EconomyMoney and credit
How tight is the RBI, and how much cash do banks have?
The RBI's repo rate is 5.50%, with its floor (the standing deposit facility) at 5.25% and its ceiling (the marginal standing facility) at 5.75%. Banks have had surplus cash for 115 days in a row, since 30 June 2026.
Written for anyone who wants to know what the RBI is doing with rates and cash, and how to read it. Data to 22 October 2026.
The committee
Six members, three from the RBI and three appointed by the government, set the repo rate. They have met 61 times from Oct 2016 to Aug 2026: 13 cuts, 8 rises and 40 holds. 37 decisions were unanimous and 24 were split. The latest change, a rise of 0.25 points to 5.50% in Oct 2026, comes from the RBI's rate history; the meeting's resolution and votes are not yet in our record.
The last twelve recorded meetings, newest first
| Decided | Repo move | Repo after | Votes for-against | Stance | Dissent | More |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Aug 2026 | held | 5.25% | 6-0 | neutral | – | |
| 5 Jun 2026 | held | 5.25% | 6-0 | neutral | – | |
| 8 Apr 2026 | held | 5.25% | 6-0 | neutral | – | |
| 6 Feb 2026 | held | 5.25% | 6-0 | neutral | – | |
| 5 Dec 2025 | −25 bps | 5.25% | 6-0 | neutral | – | |
| 1 Oct 2025 | held | 5.50% | 6-0 | neutral | – | |
| 6 Aug 2025 | held | 5.50% | 6-0 | neutral | – | |
| 6 Jun 2025 | −50 bps | 5.50% | 5-1 | neutral | Saugata Bhattacharya | |
| 9 Apr 2025 | −25 bps | 6.00% | 6-0 | accommodative | – | |
| 7 Feb 2025 | −25 bps | 6.25% | 6-0 | neutral | – | |
| 6 Dec 2024 | held | 6.50% | 4-2 | neutral | Nagesh Kumar; Ram Singh | |
| 9 Oct 2024 | held | 6.50% | 5-1 | neutral | Nagesh Kumar |
Source: Reserve Bank of India, MPC resolutions and minutes. "Stance" is the committee's own word for its intentions: accommodative leans toward cuts, withdrawal of accommodation toward rises, neutral toward neither.
The corridor
Banks can always lend spare cash to the RBI at the floor rate and borrow from it at the ceiling, so overnight money trades between the two, ideally near the repo rate. In Oct 2026 the call rate averaged 4 basis points above the repo rate in force each day, 59% of the way from floor to ceiling, against a usual 42% since 2011.
The policy corridor and the call rate
Month-end policy rates and the monthly average weighted call rate, from May 2011. The floor was the reverse repo rate until April 2022, the standing deposit facility since.
How to read it. The call rate is the price banks charge each other for overnight money. Near the floor, cash is plentiful; near or above the ceiling, it is short.
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Where overnight money trades, floor to ceiling
The monthly average call rate's position in the corridor, as a share of its width.
How to read it. The corridor has been as wide as two points and as narrow as half a point, so this scale compares months fairly. Readings outside 0 to 100 are months when the call rate broke through the floor or the ceiling.
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Cash in the system
Banks' cash rises when the government spends, when the RBI buys dollars or bonds, and when people deposit currency; it falls when taxes are paid or the RBI sells dollars. The RBI evens out what is left through its auctions. Over the last year, banks were short of cash on 8% of days; the largest surplus, on 6 September 2026, was ₹11.2 lakh crore. From 31 March 2022, figures come from RBI's own daily Money Market Operations release; before that, from India Data Hub's copy of the same release.
Banks' surplus cash with the RBI
Monthly average of the RBI's net absorption from banks (positive) or injection into them (negative), as a share of deposits, from 2018.
How to read it. Above zero, banks have spare cash parked with the RBI; below zero, the RBI is lending to cover a shortage. The 2020-21 surplus was the RBI's response to the pandemic.
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Day by day
On 22 October 2026, the latest day, the RBI's operations absorbed a net ₹31 thousand crore. Over the last 30 days, banks used the ceiling facility, the costliest way to borrow, for ₹3.3 thousand crore a day on average.
The RBI's net injection, day by day
Today's operations plus term operations outstanding, the last two years. Negative: the RBI is absorbing banks' surplus.
How to read it. The sawtooth follows tax dates, government spending and the RBI's own auctions. A long run below zero is a system awash with cash.
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The reserve ratio
The cash reserve ratio is the share of deposits banks must hold with the RBI, earning nothing. It was last changed on 5 December 2025, from 3.25% to 3.00%. Cutting it releases cash to lend and lowers banks' cost of funds without touching the repo rate.
The workings
The question
Data
Every chart has a table view, a CSV download and a link to its published JSON. Bundles are listed in data status.