a 5.24% cut-off; surplus about ₹10.32 lakh crore on 3 September (accessed 24 October 2026)
- Outlook Business, September 2026: announcement of ₹1 lakh crore OMO sales in three tranches in September 2026 (accessed 24 October 2026)
- Outlook Money, August 2026: repo held at 5.25% on 5 August 2026, SDF 5.00%, MSF 5.50% (accessed 24 October 2026)
- Outlook Money, 2026: repo held at 5.25% in February and April 2026 with a neutral stance (accessed 24 October 2026)
- Chola Securities, June 2026: repo held at 5.25% on 5 June 2026 (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI, MPC Resolution, 5 December 2025: repo cut 25 bp to 5.25%, SDF 5.00%, MSF and Bank Rate 5.50%, unanimous vote (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI press release, 5 December 2025: OMO purchases of ₹1,00,000 crore and a US$5 billion three-year buy/sell swap (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI, Governor's Statement, 6 June 2025: repo cut 50 bp to 5.50%; CRR cut of 100 bp to 3% in four tranches, releasing about ₹2.5 lakh crore (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI Annual Report 2025-26: CRR tranches effective from the fortnights beginning 6 September, 4 October, 1 November and 29 November 2025; 2025 repo cuts (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI press release, Revised Liquidity Management Framework, 30 September 2025: WACR as operating target, ±25 bp corridor, 7-day main operation replacing 14-day, SDF and MSF timings, MSF limit, standalone PD access (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI, Report of the IWG to Review the Liquidity Management Framework, 2025: LAF history, April 2016 and April 2017 corridor changes, pandemic 90 bp corridor, SDF replacing FRRR (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI, Report of the IWG to Review the Liquidity Management Framework, 2019: Interim LAF April 1999, full LAF June 2000, October 2004 fixed-rate operations, August 2014 end of unlimited fixed-rate accommodation (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI, Report of the Working Group on Operating Procedure of Monetary Policy, 2011: Deepak Mohanty as chair; single repo rate, WACR target, 150 bp corridor and Exceptional Standing Facility proposals (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI, Handbook of Statistics, Major Monetary Policy Rates and Reserve Requirements: all rate changes from 2007 to February 2025; notes on the 2004 name swap, 3 May 2011 single policy rate, reverse repo pegs, SDF from 8 April 2022, MSF history, limits and spreads, Bank Rate alignment (accessed 24 October 2026)
- Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (RBI publication): Sections 2(cccci), 17(1A) (inserted by the Finance Act, 2018), 17(12AB), 42(3), 45ZB and 49 (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI, Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies, 8 April 2022: SDF at 3.75% without collateral, removal of collateral constraint, corridor restored to 50 bp, FRRR retained at 3.35% (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI press release, RBI to operationalise SDF, 8 April 2022: SDF eligibility, overnight tenor, ₹1 crore minimum, CRR and SLR treatment (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI Annual Report 2020-21: 27 March 2020 repo cut of 75 bp and reverse repo cut of 90 bp to make parking funds with the RBI unattractive (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI press release, 22 May 2020: repo 4.00%, reverse repo 3.35%, MSF and Bank Rate 4.25% (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI Annual Report 2018-19, Chapter VII: margin requirements on SDLs in the LAF by residual maturity (accessed 24 October 2026)
- RBI circular, External Benchmark Based Lending, 4 September 2019: floating-rate retail and MSE loans linked to external benchmarks from 1 October 2019; reset at least once in three months (accessed 24 October 2026)
- NSE Indices press release, 2 November 2018: CCIL's tri-party repo replacing CBLO from 5 November 2018 (accessed 24 October 2026)