RBI MPC Meet 2026 Highlights: Sanjay Malhotra-led MPC keeps repo rate unchanged at 5.25%; sees FY26 GDP growth at 7.4%

RBI Policy 2026 Highlights: Here are key takeaways from February RBI monetary policy today:

1] Policy Measures

• Repo rate unchanged 5.25%
• Policy stance maintained at ‘Neutral’
• CRR at 3%
• SDF rate at 5.00%
• MSF rate at 5.50%
• Bank Rate at 5.50%
• MPC members unanimously voted for status quo on rates

2] GDP Growth Estimates

RBI raised FY26 GDP growth estimates to 7.4% from 7.3% earlier. Here are quarterly estimates:

• Q1FY27: Raised to 6.9% from 6.7%
• Q2FY27: Raised to 7% from 6.8%

3] CPI Inflation Forecast

RBI raised CPI inflation projection for FY26 to 2.1% from 2.0% earlier. Here are quarterly estimates:

• Q4FY26: Raised to 3.2% from 2.9%
• Q1FY27: Raised to 4.0% from 3.9%
• Q2FY27: Raised to 4.2% from 4.0%

4] Additional Measures

• To issue comprehensive instructions to Regulated Entities on advertising, marketing and sales of financial products and services
• Review of framework of limiting customer liability in digital transactions
• Permit commercial banks to extend finance to REITs
• Review of Lending norms for UCBs
• Exemption from registration to eligible NBFCs not availing public funds
• To issue discussion Paper on “Exploring safeguards in digital payments to curb frauds”
• Revision in Lead Bank Scheme
• Revision in the guidelines of Kisan Credit Card (KCC)
• Review of guidelines relating to use of Business Correspondents (BCs) by banks
• Enhancement in collateral free loan limit to MSE from ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh
• To issue regulatory framework for development of corporate bond market
• Review of the Voluntary Retention Route for FPI investment in debt instruments

5] The minutes of the MPC meeting will be published on February 20, 2026

6] The next RBI MPC meeting is scheduled from April 6 - 8, 2026

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: The Indian stock market ended higher on Friday after the announcement of RBI policy. The Sensex closed 266.47 points, or 0.32%, higher at 83,580.40, while the Nifty 50 ended up 50.90 points, or 0.20%, at 25,693.70.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: We expect a continued pause in policy rates through 2026, with real rates averaging ~1.25%. Incrementally, however, we anticipate RBI to announce liquidity augmenting measures in March to ensure congenial financial conditions and support policy transmission to real economic variables, in line with the Governor’s comments. We remain constructive on the growth outlook, supported by domestic demand and the trade deal announcement, which should aid external demand and investor sentiment at the margin. Moreover, inflation is likely to remain benign, notwithstanding some upside pressures, said Morgan Stanley.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: India’s growth momentum continues to remain resilient amid global uncertainties. A reduction in repo rates could have boosted the rate-sensitive housing segment. Proposal to remove the tenor and moratorium-related requirements on housing loans given by Tier III and Tier IV UCBs will help reduce EMI burden and increase affordable housing mortgage penetration. Long-term housing demand remains intact, driven by strong macros, buoyancy in capital markets and continued focus/execution of infrastructure projects.

