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The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is set to announce the decision of its October meeting today. While a rate cut remains unlikely, the committee may revise the inflation forecast in today's meeting. Here are five key things you should know before the RBI's October MPC meet begins: 1. August 2025 MPC: A snapshot During its August meeting, the MPC retained the repo rate at 5.5 per cent after slashing it by 100 basis points (bps) in three consecutive cuts since February. One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point. The rate cuts brought down the repo rate from 6.5 per cent in February. The repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks.The central bank also revised its Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation projections downward due to softer food prices and easing global commodity costs. In its August MPC meeting, RBI maintained its stance as 'neutral.' The stance was shifted from '...

  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lowered its inflation forecast for 2025-26 to 2.6 per cent, down from the previous estimate of 3.1 per cent. Quarterly projections are as follows: Q2FY26 and Q3FY26 at 1.8 per cent, and Q4FY26 at 4 per cent. Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for Q1 of 2026-27 is projected at 4.5 per cent.“The risks are evenly balanced,” RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said. The MPC noted that the inflation outlook has become more favourable in recent months, mainly due to a sharp drop in food prices and the rationalisation of GST rates. The decline in overall inflation is largely driven by lower food inflation, supported by better supply conditions and government measures to manage the supply chain efficiently. The recent GST rate adjustments are expected to bring down the prices of several items in the CPI basket. As a result, overall inflation is likely to be softer than the August projection, mainly because of the GST cuts and lower food prices.Malhotra said...