RBI Annual Report FY 2025-26 Part 29 presents the major RBI policy announcements from April 2025 to March 2026 in an exam-focused month-by-month timeline.

The RBI Annual Report FY 2025-26 contains an extensive chronology of major policy announcements made between April 2025 and March 2026. For competitive examinations, this chronology is far more useful when converted from a list of circulars into a month-wise cause → policy action → significance timeline. Across the year, RBI’s policy agenda covered monetary easing, liquidity management, banking regulation, KYC, digital lending, gold loans, co-lending, foreign exchange, payments, CBDC, financial inclusion, consumer protection and financial-market development.

This Part 29 is therefore designed as a revision timeline: if you have studied Parts 1–28, this is where the individual developments should start fitting together.

Important: Some regulatory measures appearing in the Annual Report chronology were issued immediately after March 31, 2026. Where relevant, those are clearly identified as post-year-end developments rather than being treated as FY 2025-26 measures.

April 2025 — Monetary Easing and Regulatory Reset

April 2025 began the year with a significant monetary-policy move.

Monetary Policy

The RBI reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points, while changing the stance to accommodative.

The April policy projected:

real GDP growth for 2025-26 at 6.5%
CPI inflation at 4.0%

This marked the beginning of the broader easing cycle that eventually took the repo rate to 5.25% by December 2025.

CRR and Liquidity

The major structural liquidity measure during the year was the decision to reduce the Cash Reserve Ratio by 100 basis points to 3.0% of NDTL, implemented in four equal 25-bp tranches beginning September 6, October 4, November 1 and November 29, 2025.

Other Important April Developments

The Annual Report chronology also records measures relating to:

exporters operating through Bharat Mart in the UAE;
foreign-exchange realisation/repatriation;
financial-market and regulatory operations.

Exam Point

April 2025 = 25-bp repo cut + accommodative stance + GDP 6.5% + CPI 4.0%.

May 2025 — Digital Lending, KYC and Regulatory Governance

May was particularly important for banking regulation.

Digital Lending Directions, 2025

RBI issued comprehensive Digital Lending Directions.

One important requirement was greater transparency in the presentation of loan offers to customers, including a comprehensive digital view of matched loan offers with standardised disclosures.

A public Digital Lending Apps (DLA) directory was also introduced.

Why it matters

The regulatory philosophy was clear:

digital convenience cannot come at the expense of customer transparency and protection.

Framework for Formulation of Regulations

RBI issued the Framework for Formulation of Regulations on May 7, 2025.

It was followed by the establishment of:

Regulatory Review Cell; and
external Advisory Group on Regulation.

The Connect 2 Regulate platform was also introduced to facilitate stakeholder engagement in the regulatory process.

Exam Point

This was part of a broader attempt to make RBI regulation:

consultative + transparent + evidence-based + review-oriented.

June 2025 — The Most Loaded Regulatory Month

June 2025 is one of the most important months in the entire chronology.

Several major banking and monetary-policy developments occurred.

1. Major Repo Rate Cut

The RBI reduced the repo rate by:

50 basis points

from 6.00% to:

5.50%

The stance was simultaneously changed from accommodative to:

Neutral

The MPC’s June decision was the only rate decision during FY 2025-26 where the vote was not unanimous.

One member preferred a 25-bp reduction instead of 50 bps.

2. Gold and Silver as Collateral

RBI issued directions concerning loans against gold and silver collateral.

The LTV limits were:

Loan amount	Maximum LTV
Up to ₹2.5 lakh	85%
>₹2.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh	80%
Above ₹5 lakh	75%

The framework also removed restrictions on bullet repayment for cooperative banks and RRBs.

Exam Trap

Do not remember this as one universal 85% LTV.

The LTV is slab-based:

85% → 80% → 75%

3. KYC Directions

RBI strengthened the KYC framework.

Among the important features:

CKYCR to be referred to first;
BCs permitted to assist with KYC updation;
safeguards against denial of banking services to customers, particularly disadvantaged groups and persons with disabilities;
facilities for low-risk individual customers;
prescribed timelines for KYC updation and customer intimation.

4. Project Finance

RBI issued the revised framework for project finance.

It dealt with:

Date of Commencement of Commercial Operations (DCCO);
deferment;
lender participation;
land availability;
common loan agreements.