In fact, sustained emphasis on infrastructure is a strong demand enabler for overall real estate growth. Continued government focus on REITs, like permitting banks to lend to REITs in addition to the budget proposals, are likely to aid the expansion of & participation in REITs, said Amit Bhagat, Co-Founder, CEO and MD, ASK Property Fund.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI’s decision to maintain status quo on policy rates provides much-needed stability and clarity for the real estate sector. For commercial real estate, steady interest rates and borrowing costs support sustained leasing momentum and long-term investment decisions, thereby increasing demand for office space and support new developments. Easier credit availability attracts both individual and institutional investors, driving new investments into commercial real estate. However, a rate cut is expected soon to have a pronounced impact on the real estate sector easing borrowing costs and improving credit availability, leading to consumer demand to pick up significantly, said Manas Mehrotra, Founder, 315Work Avenue.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: The RBI MPC’s February 2026 policy reflects a strategic shift from rate easing to structural growth. By maintaining the Repo Rate at 5.25%, the central bank signaled confidence in a robust 7.4% GDP growth forecast and stable inflation (2.1%). This “neutral” stance balances macroeconomic stability with aggressive regulatory support for productive sectors, said Dhiraj Relli, MD & CEO, HDFC Securities.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI’s move to allow banks to lend directly to REITs at the trust level will enhance access to long-term, stable financing for REITs, complementing traditional capital market funding and broadening the financing ecosystem for income-producing real estate. It further validates the thesis that REITs are long-term capital structures of the highest credit quality, deserving of robust financing that banks can provide. This policy will help expand access to longer-term, competitive bank finance, which will support healthier balance sheets and stable growth by reducing the need for frequent refinancing. By having an array of bank lending options and the capital markets to fund their businesses and strategic objectives, REITs are poised to deliver greater growth and, ultimately, better returns to unitholders, said Amit Shetty, CEO, Embassy REIT.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: Despite call rates trading meaningfully below the repo rate, the MPC made no reference to them - a departure from its earlier emphasis on keeping call rates aligned with the policy rate. We interpret this as a subtle signal that the RBI is uncomfortable with current yield levels and is willing to look through short-term deviations. This was further reinforced in the Q&A, when Governor Malhotra mentioned that he expects the overnight rate to transmit across the market, said Sandeep Yadav, Head of Fixed Income, DSP Mutual Fund.

While market yields are marginally higher, this largely reflects a retracement after the sharp rally following yesterday’s OMO cut-offs. Overall, we remain constructive on money markets given RBI’s comfort on liquidity, while duration is likely to trade in a range in the near term before gradually moving lower, he added.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI does not target any specific level for the rupee, Guv Sanjay Malhotra reiterates.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: India-US trade deal has only been announced and the rupee has quite strengthened since the announcement. Once the trade deal is done, impact on rupee will depend on the conditions of the deal, said Sanjay Malhotra.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: It is early, we have not done an assessment on how much the trade deal will contribute to GDP because we do not have details yet, said Sanjay Malhotra.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: We are certainly in the same sweet spot, maybe even better because growth is looking up. Core inflation, underlying inflation, barring precious metals, is very benign…So we are in the same position, more or less same position insofar as inflation is concerned… Growth seems to be better than earlier, said Sanjay Malhotra.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: Speaking on ‘Neutral’ policy stance, RBI Governor said that given the state of economy today and what we foresee going ahead, this is the rate that we expect. “We are in a good spot. Inflation, especially underlying inflation, is much lower and benign. I expect policy rates to continue at low levels,” said RBI Governor.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: We are very comfortable on gold loans. There is no cause for any concern. We have been reviewing all the portfolios — gold loans, MSMEs or personal loans — and across all categories, asset quality is good. The LTV ratios for gold loans by banks and NBFCs are on the lower side, said the RBI Governor.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: Whether you look at growth, inflation, current account or capital accounts side, near term, medium term outlook is very healthy, very favourable. On the investment side, the government has been very proactive, it has taken a number of measures, said Malhotra.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: There is no reduction in our holdings of US treasuries, said RBI Governor.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: I am certain that banks will be able to manage government borrowings very efficiently, says RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI Governor said there was some hardening in money-market rates in December, but the transmission has been “excellent” overall. The RBI will continue to provide liquidity pre-emptively, he added.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: Liquidity is something that is our duty to provide, ample duty as is required to meet productive needs of the economy. The number of tools we have for liquidity are VRR, OMOs and others... The second task is to ensure that monetary policy transmission happens, not only in overnight markets but in all the markets, says RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra in his post-policy press conference.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: Key highlights of today’s RBI MPC outcome

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: While the Governor reiterated a pre‑emptive approach to liquidity management, the absence of specific announcements on additional liquidity measures disappointed the market. The current growth‑inflation dynamics suggest that the present rate‑cut cycle may have come to an end, unless growth surprises negatively. For now, we expect an extended pause in policy rates. However, the RBI may continue to infuse durable liquidity through OMOs to aid better rate‑cut transmission, particularly in the short‑tenor segment, said Vikas Garg, Head - Fixed Income, Invesco Mutual Fund.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: Ashwini Shami, President and Chief Portfolio Manager, OmniScience Capital noted that RBI’s growth outlook remains strong, with robust domestic consumption and a stabilising external sector supported by prospective trade deals. “The RBI governor’s statement also highlighted high capacity utilisation and healthy balance sheets of corporates as well as the financial sector. Continued thrust on capital expenditure is expected to maintain growth momentum, further supported by a low inflationary environment,” Shami added.

