RBI MPC Meeting August 2025 Highlights: Repo Rate unchanged; Now Invest In T-Bills Through SIPs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will announce its second monetary policy of FY26 today, August 6. The three-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), held from August 4 to 6 and led by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, concludes today. The RBI is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision at 10:00 AM.

In the previous Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held from June 4 to 6, 2025, the Reserve Bank of India reduced the policy repo rate by 50 basis points, from 6.00 per cent to 5.50 per cent, and changed the policy stance to neutral from accommodative.

So far in 2025, the RBI has cut the repo rate by a cumulative 100 basis points and brought it down to 5.5 per cent from 6.5 per cent in February. Acccording to Vishal Kumar Manoria, Senior Manager, Investment Research & Analytics, Aranca, “Despite headline inflation easing to a multi-year low in June, the RBI is expected to keep the repo rate unchanged in the upcoming policy meeting.” Read More

“While the RBI Monetary Policy Committee sits down for its August 2025 meeting, the Indian Real Estate Sector is at a crossroads. A relatively low inflation environment just over 2 per cent means the borrowing outlook is benign, but home loans are still tough to get with unchanged lending standards in August. If there is a 25-basis-point cut trend may fresh momentum kick in especially in the affordable and mid-income segment that will only reinforce positive sentiment among homebuyers,” said Aman Gupta, Director, RPS Group.

According to SBI Research, the RBI may frontload a 25 basis point rate cut in the August 4–6 policy meeting. The note points to early signs of activity in areas like GDP growth, inflation, tariffs, and festive demand as key factors influencing this view.

Keshav Mangla, GM – Business Development, Forteasia Realty, said: “The August 2025 policy review for the Indian real estate industry, on one hand, is against subdued inflation but varied urban-rural demand and global trade unease. Both builders and proponents of affordable housing expect interest rates to either hold steady or be cut, if only just a little, to boost the economy.” He added, It has already benefitted due to the earlier rate reductions.

Vivek Iyer, Partner and Financial Services Risk Leader at Grant Thornton Bharat, said: “The RBI is unlikely to go for another rate cut at this stage. The external environment remains too volatile and uncertain, and there needs to be more time for monetary transmission to take effect. Tariff concerns were already factored into the earlier rate cut and should not substantially weigh in on the RBI MPC's decision.”

LC Mittal, Director, Motia Builders Group said: “Optimism has been surrounding the real estate sector ahead of the RBI MPC meeting following firm housing demand and improved affordability backed by 100 bps rate cuts this year. Builders aspire that one last small rate reduction or a pause could help in preserving the allure of home loans, especially for first-time borrowers.”

He added that industry experts have emphasized the importance of stability and predictability from the MPC level that they say will help reinforce confidence in both residential and commercial real estate investments.

“The August 2025 RBI MPC review could be a turning point for household wallets. A repo rate cut would bring relief to borrowers with floating-rate loans. Even a pause will help keep EMIs affordable and support credit demand, especially during the festive season,” said Siddharth Maurya, Founder & Managing Director, Vibhavangal Anukulakara Pvt Ltd.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra is set to announce the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision shortly, with the update expected from 10 AM onwards.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra has started delivering the MPC outcome.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra has confirmed that the repo rate remains unchanged in the August 2025 monetary policy decision.

The central bank has retained its monetary policy stance as ‘Neutral’ in the August 2025 review.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra says core inflation remains steady around the 4 per cent mark during his address at the August 2025 MPC meeting.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced that real GDP growth for FY26 is projected at 6.5 per cent, with quarterly estimates at 6.5 per cent (Q1), 6.7 per cent (Q2), 6.6 per cent (Q3), and 6.3 per cent (Q4). For Q1 FY27, growth is forecast at 6.6 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), on August 6, revised the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation projection for FY26 to 3.1 per cent, down from its earlier forecast of 3.7 per cent.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, “The domestic growth is holding up and is broadly revolving around the lines of our assessment. Even though there were some high-frequency indicators that showed missed signals in May this year. Rural consumption remains resilient while urban consumption revives. Fixed investment supported by buoyant government capex continues to support economic activity.”

(Source: PTI)

Garima Kapoor, Economist and Executive Vice President, Elara Capital, on RBI Monetary Policy said: While recognizing uncertainties surrounding the geopolitical environment and awaiting the result of transmission of previous rate cuts, RBI’s MPC decided to keep rates unchanged. On inflation front, despite 60bps undershooting of the inflation projection for FY26, RBI assessed this as largely led by volatile food items. Though we expected MPC to cut rates amid soaring tariff related uncertainties and easing inflation dynamics, today’s decision to maintain the pause may also be suggestive of MPC keeping its powder dry, should things worsen on the trade and tariff front.

