RBI MPC Meeting 2026: In line with market expectations, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked repo rate by 25 basis points (or 0.25%) on Wednesday. This is the first hike in repo rate, the rate at which the central bank lends to other banks, since February 2023.
This comes amid rising inflation higher oil prices, and a weaker rupee. The decision – to increase repo rate from 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent – was taken unanimously by the monetary policy committee (MPC), which is headed by Governor Sanjay Malhotra. Earlier reporting noted: The MPC’s three-day meeting, being held from October 5 to 7, comes after it kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in August and retained a neutral stance, citing the need for greater clarity on the inflation outlook and evolving growth-inflation dynamics. Earlier reporting noted: The government has mandated the RBI to keep consumer price index (CPI)-based retail inflation at 4 per cent, with a tolerance band of 2 percentage points on either side.
Earlier reporting noted: The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously voted to raise the policy rate and shifted its stance to “calibrated tightening” from “neutral”, signalling a greater focus on containing inflation.