DCCO deferment without downgrade was allowed up to:

2 years for non-infrastructure projects
3 years for infrastructure projects

subject to conditions.

5. Interest-Free/Other Regulatory Reforms

June also saw developments across:

foreign exchange;
banking regulation;
financial-market operations; and
customer protection.

June Memory Line

June = 50-bp cut + Neutral + Gold/Silver LTV + KYC + Project Finance.

July 2025 — Markets, Co-Lending and Regulatory Consolidation

July brought important financial-market and banking reforms.

1. Co-Lending Framework

The co-lending framework was expanded beyond priority-sector lending to:

all loans

The individual loan retention requirement of the originating regulated entity was reduced from:

20% → 10%

The first-loss default guarantee was capped at:

5%

Why important?

The objective was to facilitate wider collaboration between regulated entities while maintaining clear responsibility and prudential safeguards.

2. Account Aggregator

The Account Aggregator Framework was strengthened through the Financial Information User (FIU) schema 2.0, with additional deposit-related data fields.

3. AIF Exposure

RBI revised the regulatory framework for banks’ investments in Alternative Investment Funds.

The contribution limits included:

10% individually
20% in aggregate

subject to the applicable framework.

4. SORR

The Secured Overnight Rupee Rate (SORR) framework became operational, with publication by FBIL beginning July 7, 2025.

SORR is based on secured overnight transactions, including:

basket repo; and
triparty repo.

Exam Point

SORR = Secured Overnight Rupee Rate

Do not confuse it with the RBI’s operating target:

WACR = Weighted Average Call Rate

August 2025 — Inflation Falls, Innovation Expands

August was important for both monetary policy and FinTech.

Monetary Policy

The RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at:

5.50%

and retained the:

Neutral stance

The CPI inflation projection was revised sharply downward by 60 basis points to 3.1%.

The quarterly inflation projections included:

Q2: 2.1%
Q3: 3.1%
Q4: 4.4%

FREE-AI Committee

The FREE-AI Committee submitted its report on August 13, 2025.

The report was built around:

7 Sutras

Trust
Accountability
Understandable by Design
People First
Safety, Resilience and Sustainability
Innovation over Restraint
Fairness and Equity

It contained:

26 recommendations

divided broadly into:

innovation enablement; and
risk mitigation.

This became one of the most important RBI developments relating to responsible AI.

September 2025 — CRR Reduction Begins

The first tranche of the RBI’s major CRR reduction became effective:

September 6, 2025

The overall CRR reduction was:

100 bps → 3.0% of NDTL

implemented in four tranches.

This released durable liquidity into the banking system.

RBI Economic Capital Framework

The revised Economic Capital Framework had been approved by the Central Board in May 2025 and became particularly relevant to the year’s financial accounts and provisioning framework.

The 2025-26 accounts subsequently showed Available Realised Equity at:

6.5% of balance-sheet size

October 2025 — Digital Banking, Payments and Monetary Policy

October was another high-value month.

1. Monetary Policy

The MPC kept the repo rate unchanged at:

5.50%

and retained the:

Neutral stance

The growth projection was raised to:

6.8%

while the CPI projection was reduced to:

2.6%

The decision followed stronger-than-expected growth data, including Q1 GDP growth of 7.8%.

2. Digital Banking Channels

RBI released the framework for digital banking channels.

The broader regulatory effort was subsequently incorporated into entity-wise Master Directions.

3. Continuous Cheque Clearing

A major payment-system reform became operational on:

October 4, 2025

Continuous Clearing was introduced under CTS.

The cheque-clearing cycle was reduced from:

T+1 → a few hours

Banks were required to provide credit within one hour of settlement, subject to applicable conditions.

This was one of the most important payment-system developments of FY26.

4. FX-Retail and Bharat Connect

FX-Retail was linked with Bharat Connect.

The first phase enabled individuals to purchase US dollars through the platform.

November 2025 — Trade Facilitation and FX Liberalisation

November saw several foreign-exchange and trade-related measures.

1. Export Realisation Period Extended

The period for realisation and repatriation of export proceeds for:

goods;
software; and
services

was increased from:

9 months → 15 months

The period for shipment of goods against advance payment was also liberalised, subject to the framework.