Manju Yagnik, Vice Chairperson of Nahar Group and Senior Vice President of NAREDCO- Maharashtra said, "By maintaining the repo rate at 5.5 per cent, the Reserve Bank of India is signalling a continued focus on balancing growth and inflation. With retail inflation cooling to a six-year low around 2.1 per cent in June and price pressures under control, the decision appears prudent and timely. Moreover, the recent imposition of a 25 per cent U.S. tariff on Indian exports adds uncertainty to global trade flows, making this cautious, steady policy stance even more relevant. For the real estate sector, a stable rate means continued affordability of home loans especially critical in a market already seeing robust interest among mid- and premium-segment buyers."

Dharmendra Raichura, Vice President Finance at Ashar Group said that the RBI’s decision to hold the repo rate at 5.5 per cent signals a sensible, growth-focused stance in the face of easing inflation and an uncertain global outlook. Following the recent 25 per cent tariff imposed by US President Trump, which has added pressure to the economic cycle, maintaining rate stability provides much-needed reassurance especially for interest-sensitive sectors like real estate. For homebuyers, unchanged rates ensure continued affordability of home loans and support plans to upgrade to larger, future-ready homes.

Siddarth Maurya, Founder & Managing Director of Vibhavangal Anukulakara Private Limited said: “Stability of the repo rate, though, keeps both individuals comfortable and cautious. EMIs for home and auto loans are retained identical, making budgeting easier. But deposit rates are unlikely to rise swiftly, so those looking for better returns than the other options would still need to explore beyond traditional FDs in bonds or mutual funds. That is a time of recalibration less so than of risk, a time to be deleveraging, building liquid savings for emergencies and diversifying investments.”

According to RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra’s statement, headline CPI inflation eased to a 77-month low of 2.1 per cent in June, mainly due to a sharp decline in food prices. Food inflation turned negative for the first time since 2019, while fuel inflation moderated to 2.6 per cent. Core inflation edged up to 4.4 per cent in June, driven in part by a continued rise in gold prices.

LC Mittal, Director, Motia Builders Group, said: While home loan rates are anticipated to fall in the aftermath of Centre's announcement, borrowers has to bear in mind that monetary policy was “neutral” and there is no certitude to slashing rates further near order taxes. A rate cut now looks unlikely with inflation at multiyear lows and the risk of rising rates are contained for now, but longer term borrowers might still have to withstand future rate cycles. The best: choose a floating rate loan to avail the lower EMIs on offer in the current scenario, but pay back as aggressively as possible to keep your overall interest burden down.

Rajeev Radhakrishnan, CFA, CIO – Fixed Income, SBI Mutual Fund said: After the frontloading of policy actions in June, it was unlikely that the RBI would alter the policy rate or guidance in the August review. In an uncertain external environment, marked by trade and tariff disruptions that are likely to keep external demand subdued, the onus of sustaining growth largely rests on domestic policy measures and the evolution of domestic demand drivers. In this context, we continue to expect the RBI to calibrate incremental actions based on the evolving domestic growth outlook.

Binod Kumar MD & CEO of Indian Bank said that as RBI had front loaded rate cut, it was expected to maintain status quo. It is a welcome move. However, it leaves room to reconsider in coming months as CPI is benign and a push for growth may be required. At Indian Bank, we have already passed on benefits of previous rate cut and expect further normalisation in MCLR as cost of fund continue southward journey.

Stocks in the realty, auto, and banking sectors declined after the Reserve Bank of India kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent. The Nifty Realty index dropped by 2.25 per cent, Nifty Auto fell by 0.90 per cent, while the Nifty Bank and Financial Services indices slipped by 0.21 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively. Read More

After cutting the repo rate two times from 6.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent earlier this year, the RBI has now kept the rate unchanged. Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK group noted:“Given the upcoming festive season, developers may look to keep the market momentum going with offers and flexible payment plans, which may help improve affordability for many genuine buyers.” Read More

According to the Governor’s statement, as the Jan Dhan scheme completes 10 years, banks will hold Panchayat-level camps from July 1 to September 30 for re-KYC, new accounts, micro insurance, pension schemes, and grievance redressal to promote financial inclusion.

Indian Bond yields opened flat on August 6 ahead of the announcement of Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee’s decision. However, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Sanjay Malhotra announced that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent in the August monetary policy review, the 10-year benchmark yield gained over 107 basis points and increased to 6.39 per cent.

