This is the final master revision sheet for the RBI Annual Report FY 2025-26. It consolidates the most important statistics, definitions, policy measures, institutions, dates, concepts, comparisons, probable questions and completeness status from the full 30-part study architecture.

For serious RBI Grade B or UPSC Exam preparation, do not read this like another article. Use it as a revision document: first learn the framework, then numbers, then dates/policies, and finally the probable questions.

PART I — THE 50 MOST IMPORTANT NUMBERS

If your examination is close, these are the first numbers to memorise.

No.	Indicator	FY 2025-26
1	Real GDP growth	7.6%
2	Real GVA growth	7.7%
3	PFCE growth	7.7%
4	GFCF growth	7.1%
5	Agriculture GVA growth	2.4%
6	Industry GVA growth	9.5%
7	Manufacturing GVA growth	11.5%
8	Services GVA growth	8.7%
9	CPI inflation	2.1%
10	WPI inflation	0.7%
11	CPI-IW inflation	3.1%
12	M3 growth	15.3%
13	Reserve Money growth	6.0%
14	Currency in circulation growth	11.9%
15	Bank credit growth	17.1%
16	Aggregate deposits growth	16.2%
17	Credit-deposit ratio	81.4%
18	Money multiplier	6.1
19	RBI balance sheet/GDP	26.4%
20	CRR	3.0%
21	Average system liquidity surplus	₹1.86 lakh crore
22	WACR spread over repo	–7 bps
23	Central GFD	4.4% of GDP
24	Central GFD 2026-27 BE	4.3%
25	Central liabilities	56.1% of GDP
26	State GFD 2025-26 RE	3.5% of GSDP
27	State GFD 2026-27 BE	3.0%
28	Merchandise exports	US$441.7 bn
29	Merchandise imports	US$775.0 bn
30	Merchandise trade deficit	US$333.2 bn
31	CAD	1.1% of GDP
32	External debt	US$765.5 bn
33	External debt/GDP	20.4%
34	Reserve cover	10.8 months
35	Reserves/external debt	89.8%
36	End-FY INR/USD	₹94.7
37	40-currency REER depreciation	7.5%
38	40-currency NEER depreciation	6.9%
39	BSE Sensex FY decline	7.1%
40	FPI domestic-equity net sales	₹2.7 lakh crore
41	DII net purchases	₹8.5 lakh crore
42	UPI volume	24,16,169 lakh transactions
43	UPI value	₹314.2 lakh crore
44	RBI fraud cases	10,114
45	Fraud amount	₹48,021 crore
46	DICGC insured banks	1,950
47	Fully insured deposit accounts	97.5%
48	RBI enforcement penalties	241
49	RBI surplus transferred to GoI	₹2,86,588.46 crore
50	Total financial resources to commercial sector	₹47.04 lakh crore

The Appendix itself consolidates the major macroeconomic indicators, including GDP, inflation, money, credit, financial-market rates, fiscal indicators and external-sector measures.

PART II — INDIA’S ECONOMY IN ONE PAGE

1. Growth

The headline number is:

Real GDP growth = 7.6%

compared with 7.1% in 2024-25.

Real GVA growth was 7.7%.

Demand-side engine

PFCE: 7.7%
GFCE: 6.6%
GFCF: 7.1%
Exports: 6.5%
Imports: 6.4%

PFCE accounted for 55.7% of GDP, while GFCF accounted for 32.0%.

Supply-side engine

Agriculture: 2.4%
Industry: 9.5%
Manufacturing: 11.5%
Services: 8.7%

Services accounted for 61.7% of GVA.

One-line interpretation

FY2025-26 growth was broad-based, led by domestic demand, manufacturing and services, with investment remaining strong.

PART III — INFLATION MASTER REVISION

Headline inflation

CPI = 2.1%

This was a dramatic decline from:

5.4% → 4.6% → 2.1%

over 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Rural inflation = 1.8%

Urban inflation = 2.4%

Combined = 2.1%.

Other inflation indicators

WPI = 0.7%
CPI-IW = 3.1%
CPI-IW food = 1.0%
CPI-AL = 1.2%
CPI-RL = 1.3%

Important technical point

The Annual Report’s FY2025-26 CPI average combines:

April–December 2025: old 2012=100 series
January 2026 onward: revised 2024=100 series.

Inflation framework

Remember:

Headline CPI inflation target = 4%

Tolerance band:

2%–6%

The framework was retained for April 1, 2026–March 31, 2031.

