RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra
The three-day monetary policy review meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will begin from Wednesday. This meeting is taking place at a time when the Union Budget has been presented with a focus on growth in the economy, inflation is low and the recent long-awaited India-US trade agreement has ended external instability. Experts believe that RBI has reduced the repo rate by a total of 1.25 percent since February last year and at present there is no major concern about neither growth nor inflation, hence stability in interest rates can be maintained. However, some experts also say that another rate cut is possible to make the loan cheaper. The decision of the six-member Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra will be announced on Friday.
What are the experts saying?
Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist of Bank of Baroda, said that the MPC is likely to remain firm on the repo rate and this could also be the end of the rate-cutting cycle. ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nair said that according to the agency, the pause is appropriate at this time so that the retail inflation (CPI) for January 2026 and GDP data for the financial year 2023-24 to FY 2025-26 can be assessed.
CRISIL Chief Economist Dharamkirti Joshi said that low inflation gives scope for RBI to consider rate cuts. The budget is also not going to increase inflation due to fiscal discipline and the condition of the economy is also good. However, he said that this time there is a greater possibility of keeping the rates stable so that options can be kept open for the future.
How much has the loan EMI reduced?
Ever since Sanjay Malhotra has come to the post of RBI Governor. Since then, there have been continuous cuts in the RBI repo rate. Only in the months of August and October, the RBI Governor did not make any change in the policy rate. Otherwise, a reduction of 25 basis points was seen in the month of February, 25 basis points in April, and 50 basis points in the meeting held in the month of June. After that, a reduction of 25 basis points has been made directly in the month of December. This means that there has been a reduction of 125 basis points in the year 2025, which is a good reduction. After which the repo rate has come down to 5.25 percent. Now on Friday it will be known whether the RBI Governor gives relief to the common people on loan EMIs, or presses the pause button on interest rates.