Abhishek Bisen, Head-Fixed Income, Kotak Mahindra AMC said,“Despite the downward revision in average inflation projections to 3.10 per cent for FY26, the RBI chose to maintain a ‘wait and watch’ stance, keeping policy rates unchanged and the stance neutral, reflecting a unanimous decision. The commentary was neutral to hawkish, with GDP growth steady at 6.50 per cent and inflation projections of 4.40 per cent for Q4FY26 and 4.90 per cent for Q1FY27. Given this outlook, future rate cuts seem unlikely unless there is a significant slowdown in growth, possibly due to tariff-related uncertainties. Following this, G-sec yields have risen by 4 to 5 basis points, and the 10-year benchmark is expected to trade between 6.30 per cent and 6.45 per cent in the near term.”

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra highlighted that despite the global volatility, especially with the US dollar experiencing significant fluctuations recently, the Indian rupee has shown relatively less volatility. He described this stability as a positive sign amid the uncertain currency movements worldwide.

RBI will enable investors to systematically plan their investments, an auto-bidding facility for Treasury bills (T-bills), covering both investment and re-investment options, in Retail Direct. The new functionality will help investors to mandate automatic placement of bids in primary auctions of T-bills.

During the RBI's post-policy press conference, Deputy Governor Poonam Gupta noted that nearly half of India’s inflation basket consists of food items, which are not directly impacted by global developments. She added that a significant portion also includes non-tradeables, further insulating inflation from external shocks. As a result, the direct impact of evolving global uncertainties on India’s inflation remains very limited.

Ajay Kumar Srivastava, MD & CEO, Indian Overseas Bank, said: “The RBI’s decision to maintain the repo rate at 5.5 per cent and continuation of maintaining a neutral stance is a well calibrated approach in its aim to control inflation and growth support. With core inflation remaining steady at 4 per cent mark, projections of CPI inflation averaging 3.1 per cent for FY26 and GDP growth holding steady at 6.5 per cent reaffirms the resilience of the Indian economy. We also welcome RBI’s move on liquidity management and its aim to remain nimble which is important for ensuring credit availability while maintaining economic stability. RBI’s decision to enhance retail access to Treasury Bills via SIPs and the standardisation of bank locker and account claim settlements, are initiatives that are expected to further deepen financial inclusion and boost investor confidence.

Raghunandan Saraf, Founder & CEO, Saraf Furniture said, ”With a stable repo rate in place, the ball is now set to roll and it will do so at a measured pace consumers are still incredibly cautious when splurging. However, since financing still remains affordable for customers, we might see sustained demand momentum in categories such as electronics, home appliances and essentials. But retailers can not and should not be expecting a consumer tidal wave lower savings rates is equal to less dough to spend on stuff you want, meaning value becomes increasingly important. In this backdrop, stores have to think of ways like bundle deals, no-cost emi and loyalty points to get those value-conscious buyers back.”

Indian bond yields opened flat on August 6 but gained after RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced that the MPC kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent. The 10-year benchmark yield climbed over 107 basis points to 6.39 per cent. Read More

Nikunj Sanghavi, Treasurer, CREDAI-MCHI stated “While the RBI’s stance provides much-needed policy continuity, the on-ground impact will be truly realized only through faster and more efficient credit transmission by financial institutions. Affordable and timely access to home loans is vital not just for homebuyers but also for developers working on mass housing projects that are essential for the state’s urban growth. CREDAI-MCHI strongly believes that a sustained low-interest environment, coupled with infrastructure-led development and policy consistency, can significantly accelerate housing penetration and foster equitable urbanization across Maharashtra.”

Vinayak Magotra, Founding Team, Centricity WealthTech said: The Reserve Bank’s decision to pause the rate cut cycle was in line with our expectations, allowing time for the previous rate cuts to take full effect. With liquidity improving and inflation within the target, the central bank has preserved space for future actions amid global uncertainty. Inflation projections for the current fiscal year have been revised lower, for the next two quarters, largely due to base effects and softer food prices. However, the projection for Q1 FY27 remains above 4 per cent, suggesting that inflation could firm up over the medium term owing to the surplus liquidity.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced plans to allow systematic investment plans (SIPs) in Treasury Bills (T-bills) through its Retail Direct platform, similar to how SIPs in mutual funds work. This step aims to increase retail participation in government securities. While announcing the decision, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, “We are expanding the functionality of the Retail Direct platform, which will enable retail investors to invest in Treasury Bills through systematic investment plans.” Read More

Manoj Gaur, CMD, Gaurs Group says: "This status quo reflects a prudent and laudable step by the RBI, especially in light of current international dynamics, including the impact of the Trump Tariff. With inflation significantly below the RBI’s target, the decision will definitely boost the economy and impart positive sentiment to the real estate sector, particularly at the onset of the festive season, a critical period for housing demand. We believe this consistency in policy will help strengthen buyer confidence and stimulate activity across the real estate landscape.