PART IV — MONETARY POLICY MASTER SHEET

FY2025-26 repo-rate journey

Date	Repo rate	Change	Stance
Beginning FY	6.25%	—	Neutral
April 2025	6.00%	–25 bps	Accommodative
June 2025	5.50%	–50 bps	Neutral
August 2025	5.50%	Hold	Neutral
October 2025	5.50%	Hold	Neutral
December 2025	5.25%	–25 bps	Neutral
February 2026	5.25%	Hold	Neutral

FY2025-26 cumulative reduction

100 basis points

Broader February–December 2025 easing cycle

125 basis points

The chronology confirms the April, June and December policy-rate changes and the CRR reduction.

Most likely MCQ

Repo rate at the end of FY2025-26 = 5.25%.

PART V — LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT

Core framework

Remember three concepts:

1. Operating target

Weighted Average Call Rate (WACR)

2. Corridor

Symmetric ±50 bps around the repo rate

3. Main liquidity-management approach

Transient liquidity was increasingly managed through variable-rate repo/reverse repo operations of different tenors, while durable liquidity was influenced through OMO, CRR and forex operations.

FY2025-26 numbers

Average daily liquidity surplus: ₹1.86 lakh crore
SDF share of average total LAF absorption: 84.9%
Approximate SDF absorption: ₹2.02 lakh crore
Average total LAF absorption: ₹2.38 lakh crore
WACR average spread over repo: –7 bps

The revised liquidity-management framework became effective September 30, 2025.

Durable liquidity injection

Total listed durable liquidity measures amounted to approximately:

₹13.78 lakh crore

Net OMO purchases during FY2025-26:

₹8.78 lakh crore approximately

PART VI — MONETARY TRANSMISSION

The FY2025-26 repo cut was 100 bps.

Transmission into various lending/deposit rates was uneven.

FY2025-26 transmission

Rate	Reduction
Fresh WADTDR	65 bps
Outstanding WADTDR	49 bps
1-year median MCLR	60 bps
EBLR	100 bps
Fresh WALR	95 bps
Outstanding WALR	78 bps

Why EBLR transmission was stronger

External benchmark-linked loans reset more directly with policy-linked benchmarks.

EBLR’s share in floating-rate rupee loans increased:

56.6% → 61.7% → 65.4%

between March 2024, March 2025 and December 2025.

PART VII — MONEY & CREDIT

Money

Indicator	FY2025-26
Reserve Money	6.0%
M1	22.3%
M3	15.3%
CiC	11.9%
Currency-deposit ratio	14.9%
Money multiplier	6.1

Banking

Indicator	FY2025-26
Aggregate deposits	16.2%
Bank credit	17.1%
Non-food credit	16.9%
Credit-deposit ratio	81.4%
Credit-GDP ratio	61.8%

Sectoral credit

Agriculture: 15.7%
Industry: 15.0%
Services: 19.0%
Personal loans: 16.2%

Micro & small enterprise credit grew 33.1%.

NBFC credit grew 26.3%.

PART VIII — FINANCIAL INCLUSION

Financial Inclusion Index

67.0

for March 2025, up from 64.2 in March 2024.

Dimensions:

Access
Usage
Quality

EDDPE

Enhanced District-level Development Programme for Financial Inclusion:

710 districts
More than 80% of districts
All districts in 22 states and 8 UTs

PSL

Scheduled Commercial Banks’ priority-sector lending:

45.0%

against the prescribed overall target of 40%.

MSE collateral-free lending

Limit increased:

₹10 lakh → ₹20 lakh

Effective April 1, 2026.

NSFI 2025-30

Released:

December 1, 2025

It contains:

5 Panch-Jyoti strategic objectives
47 action points

The five broad pillars centre on financial safety/security, women-led inclusion, livelihood linkages, financial education and customer protection.

PART IX — FINANCIAL MARKETS

Money market

Average daily money-market volume:

₹6.4 lakh crore

Market composition:

Triparty repo: approximately 67%
Market repo: approximately 30%
Call money: approximately 3%

Government securities

Net OMO purchases were significant during FY2025-26.

Important year-end event:

10-year G-sec yield crossed 7%

on the final trading session of FY2025-26, the first such occurrence since July 2024.

Corporate bonds

Secondary corporate-bond turnover:

₹7.1 thousand crore/day

Private placements accounted for approximately 99% of resources mobilised through the domestic bond market.

PART X — CAPITAL MARKET & RUPEE

Equity

Sensex:

–7.1%

and ended FY2025-26 at approximately 71,948.

Institutional flows

FPI net sales:

₹2.7 lakh crore

DII net purchases:

₹8.5 lakh crore

Average monthly SIP contribution:

₹29.1 thousand crore

Rupee

INR depreciated:

9.9%

during FY2025-26.

