Mumbai: The Central Bank of country, Reserve Bank of India held its 59th meeting of Monetary Policy Committee from February 4 to 6, 2026, under the chairmanship of Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, Reserve Bank of India. The MPC members Dr. Nagesh Kumar, Shri Saugata Bhattacharya, Prof. Ram Singh, Dr. Poonam Gupta and Shri Indranil Bhattacharyya attended the meeting.
The central bank has come across detailed assessment of the evolving macroeconomic and financial developments and the outlook to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 5.25%.
Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate remains at 5.00% and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate remains at 5.50%. The MPC also decided to continue with the neutral stance.
On the domestic front, real gross domestic product (GDP), as per the First Advance Estimates (FAE), is estimated to grow at 7.4% (y-o-y) in 2025-26. Private consumption and fixed investment contributed significantly to overall growth.
Net external demand, however, continued to be a drag, with imports outpacing exports. On the supply side, real GVA growth of 7.3% is driven by buoyant services sector, resilient agricultural sector and revival in manufacturing activity.
Headline CPI inflation remained low at 0.7% in November and 1.3% in December, 2025. While food group continued to be in deflation, inflation within the fuel group remained moderate in November and December. Core inflation (CPI excluding food and fuel) too remained benign, despite the pick up in prices of precious metals. Excluding gold, core inflation remained stable at 2.6 per cent in December.