2. Small-Value EDPMS/IDPMS Entries

Small-value export/import entries up to:

₹10 lakh

could be reconciled and closed based on declaration, subject to conditions.

This was aimed at reducing compliance burden.

3. Master Direction Consolidation

One of the year’s biggest institutional reforms was the consolidation of RBI’s regulatory instructions.

More than:

11,000 instructions

were consolidated into:

244 Master Directions

across 11 types of regulated entities.

Around:

9,445 circulars

were repealed.

This is a very important descriptive-answer point because it represents a shift from regulatory accumulation towards regulatory simplification and consolidation.

December 2025 — Another Major Monetary-Policy Turn

December was one of the most important months of FY26.

Repo Rate Cut

The RBI reduced the repo rate by:

25 basis points

to:

5.25%

The stance remained:

Neutral

The GDP projection was raised to:

7.3%

while CPI inflation projection was reduced to:

2.0%

The policy decision followed Q2 GDP growth of:

8.2%

Other Important December Measures

The month also saw regulatory measures involving:

Gold Metal Loans;
cooperative-bank autonomy;
Basic Savings Bank Deposit accounts;
current account / cash credit / overdraft arrangements;
repeal of the Large Borrowers market-mechanism framework;
currency export/import provisions;
government securities and financial markets.

Gold Metal Loans

The tenor for non-exporter jewellers was increased from:

180 days → 270 days

January 2026 — Related-Party Lending and New Consumer Protection Measures

January continued the regulatory reform agenda.

Related-Party Lending

RBI introduced a stronger framework concerning loans and advances to related parties.

The framework strengthened:

Board responsibility;
recusal requirements; and
safeguards against quid-pro-quo arrangements.

The concept of a:

“Reciprocally Related Person”

was introduced to address reciprocal lending arrangements.

Government Accounts

RBI also continued reforms involving:

government payments;
e-Kuber;
government securities;
foreign exchange;
payment systems.

CBDC and Digital Infrastructure

CBDC pilots and digital infrastructure initiatives continued to expand, including programmable and offline-use cases discussed elsewhere in the Annual Report.

February 2026 — External Headwinds and Responsible AI

February was important for both monetary policy and international financial conditions.

Monetary Policy

The RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at:

5.25%

and retained the:

Neutral stance

One MPC member preferred an accommodative stance.

The policy assessment acknowledged intensified external headwinds.

ECB Rationalisation

RBI announced a significant rationalisation of the External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) framework.

The changes involved:

broader eligible borrowers/lenders;
borrowing limits linked to financial strength;
liberalised end-use conditions;
revised minimum average maturity;
market-determined interest rates;
simplified reporting.

Financial Literacy Week 2026

The theme was:

“KYC – Your first step to safe banking”

The campaign ran from:

February 9–13, 2026

and was supported by mass-media and local-level awareness initiatives.

March 2026 — The Final FY26 Policy Push

March was particularly important because it brought together monetary policy, financial-market operations, consumer protection and the transition to the next strategic cycle.

1. RBI’s OMO Purchases

RBI conducted additional OMO purchases during March.

Two purchases of:

₹50,000 crore each

were conducted on March 9 and March 13.

Total:

₹1 lakh crore

These operations supported durable liquidity conditions.

2. Capital Market Exposure

RBI issued directions concerning Capital Market Exposure, with the framework effective from July 1, 2026.

Because the effective date was after the financial year-end, candidates should distinguish:

Announcement/issuance during March 2026

from:

effective implementation during FY 2026-27.

3. Customer Liability Framework

RBI proposed changes to the framework dealing with customer liability in cases of fraud.

The draft sought:

additional fraud categories;
faster processing;
compensation arrangements for certain small-value fraud cases.

4. Dividend Directions

RBI issued revised directions concerning dividends and remuneration.

Eligibility was linked to factors including:

profitability;
net NPA position; and
capital adequacy.