End-FY exchange rate:

₹94.83/USD

The Appendix rounds this to ₹94.7/USD because of its presentation convention.

Important distinction

NEER = Nominal Effective Exchange Rate

REER = Real Effective Exchange Rate

FY2025-26:

40-currency NEER: –6.9%
40-currency REER: –7.5%

PART XI — FISCAL POLICY MASTER SHEET

Central government

GFD

2020-21: 9.2%
2023-24: 5.5%
2024-25: 4.8%
2025-26 RE: 4.4%
2026-27 BE: 4.3%

This is the basic fiscal-consolidation trajectory.

FY2025-26 RE

Non-debt total receipts: ₹34.1 lakh crore
Gross tax revenue: ₹40.8 lakh crore
Net tax revenue: ₹26.7 lakh crore
Non-tax revenue: ₹6.7 lakh crore
Total expenditure: ₹49.6 lakh crore
Revenue expenditure: ₹38.7 lakh crore
Capital expenditure: ₹11.0 lakh crore
Revenue deficit: ₹5.3 lakh crore
GFD: ₹15.6 lakh crore

2026-27 borrowing

Gross market borrowing: ₹17.2 lakh crore
Net market borrowing: ₹11.7 lakh crore

PART XII — STATE FINANCES

2025-26 state consolidated GFD:

3.5% of GSDP

2026-27 BE:

3.0%

The XVI Finance Commission period:

2026-27 to 2030-31

Vertical devolution:

41%

Horizontal devolution:

Criterion	Weight
Population	17.5%
Area	10%
Forest cover	10%
Income distance	42.5%
Demographic performance	10%
Contribution to GDP	10%
Total	100%

PART XIII — EXTERNAL SECTOR

Merchandise trade

Exports:

US$441.7 billion

Imports:

US$775.0 billion

Trade deficit:

US$333.2 billion

Electronics remained an important export driver, with electronic-goods exports increasing substantially.

Services

Net services exports increased strongly.

Software/business services remained dominant.

Remittances

Remittance growth:

10.1%

April–December 2025.

CAD

US$30.2 billion

or:

1.1% of GDP

for April–December 2025.

PART XIV — EXTERNAL VULNERABILITY

Remember this combination:

External debt is moderate + reserves are large + services exports are strong + remittances are strong = external vulnerability remains manageable.

Key figures at end-December 2025:

External debt: US$765.5 bn
Debt/GDP: 20.4%
Short-term debt/total debt: 19.7%
Residual maturity debt/total: 43.2%
Reserves/debt: 89.8%
Short-term debt/reserves: 21.9%
Residual maturity debt/reserves: 48.1%
Import cover: 10.8 months
Debt-service ratio: 5.8%
NIIP/GDP: –7.1%

Appendix Table 1 records external debt at US$765.5 billion and reserves-to-debt at 89.8%.

PART XV — FOREIGN EXCHANGE & INR INTERNATIONALISATION

Key institutional mandate

The Foreign Exchange Department operates under:

FEMA, 1999

Core objectives:

facilitate external trade and payments
promote orderly development and maintenance of the foreign exchange market.

INR internationalisation

Key instruments:

SRVA — Special Rupee Vostro Account
LCA — Local Currency Arrangement
INR invoicing
INR settlement
overseas INR accounts of eligible persons resident outside India

By May 2026:

LCAs with UAE, Indonesia, Maldives and Mauritius
SRVAs opened by correspondent banks in 35 partner countries

INR invoicing

FY2025-26:

Imports: ₹2,84,688 crore
Exports: ₹3,27,370 crore

INR settlement

Imports: ₹1,59,691 crore
Exports: ₹1,71,916 crore

PART XVI — MAJOR FEMA/FOREX REFORMS

Memorise these:

Date	Reform
Apr 23, 2025	Bharat Mart export-proceeds framework
Jun 13	Advance remittance for shipping vessels up to US$50m subject to conditions
Aug 5	AD banks allowed SRVAs without prior RBI approval
Oct 1	Merchanting-trade FX outlay 4→6 months
Oct 1	EDPMS/IDPMS small-value entries up to ₹10 lakh simplified
Nov 13	Export realisation/repatriation 9→15 months
Dec 8	Currency movement rules for Nepal/Bhutan rationalised
Jan 10, 2026	FEMA Guarantees Regulations rationalised
Jan 15	Export/import regulations 2026 published
Feb 9	ECB framework rationalised

The Annual Report chronology confirms the export-realisation extension, merchanting-trade period, EDPMS/IDPMS threshold and ECB reforms.

