Showing posts with label Reverse repo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reverse repo. Show all posts

Sunday, December 7, 2008

RBI rates cut since October 2008

October
On October 6, 2008 the Reserve Bank of India announced a reduction of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for scheduled banks by 50 basis points to 8.5 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) with effect from the fortnight beginning October 11, 2008. No change in repo and reverse repo rate

October 10, 2008 RBI decided to reduce CRR by 150 basis points to 7.50 per cent of NDTL with effect from the fortnight beginning October 11, 2008 instead of the 50 basis points reduction announced on October 6, 2008 i.e. an additional 100bp reduction in CRR after October 6.

On October 20, 2008 RBI announced a reduction in the repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by 100 basis points from 9.0 to 8.0 per cent.

November
On November 1, 2008 RBI took following measures:

1. Reduce the repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by 50 basis points to 7.5 per cent with effect from November 3, 2008
2. The cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks is reduced by 100 basis points from 6.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL). This will be effected in two stages: by 50 basis points retrospectively with effect from the fortnight beginning October 25, and by a further 50 basis points prospectively with effect from the fortnight beginning November 8, 2008
3. RBI has also lowered the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) by 100 basis points to 24 per cent

December
On December 6th, RBI further announced rates cut. The short-term lending rate (repo) will fall from 7.5% to 6.5% and borrowing (reverse repo) rate to 5 per cent with effect from December 8. RBI has since October reduced the short-term lending rate by 250 basis points. After several months, the central bank has slashed the reverse repo to 5 per cent. The RBI, however, did not change cash reserve ratio, the amount of deposits which banks are required park with the apex bank.

Current Rates Figure

CRR = 5.5%
Repo Rate = 6.5%
Reverse Repo Rate = 5%

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Different Interest Rates in Indian monetary system

Repo (Repurchase) Rate
Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow funds from the RBI to meet the gap between the demands they are facing for money (loans) and how much they have on hand to lend. If the RBI wants to make it more expensive for the banks to borrow money, it increases the repo rate; similarly, if it wants to make it cheaper for banks to borrow money, it reduces the repo rate.

Reverse Repo Rate
This is the exact opposite of repo rate. The rate at which RBI borrows money from the banks (or banks lend money to the RBI) is termed the reverse repo rate. The RBI uses this tool when it feels there is too much money floating in the banking system.

If the reverse repo rate is increased, it means the RBI will borrow money from the bank and offer them a lucrative rate of interest. As a result, banks would prefer to keep their money with the RBI (which is absolutely risk free) instead of lending it out (this option comes with a certain amount of risk). Consequently, banks would have lesser funds to lend to their customers. This helps stem the flow of excess money into the economy. Reverse repo rate signifies the rate at which the central bank absorbs liquidity from the banks, while repo signifies the rate at which liquidity is injected.

Bank Rate
This is the rate at which RBI lends money to other banks (or financial institutions. The bank rate signals the central bank’s long-term outlook on interest rates. If the bank rate moves up, long-term interest rates also tend to move up, and vice-versa.

Banks make a profit by borrowing at a lower rate and lending the same funds at a higher rate of interest. If the RBI hikes the bank rate (this is currently 6 per cent), the interest that a bank pays for borrowing money (banks borrow money either from each other or from the RBI) increases. It, in turn, hikes its own lending rates to ensure it continues to make a profit.

Call Rate
Call rate is the interest rate paid by the banks for lending and borrowing for daily fund requirement. Since banks need funds on a daily basis, they lend to and borrow from other banks according to their daily or short-term requirements on a regular basis.

CRR
Also called the cash reserve ratio, refers to a portion of deposits (as cash) which banks have to keep/maintain with the RBI. This serves two purposes. It ensures that a portion of bank deposits is totally risk-free and secondly it enables that RBI control liquidity in the system, and thereby, inflation by tying their hands in lending money

SLR
Besides the CRR, banks are required to invest a portion of their deposits in government securities as a part of their statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) requirements. What SLR does is again restrict the bank’s leverage in pumping more money into the economy.