RBI MPC Meeting: The RBI Governor flagged a range of factors behind the recent uptick in bond yields and underscored the authorities’ readiness to respond pre-emptively. Looking beyond February, we expect the RBI to maintain an extended pause, supported by a positive cyclical upswing and confidence effects stemming from the successful conclusion of US trade negotiations. We also anticipate additional open market operations over this and the next quarter, with any such measures likely to be announced outside the policy cycle, said Radhika Rao, Executive Director and Senior Economist at DBS Bank.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: In line with the push given by the Budget to MSMEs, the RBI has increased the limit for collateral-free loans to ₹20 lakh. Hence there seems to be steady follow up action to the Budget announcements. We may expect that the rate cycle has ended and 5.25% repo rate would stand for some time before any action is taken, which is more likely in an upward direction if inflation turns out to be higher in future, said Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda.

RBI MPC Meeting: RBI MPC unanimously voted to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% and decided to continue with a neutral policy stance. The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate remains at 5.00%, Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and Bank Rate remain at 5.50%.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: The Indian stock market recovered from day’s low levels after the announcement of the RBI policy. The frontline indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, were trading flat with a negative bias. The Sensex was down by 75.18 points, or 0.09%, at 83,238.75, while the Nifty 50 was at 49.25 points, or 0.19%, lower at 25,593.55.

RBI MPC Meeting: Based on a comprehensive review of the domestic macroeconomic conditions and the outlook, the MPC was of the view that the current policy rate is appropriate. Accordingly, the MPC voted to continue with the existing policy rate. The MPC also agreed to retain the neutral stance.

However, Prof. Ram Singh retained his view that the stance be changed from neutral to accommodative. Going forward, the MPC will be guided by the evolving macroeconomic conditions and the outlook based on data from the new series in charting the future course of monetary policy.

RBI MPC Meeting: Indian economy continues to register high growth despite a challenging external environment clouded by geo-political uncertainties. Benign inflation provides the leeway to remain growth-supportive while preserving financial stability. We remain committed to meet the productive requirements of the economy and sustain the growth momentum, said RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI also proposed to issue the regulatory framework for derivatives on corporate bond indices and total return swaps on corporate bonds. It is also proposed to issue draft revised guidelines for Authorised Dealer banks and stand-alone primary dealers (SPDs), allowing them more flexibility in undertaking foreign exchange transactions.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI proposed to remove the limit of ₹2.5 lakh crore for investments under the Voluntary Retention Route (VRR). Investment through the VRR in each category of securities will be subject to the investment ceiling for the respective category under the General Route.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: NBFCs having no public funds and customer interface, with asset size not exceeding ₹1,000 crore, are proposed to be exempted from the requirement of registration. Moreover, RBI proposed to dispense with the requirement for certain NBFCs to obtain prior approval to open more than 1,000 branches.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI raised FY26 GDP growth estimates to 7.4% from 7.3% earlier. Here are quarterly estimates:

• Q1FY27: Raised to 6.9% from 6.7%
• Q2FY27: Raised to 7% from 6.8%

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI raises CPI inflation projection for FY26 to 2.1% from 2.0% earlier. Here are quarterly estimates:

• Q4FY26: Raised to 3.2% from 2.9%
• Q1FY27: Raised to 4.0% from 3.9%
• Q2FY27: Raised to 4.2% from 4.0%

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI proposed to remove the tenor and moratorium related requirements on housing loans given by Tier III and Tier IV UCBs. To strengthen the managerial and technical capacity of the UCBs, RBI shall launch Mission-SAKSHAM (Sahakari Bank Kshamta Nirman). The mission intends to train over 1.4 lakh participants from UCBs.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI to launch a unified reporting portal for better management of Lead Bank Scheme data. The limit of ₹10 lakh for collateral-free loans to MSMEs is proposed to be increased to ₹20 lakh. To further promote financing to real estate sector, it is proposed to allow banks to lend to REITs with certain prudential safeguards.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: For customer protection, RBI will issue three draft guidelines: one, relating to mis-selling; two, regarding recovery of loans and engagement of recovery agents; and three, on limiting liability of customers in un-authorised electronic banking transactions. It is also proposed to introduce a framework to compensate customers up to an amount of ₹25,000 for loss incurred in small-value fraudulent transactions.