Yashish Dahiya, Chairman & Co-Founder, PB Fintech said: “The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee has taken a judicious decision to hold the repo rate at 5.5 per cent at this critical juncture. As regulators worldwide grapple with the scale of emerging geopolitical headwinds and heightened trade risks, the RBI’s prudent “wait‑and‑watch” stance stands out as both timely and strategic, particularly after the significant rate cut implemented in the prior policy meeting. This measured pause allows time for the full transmission of earlier easing, while fortifying the economy against external shocks that could unsettle growth and inflation trajectories.“

Sai Krishna Musunuru, Director & CEO of Payinstacard says, "This could be an important inflection point for both gold loan borrowers and NBFCs as the August 6 MPC decision did not change the repo rate, but its tone did indicate a calibrated approach to liquidity and credit growth which is significant for the gold loan segment that thrives on short-term borrowing cycles and immediate liquidity needs."

He added that for consumers, particularly in rural and semi-urban India, gold loans remain the easiest source of credit. Any subsequent rate softening or regulatory relaxation would mean lower cost of borrowing and quicker access to funds particularly critical during harvest and festive seasons.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited said, "The MPC’s unanimous decision to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent even while reducing the CPI inflation forecast to 3.1 per cent for FY26 from 3.7 per cent earlier can be described as a ‘dovish pause.’ Downtrending inflating in the backdrop of good monsoon and Kharif sowing will keep inflation well anchored enabling the MPC to go for another rate cut in this rate cutting cycle. The RBI Governor’s view that “we are waiting for the transmission of front-loaded rate cut” is the right view under the present circumstances.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced in its August 6, 2025, policy statement that banks will streamline the procedure for settling claims regarding deposit accounts, safe custody items, and locker contents in the event of a customer's death. The aim is to reduce imbalance across banks and streamline the process. Read More

Umesh Revankar, Executive Vice Chairman, Shriram Finance Ltd. on today's MPC said, “The RBI’s decision to hold the repo rate steady at 5.5 per cent with a neutral policy stance reflects a balanced approach, prioritizing both inflation control and growth. The maintained GDP forecast of 6.5 per cent for FY26 signals continued confidence in India’s domestic economic resilience, supported by strong rural demand and a gradual uptick in urban consumption.”

He added that Shriram Finance are optimistic about the credit demand outlook, especially in semi-urban and rural markets, and are well-positioned to support inclusive growth through sustained lending activity.

Vikas Dua, Founder & Director, Chintamanis said, “RBI bringing the repo rate to 5.5 per cent in June was already in sync with the expectations of the real estate sector. But the real focus now is on continuity. We have high hopes that the government will sustain this momentum with supportive policies in the upcoming monetary policy announcement. While interest rates are just one factor, a further reduction would boost the confidence of buyers and will further induce their investment & consumption decision.”

Amit Bansal, Founder, BharatLoan said, "The RBI’s decision to maintain repo rates with a neutral stance reflects confidence in domestic fundamentals, but the global environment is far from settled. The US's 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports poses a significant risk to export-driven sectors employing over millions of salaried professionals. Even a 25 to 30 basis point dent in GDP growth, as some economists warn, could affect income stability and sentiment, especially among salaried urban households. The continued surplus in liquidity, supported by the staggered CRR cut, is expected to further ease credit conditions, which is positive for both lenders and borrowers.

Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, “As the Jan Dhan Scheme completes 10 years, a large number of accounts have fallen due for re-KYC. Banks are organising camps at the Panchayat level from July 1 to September 30 to provide doorstep services. While sharing an update on Jan Dhan completing 10 years, the Prime Minister said over 55 crore accounts have been opened so far. Read More

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rate steady at 5.50 per cent and maintained its FY26 GDP growth forecast at 6.5 per cent, projecting 6.6 per cent for FY27. The central bank noted that while growth remains robust and in line with earlier projections, it still falls short of aspirations. It acknowledged evolving tariff-related uncertainties and said the impact of the 100 basis point rate cut since February 2025 is still unfolding as monetary policy transmission continues. Read More