RBI Monetary Policy, MPC Meet 2026 Highlights: The Reserve Bank of India has kept repo rate unchanged at 5.25%, maintains ‘Neutral’ stance.
Going forward, the RBI Monetary Policy Committee will be guided by external and domestic factors. External headwinds have intensified but the successful completion of the trade deal with the US augurs well for the economy, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in his policy statement. Inflation remains benign, he added.
RBI revises real GDP outlook for Q1 FY27 higher
The economy is expected to grow 7.4% in the current financial year and the government’s economic adviser has forecast growth at 6.8-7.2% next year.While trade tensions with the U.S. have been a drag on the world’s fifth-largest economy, the U.S. has agreed to cut tariffs on Indian imports in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.
Aggressive rate cut cycle seen in FY26
The central bank had earlier cut rates by a total of 125 basis points since February 2025 to December 2025. This is the most aggressive easing since 2019. It had cut rates by 25 basis points in the previous meeting of December.
BI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates:RBI measures timely support for NBFCs
Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Chairman, Bandhan Group, said that RBI’s recent measures provide timely and well-calibrated support to both NBFCs and MSMEs. Regulatory relief for smaller, limited-scope NBFCs will meaningfully reduce compliance burden while preserving systemic stability.
"The easing of branch-opening norms will further strengthen financial access in underserved and remote regions. In parallel, the enhancement of the collateral-free loan limit for MSMEs from ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh will significantly widen formal credit access for them. Together, these steps will reinforce the resilience of India’s broader financial ecosystem and help entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, ultimately supporting job creation"
BI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: REITs industry bodies welcomes direct bank lending decision
Indian REITs Association (IRA) said that the direct access to bank lending provides REITs with a stable, long-term source of funding, expanding the avenues of fund raising for these instruments. The industry body said that it is particularly important for an asset class built on long-duration, income-generating real estate.
“The ability to borrow at the REIT level is also expected to result in more efficient financing costs. REITs today raise debt funds through issuance of debt securities which are subscribed by mutual funds, NBFCs, etc. Since these investors prefer instruments with 3-5 years tenor, long term funding remains a challenge.”, IRA said.
“With RBI allowing banks to lend to REITs, these vehicles will be able to access long term funding.”, its added.
BI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Loan limit increase to aid small sclae industries
Umesh Mohanan, Executive Director & CEO, Indel Money, said the decision to raise the collateral-free loan limit for MSMEs to ₹20 lakh is a decisive move at a time when exports remain weak and domestic consumption is uneven. It will enhance credit flow to manufacturing and small enterprises.
He stated that in the banking segment, easing unsecured lending norms for Urban Cooperative Banks along with the launch of Mission SAKSHAM is expected to strengthen governance, profitability, and last-mile financing, particularly in the Tier-III and Tier-IV cities."
Collateral-free MSME loans up to Rs 20 lakh to boost NBFC reach: Abhimanyu Munjal
Abhimanyu Munjal, MD & CEO of Hero FinCorp said that the collateral-free loan limit for MSMEs to Rs 20 lakh will enable NBFCs like Hero FinCorp to expand access to formal credit more effectively across tier-2 and tier-3 markets.
"Coming after a mature and investor-friendly Union Budget, this steady policy stance gives NBFCs and India Inc the confidence to plan for the year ahead," Munjal said.
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: RBI to compensate fraud-hit customers up to 85% of total amount
"We will compensate fraud-hit customers up to Rs 25,000, or 85% of total amount, as long as transaction is not malafide," says RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra during the post MPC meeting.
He said RBI’s assessment shows around 65% of fraud cases involve amounts below Rs 55,000, making consumer protection a priority. The Governor added that the draft framework will be released very shortly.
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Tata Capital says policy stability supportive for NBFCs
Rajiv Sabharwal, MD & CEO, Tata Capital, said that the RBI MPC’s decision to maintain status quo on the repo rate at 5.25%, coming immediately after the growth-oriented Union Budget, signals the RBI’s continued focus on sustaining the economic momentum while keeping inflation within its comfort band.
"The policy stance allows the transmission of earlier measures to continue, while providing stability and predictability for borrowers and financial institutions amid evolving global and domestic conditions." he added.