RBI will also publish a discussion paper on possible measures to enhance the safety of digital payments. Such measures may include lagged credits and additional authentication for specific class of users like senior citizens.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: Money market rates, especially for commercial papers (CPs) and certificates of deposit (CDs), tightened in January 2026 reflecting (i) moderation in surplus liquidity; (ii) excess supply from bunching of redemptions in CPs and CDs in January; and (iii) year-end seasonal effects. G-sec yields, mirroring global trends, have continued to harden over the last eight months due to a host of factors. Going ahead, the Reserve Bank will remain proactive in liquidity management and ensure sufficient liquidity in the banking system to meet the productive requirements of the economy and to facilitate monetary policy transmission. Liquidity management would be pre-emptive with sufficient allowance for unanticipated fluctuations in government balances, changes in currency in circulation, forex intervention, etc, RBI Govenror said.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: As on 30th January, 2026, India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $723.8 billion, providing a robust merchandise import cover of more than 11 months. Overall, India’s external sector remains resilient. We are confident of meeting our external financing requirements comfortably, said RBI Governor.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: Near-term outlook suggests that food supply prospects remain bright on the back of healthy kharif production, adequate buffer stocks of foodgrains and favourable rabi sowing. Core inflation, barring potential volatility induced by prices of precious metals, is expected to be range-bound. Geopolitical uncertainty coupled with volatility in energy prices and adverse weather events are other possible upside risks to inflation. In terms of headline inflation trajectory, unfavourable base effects stemming from large decline in prices observed in Q4:2024-25 would lead to an uptick in y-o-y inflation in Q4:2025-26, despite the anticipated momentum being muted, said RBI Governor.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: On the domestic front, real gross domestic product (GDP), as per the First Advance Estimates (FAE), is estimated to grow at 7.4 per cent (y-o-y) in 2025-26. Private consumption and fixed investment contributed significantly to overall growth. Net external demand, however, continued to be a drag, with imports outpacing exports. On the supply side, real GVA growth of 7.3 per cent is driven by buoyant services sector, resilient agricultural sector and revival in manufacturing activity, RBI Governor said.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: System liquidity remained at ₹75,000 crore on daily average basis, RBI took several steps to boost liquidity in December - January. G-sec yields continued to harden over the last eight months mirroring global trends. RBI will remain pro activity in liquidity management to meet productive requirements of economy, RBI Governor Malhotra said.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: System liquidity is now around ₹2 lakh crore, following the RBI’s measures announced in February to improve conditions, Malhotra said.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: India continues to be a preferred destination for greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, reflecting strong investor confidence in the country’s long-term growth prospects, said RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI will present the full-year CPI inflation projection in its next policy statement in April, once more data under the new series becomes available.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: Underlying inflation pressures remain muted, except in the case of precious metals, where global price movements have created some volatility. For most other categories, price trends are seen as stable and manageable, said RBI Governor.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI projected CPI inflation for FY26 at 2.1%. CPI inflation in Q1 FY27 is seen at 4% and Q2 at 4.2%, Q4FY26 is projected at 3.2%.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: India will get a new series for GDP and inflation in a few days. The Indian economy remains on a steady, improving trajectory, with real GDP poised to clock a significantly higher growth of 7.4%, RBI Governor said.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: RBI raised Q1FY27 GDP projection to 6.9% and also revised upwards Q2FY27 GDP projection to 7%.

RBI Policy Meet 2026 LIVE: MPC will be guided by evolving macroeconomic conditions​ going forward, said RBI Governor Malhotra.

RBI MPC Meet 2026 LIVE: India’s economy is in a good spot even as global uncertainties remain elevated. Current growth momentum is likely to be sustained in the coming period, signalling confidence in the near-term economic outlook despite external headwinds, said RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra.