RBI MPC: From repo rate cut to neutral monetary policy, know the 10 big things about RBI’s MPC meeting

New Delhi| Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday announced the last bi-monthly monetary policy of the current financial year. During this period, it has been announced to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points. Apart from this, let us know what was special in the decisions of MPC.

1. The repo rate (short-term lending rate) was reduced by 0.25 per cent to 6.25 per cent.

2. The repo rate was cut for the first time after a five-year hiatus; the previous cut was in May, 2020. ‘neutral’ monetary policy stance will continue.

3. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for FY 2025-26 at 6.7 percent.

4. Inflation projected to decline to 4.2 percent in FY 2025-26. It is likely to be 4.8 per cent in the current year.

5. Food inflationary pressures expected to ease significantly.

6. Core inflation expected to rise, but remain moderate.

7. The exclusive Internet domain of banks shall be ‘bank dot in’, while for non-banking units ‘fin dot in’.

8. RBI described the global economic background as challenging. The Indian economy remains strong and combative.

9. Current account deficit expected to remain within sustainable levels.

10. India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at US$630.6 billion as of 31 January. The next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee will be held on April 7-9.

RBI Governor made this announcement to deal with digital fraud
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) special internet domain for banks and non-banking entities to deal with rising cases of fraud in digital payments…Bank dot in and fin dot in…Has announced to be started.

Giving information about the bi-monthly monetary policy review on Friday, RBI Governor Sanjay Manalhotra said that the increasing cases of fraud in digital payments are a matter of concern. To deal with this, the Reserve Bank is starting a special internet domain ‘bank dot in’ for Indian banks from April this year. Also in the coming time ‘fin dot in’ will be introduced for non-banking financial units.

This initiative aims to streamline secure financial services with cyber security threats and carrying out malicious activities like ‘phishing’ so as to increase confidence in digital banking and payment services.

Malhotra said the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) will act as the special registrar. Actual registrations will start from April 2025. Detailed guidelines will be issued separately for banks. He said that ‘fin dot in’ will be introduced separately for non-banking units. The central bank has also decided to introduce an additional layer of security in cross-border cardless (card not present) transactions.

The introduction of the Additional Authentication Factor (AFA) for digital payments has enhanced the security of transactions, giving customers the confidence to adopt digital payments. However, this requirement is mandatory only for domestic transactions.