Sabharwal added that the proposed customer protection measures relating to mis-selling, recovery practices and limited liability in unauthorised transactions are constructive initiatives that would strengthen transparency and trust within the financial system.
Importantly, the proposed enhancement of the collateral-free MSME loan cap to ₹20 lakh from ₹10 lakh is a meaningful step towards improving credit access for small businesses and supporting formalisation, Sabharwal stated
"Overall, policy stability combined with targeted regulatory measures provides a supportive environment for NBFCs to sustain credit momentum and contribute to inclusive economic growth"
RBI allowed banks to lend to real estate investment trusts, subject to prudential safeguards, extending a facility already available to infrastructure investment trusts.
"Upon review and considering the presence of strong regulatory and governance framework for listed REITs, it is proposed to permit commercial banks to extend finance to REITs, subject to appropriate prudential safeguards," RBI Governor said.
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: RBI to use VRRs, OMOs to manage liquidity
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said that the central bank has 'a number of tools' to manage liquidity, including short- and long-term Variable Rate Repos (VRRs) and open market operations (OMOs).
He said the immediate target is to keep overnight rates aligned with the repo rate, with the expectation that this anchoring will gradually transmit to other market rates as well.
RBI will continue to provide sufficient liquidity, says Governor Sanjay Malhotra
“We will continue to provide sufficient liquidity pre-emptively. We have also provided liquidity outside the monetary policy,” RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said at the press conference after the MPC decision.
“Our duty is to provide sufficient liquidity to meet the productive needs of the economy and ensure effective transmission,” Malhotra added.
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Real estate sector seeks further rate cut to boost affordability and demand
Lalit Parihar, Managing Director of Aaiji Group, a Dholera-based real estate firm belives that a further rate cut would have enabled businesses to access cheaper credit and undertake timely capacity expansion to meet both global export opportunities and rising domestic demand.
"With real estate playing a pivotal role in driving economic growth, additional easing would have provided much-needed relief to developers to respond to anticipated demand across segments, while also encouraging homebuyers to take quicker purchase decisions. Further monetary easing would have enhanced affordability, helping homebuyers absorb rising property prices and sustain momentum in housing demand," Parihar noted
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Budget boost and trade optimism back RBI’s decision to stay on hold
" RBI maintained its key repo rate at 5.25% during its February 2026 meeting, the first monetary policy decision of the year, after cutting it by 25 bps at the December meeting, in line with forecasts, amid confidence in a softer inflation outlook and improving growth prospects," Jigar Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at Indusind Securities noted.
India’s annual inflation accelerated to 1.33% in December 2025 but remained below the RBI’s tolerance band of 2%–6%, while GDP grew 8.2% in the September quarter, marking the fastest expansion since Q1 2024.
The decision comes after the Union Budget boosted government spending and US–India trade deals raised expectations of stronger economic growth.
The Reserve Bank of India has also proposed to double the limit for collateral-free loans to MSMEs to Rs 20 lakh from the existing Rs 10 lakh, in a move aimed at improving access to formal credit for small businesses.
Commenting on RBI move to exempt entities without public funds or customer interface and with assets below Rs 1,000 crore from registration requirements. Deepak Shenoy, CEO of Capitalmind AMC said, “This is huge! This basically removes the entire. 50:50 rule that prevents us from creating companies only for the purpose of investing!”
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Elara expects a prolonged RBI pause
Garima Kapoor, Deputy Head of Research and Economist at Elara Capital, said the RBI’s MPC decided to keep the repo rate unchanged, focusing on effective transmission of the rate cuts already undertaken and drawing comfort from the economy’s healthy growth trajectory, while awaiting the new GDP and CPI series.
“With inflation expected to rise going forward amid the normalisation of food prices and adverse base effects, the scope for further rate cuts has narrowed. A shock to the growth–inflation balance would be required to trigger another rate cut. For now, we expect a prolonged pause from the RBI,” Kapoor said.
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Regulatory relief for smaller NBFCs
RBI announced regulatory relief for smaller non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), proposing to exempt entities without public funds or customer interface and with assets below Rs 1,000 crore from registration requirements. The central bank also said certain NBFCs may no longer need prior approval to open more than 1,000 branches.