The Monetary Policy Timeline at One Glance

Month	Repo Rate	Key stance/action
April 2025	6.00%	25-bp cut; Accommodative
June 2025	5.50%	50-bp cut; Neutral
August 2025	5.50%	Hold; Neutral
October 2025	5.50%	Hold; Neutral
December 2025	5.25%	25-bp cut; Neutral
February 2026	5.25%	Hold; Neutral

FY26 cumulative repo reduction:

100 basis points

The broader easing cycle from February 2025 to December 2025 amounted to:

125 basis points

The Regulatory Timeline You Should Memorise

Month	High-probability exam item
April	25-bp repo cut; accommodative stance
May	Digital Lending Directions; regulatory formulation framework
June	50-bp repo cut; gold/silver collateral; KYC; project finance
July	All-form co-lending; SORR; AIF framework
August	FREE-AI report; inflation projection cut
September	CRR reduction begins
October	Continuous cheque clearing; digital banking; FX-Retail/Bharat Connect
November	Export realisation period 9→15 months; Master Direction consolidation
December	25-bp repo cut; Gold Metal Loans; current-account reforms
January	Related-party lending framework
February	ECB rationalisation; Financial Literacy Week
March	OMO purchases; customer liability/dividend directions

The “Numbers Behind the Year”

Several numbers from the chronology deserve special attention.

Monetary policy

100 bps → FY26 cumulative repo cut
125 bps → broader Feb-Dec 2025 easing cycle
5.25% → repo rate at FY-end
3.0% → CRR
50 bps → policy corridor around repo

Banking regulation

20% → 10% → minimum retained share in co-lending
5% → first-loss default guarantee ceiling
85% / 80% / 75% → gold/silver collateral LTV slabs
11,000+ → 244 → regulatory-instruction consolidation
9,445 → circulars repealed

Payments

October 4, 2025 → continuous cheque clearing operationalisation
T+1 → few hours → cheque-clearing cycle

Foreign exchange

9 → 15 months → export realisation/repatriation period
4 → 6 months → merchanting-trade foreign-exchange outlay period
13 → 36 months → forex forward contract trading/guaranteed-settlement tenor

AI and FinTech

26 → FREE-AI recommendations
7 → FREE-AI Sutras
26 banks → MuleHunter.ai implemented by March 31, 2026
4 banks → additional MuleHunter implementations underway

Five Major Themes of RBI Policy in FY26

If an interview panel asks:

“What was the broad regulatory direction of RBI during 2025-26?”

Do not answer with a random list of circulars.

Organise your answer around five themes.

1. Monetary accommodation

RBI moved through a significant easing cycle while eventually returning to a neutral stance.

2. Regulatory simplification

The consolidation of more than 11,000 instructions into 244 Master Directions is the clearest example.

3. Customer protection

KYC, digital lending, mis-selling, fraud liability, grievance redressal and digital-payment security received considerable attention.

4. Digital transformation

CBDC, ULI, MuleHunter.ai, AI governance, continuous cheque clearing, digital banking and payment infrastructure dominated the technology agenda.

5. Financial-market deepening and internationalisation

SORR, tokenisation, FX reforms, INR internationalisation, bond-market development and cross-border payment initiatives were prominent.

Cause → Policy → Effect: How to Answer Descriptive Questions

Example: Why did RBI reduce CRR?

Cause:
The monetary-policy environment required durable liquidity support.

↓

Policy:
CRR was reduced by 100 bps to 3% in four tranches.

↓

Effect:
Banks had greater deployable liquidity and deposits with RBI declined.

↓

Evidence:
Bank deposits with RBI fell 18.3%, from ₹9,91,488.49 crore to ₹8,10,124.48 crore, with the Annual Report specifically attributing the decline mainly to the CRR reduction.

This is far stronger than simply writing:

“RBI reduced CRR.”

High-Probability Questions for Grade B / Promotion Exam

Objective Questions

What was the cumulative repo-rate reduction during FY26?
What was the repo rate at the end of March 2026?
What was the new CRR?
What were the gold-loan LTV slabs?
What was the minimum retained share under the revised co-lending framework?
What was the first-loss default guarantee ceiling?
When did continuous cheque clearing become operational?
What was the export-realisation period after the November 2025 reform?
What is SORR?
How many Master Directions resulted from the regulatory consolidation?
How many circulars were repealed?
What were the seven FREE-AI Sutras?
What was the theme of Financial Literacy Week 2026?
What was the December 2025 repo rate?
What was the February 2026 MPC stance?

Descriptive Questions

1. “Discuss the major monetary-policy developments of RBI during 2025-26.”

Structure:

April cut → June major cut → August hold → October hold → December cut → February hold → overall easing cycle.