RBI proposes Rs 25,000 compensation for small-value fraud losses; to issue draft norms on mis-selling, loan recovery and fraud protection
“For customer protection, we will issue three draft guidelines: one relating to mis-selling; two, regarding recovery of loans and engagement of recovery agents; and three, on limiting the liability of customers in unauthorised electronic banking transactions. It is also proposed to introduce a framework to compensate customers up to an amount of Rs 25,000 for losses incurred in small-value fraudulent transactions,” RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said while announcing the MPC decision.
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: GDP growth projection
FY26 GDP growth: 7.4% Vs 7.3% earlier
Q1 FY27: 6.9% Vs 6.7% earlier
Q2FY27: 7.0% Vs 6.8% earlier
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Markets check
Indian markets didn't show much move to the announcement of RBI MPC meeting's outcome to retain the lending rates. The policy sensitive stocks like banking remained unchaged, along with Realty stocks. Also, the NBFC stocks didn't see much movement.
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Economy in a good spot,' RBI Governor
'Indian economy in a good spot amid global uncertainties,' says RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Markets trade lower
As the RBI Governer kept the key lending rates unchanged at 5.25%, while maintaining 'Neutral' stance, the Indian markets also didn't react and continued to walk on the same rhythm. The Nifty 50 was opened lower and further drifted to 0.36% to trade at 25,551, while the BSE Sensex dropped 228 points or 0.27% to trade at 83,100.
Overall FY26 inflation projection at: 2.1% Vs 2% earlier
Q3FY26: 0.6%
Q4FY26: 3.2 Vs 2.9% earlier
Q1 FY27: 4% Vs 3.9% earlier
Q2FY27: 4.2% Vs 4% earlier
RBI raised Q1FY27 GDP projection to 6.9% and also revised upwards Q2FY27 GDP projection to 7%.
"India-US trade deal along with India-UK and other trade deal will support exports over the medium term," says RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra.
Standing Deposit Facility (SDF): 5%
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) & Bank Rate: 5.5%
The RBI MPC, under the leadership of Governor Sanjay Malhotra, unanimously decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.25%. It maintained a ‘neutral’ stance.
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra begins Monetary policy speech. Policy decisions to be announced soon.
Nuvama pointed out that the liquidity conditions in the banking system have remained tight over the past few months, reducing the impact of monetary easing. Banking sector liquidity, measured as a share of Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL), has stayed below 1% for the last five months and fell to a very tight around 0.2% in January. Pressure on the exchange rate and the RBI’s intermittent intervention have limited the effectiveness of open market operations (OMO). In the previous meeting, the RBI decided to conduct open market operations of 1 trillion rupees ($11.14 billion) to buy bonds this month, and another $5 billion in forex swaps to add liquidity to the banking system and speed up transmission of lower rates.
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates:'India-US trade deal to support flows, give RBI liquidity leeway,' Nuvama
Nuvama in its report highlighted that the trade deal between US and India shall help support foreign flows and India Rupee, which gives RBI leeway to manage domestic liquidity.
"The economy is bottoming out, but the recovery is yet to become broad-based. Furthermore, the global backdrop remains far from certain and general market volatility is elevated. Accordingly, the RBI is likely to remain in a wait-and-watch mode," Nuvama noted
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: Liquidity management, not rate cuts, next focus for RBI
Nuvama also expects RBI to maintain status quo after cumulative easing of 125 basis points, bringing repo rate to 5.25%.
"Transmission to bank lending rates is in progress and bond yields have been quite sticky. Hence, for now, the central bank is likely to focus more on liquidity management than rate action," Nuvama noted.
RBI MPC Meeting 2026 LIVE Updates: BofA sees RBI done with rate cuts
A BofA Global Research said the RBI's rate-cutting cycle appears to be over for now.
The trade deal now would boost the growth certainty, and the current momentum seen in high-frequency indicators can continue to sustain, it said.
"We also believe the RBI is now done cutting rates but will continue to manage its liquidity provisions carefully to ensure rate transmission remains active," the note said.