2. “Examine the major banking-regulatory reforms undertaken by RBI during 2025-26.”

Use:

Co-lending + KYC + digital lending + project finance + gold/silver loans + Basel III + LCR + regulatory consolidation.

3. “How did RBI balance financial innovation with financial stability during 2025-26?”

Use:

CBDC + ULI + MuleHunter.ai + FREE-AI + Regulatory Sandbox + DPIP + cyber resilience + consumer protection.

4. “Discuss the major measures taken by RBI to deepen and modernise India’s financial markets.”

Use:

SORR + tokenised CDs + NDS-OM connectivity + municipal bonds + IRD framework + FX reforms + bond-market development.

One-Minute Mega Timeline

Memorise this chain:

APRIL

25-bp cut → Accommodative

↓

MAY

Digital Lending + Regulatory Framework

↓

JUNE

50-bp cut → Neutral + Gold/Silver + KYC + Project Finance

↓

JULY

Co-lending + SORR

↓

AUGUST

FREE-AI + Inflation projection down

↓

SEPTEMBER

CRR reduction begins

↓

OCTOBER

Continuous Cheque Clearing + Digital Banking

↓

NOVEMBER

Export period 9→15 months + Master Directions

↓

DECEMBER

25-bp cut → 5.25% + Gold Metal Loans

↓

JANUARY

Related-party lending

↓

FEBRUARY

ECB rationalisation + KYC Financial Literacy Week

↓

MARCH

OMO + Customer liability + Dividend framework

Key Takeaways — Part 29

FY26 began with a 25-bp repo cut in April.
June brought the largest individual FY26 rate cut: 50 bps.
The repo rate ended FY26 at 5.25%.
The cumulative FY26 repo reduction was 100 bps.
CRR was reduced by 100 bps to 3% of NDTL.
Gold/silver collateral LTV slabs were 85%, 80% and 75%.
Co-lending was expanded to all loans and minimum retained share reduced from 20% to 10%.
SORR publication began on July 7, 2025.
Continuous cheque clearing became operational on October 4, 2025.
Export realisation/repatriation period was extended from 9 to 15 months.
More than 11,000 regulatory instructions were consolidated into 244 Master Directions.
Around 9,445 circulars were repealed.
The December repo cut took the policy rate to 5.25%.
The revised framework for related-party lending came in January 2026.
ECB rules were substantially rationalised in February 2026.
March 2026 saw additional OMO purchases of ₹1 lakh crore through two ₹50,000-crore tranches.
FREE-AI = 26 recommendations + 7 Sutras.
The broad FY26 regulatory philosophy can be remembered as easing + simplification + digitalisation + innovation + customer protection.

Final Revision Sheet

Monetary Policy

April: -25
June: -50
December: -25
Total FY26: -100 bps
End-FY repo: 5.25%

Liquidity

CRR: 4% → 3%

Banking

Co-lending: 20% → 10% retained share
FLDG: 5%

Gold

LTV: 85 / 80 / 75

Payments

CTS: October 4, 2025
T+1 → few hours

Exports

Realisation: 9 → 15 months

Regulation

11,000+ instructions → 244 MDs
9,445 circulars repealed

AI

FREE-AI: 7 Sutras + 26 recommendations

Market

SORR: July 7, 2025

FY26 End

Repo = 5.25%
CRR = 3%
Stance = Neutral

The Bottom Line

The FY 2025-26 policy chronology reveals a clear evolution in RBI’s approach.

It was not simply a year of interest-rate cuts.

It was simultaneously a year of:

monetary easing → durable liquidity support → regulatory simplification → stronger customer protection → digital transformation → responsible AI → financial-market deepening → greater internationalisation.

For the RBI Grade B Promotion Exam, the highest-return strategy is therefore not to memorise every circular independently. Build date–measure–number–purpose associations.

For example:

June 2025 → 50-bp cut → repo 5.50% → Neutral

September 2025 → CRR reduction begins → 3%

October 4, 2025 → continuous cheque clearing

November 2025 → export realisation 9→15 months

December 2025 → repo 5.25%

July 7, 2025 → SORR

November 2025 → 244 Master Directions

That is the level of recall that converts the Annual Report from a 200+ page document into an examination weapon.

Part 29 complete.