PART XVII — BANKING REGULATION: MUST-KNOW REFORMS

1. Digital Lending Directions

May 8, 2025

Key ideas:

comprehensive display of loan offers
transparency where multiple lenders are involved
public Digital Lending Apps directory.

2. Gold and Silver Collateral

June 6, 2025

LTV:

up to ₹2.5 lakh: 85%
₹2.5–5 lakh: 80%
₹5 lakh: 75%

3. KYC

June/August 2025 reforms:

CKYCR as first reference
BCs permitted for KYC updation
stronger accessibility
no denial to financially/socially disadvantaged customers and PwDs
low-risk customers protected from unnecessary transaction restrictions.

4. Project Finance

June 19, 2025

DCCO deferment without downgrade:

non-infrastructure: up to 2 years
infrastructure: up to 3 years

5. Co-lending

August 6, 2025

expanded beyond PSL
retained share reduced 20% → 10%
FLDG up to 5%

6. Prepayment charges

July 2, 2025

Harmonised framework for specified loans to individuals and MSEs.

7. Master Direction consolidation

November 28, 2025:

11,000+ instructions → 244 Master Directions

and:

9,445 circulars repealed

The chronology confirms the consolidation into 244 entity-wise/regulatory instructions.

PART XVIII — ECL, BASEL III & EMERGING REGULATION

These are especially important for descriptive and interview questions.

ECL

Expected Credit Loss framework was introduced through the regulatory-development process for provisioning and income recognition.

Basel III

Standardised credit-risk framework was reviewed and finalised after FY2025-26, with the final directions issued April 27, 2026 and effective from April 1, 2027.

Important: these are post-year-end developments. Do not incorrectly describe them as FY2025-26 policy outcomes.

The Annual Report itself distinguishes draft measures during FY2025-26 from final directions issued after year-end.

PART XIX — FINTECH & AI

This is one of the fastest-growing examination areas.

ULI

Unified Lending Interface

As of March 31, 2026:

9.6 crore API hits
12 loan journeys
117 lenders
134 data services

Data sources included land records, Udyam/Udyam Assist, NRLM, GSTN and digital dairy records.

FREE-AI

Committee report:

August 13, 2025

Framework for Responsible and Ethical Enablement of AI in the Financial Sector.

Remember:

7 Sutras

6 Pillars

26 Recommendations

with:

13 innovation-oriented recommendations
13 risk-management recommendations.

MuleHunter.ai

AI/ML-based fraud/mule-account detection.

As of March 31, 2026:

26 banks implemented

4 more underway

HaRBInger 4.0

Launched:

October 23, 2025

Theme:

Secure Banking: Powered by Identity, Integrity and Inclusivity

Three problem statements:

Tokenised KYC
Offline CBDC
Enhancing Trust

The chronology confirms the launch of FREE-AI and HaRBInger 4.0.

PART XX — CBDC MASTER REVISION

Remember the distinction:

CBDC-R

Retail CBDC.

CBDC-W

Wholesale CBDC.

Major use cases explored:

programmable payments
DBT
offline payments
NFC/SMS
government payments
G-sec settlement
inter-bank borrowing
tokenised financial instruments
cross-border applications.

UMI

Unified Markets Interface

A tokenisation platform with wholesale CBDC settlement.

First tokenised instrument:

Certificates of Deposit

CAT Sandbox

CBDC and Asset Tokenisation Sandbox

Designed to facilitate experimentation around CBDC and asset-tokenisation use cases.

PART XXI — FINANCIAL STABILITY

Fraud

FY2025-26:

10,114 cases

Amount involved:

₹48,021 crore

Previous year:

23,722 cases involving ₹32,803 crore.

Critical exam caution

Amount involved in fraud ≠ actual loss suffered.

Advances accounted for:

8,640 cases
₹40,774 crore

PSBs accounted for the largest amount.

PART XXII — SUPERVISION & CYBER RESILIENCE

Major themes:

forward-looking risk-based supervision
liquidity survival-horizon analysis
cyber resilience
digital forensic readiness
cyber mapping
AI-related risks
cyber-range exercises
KYC/AML risk-based supervision.

sDQI

Quarterly supervisory data-quality index from June 2025.

Four key dimensions:

Accuracy – Completeness – Timeliness – Consistency

PART XXIII — ENFORCEMENT

FY2025-26:

241 penalties

Total:

₹26.33 crore

Also:

342 show-cause notices
698 charges
382 charges resulting in monetary penalties
316 without enforcement action.

The important conceptual point is that regulatory enforcement is separate from prudential supervision, even though the two support the same objective of financial stability.

PART XXIV — CONSUMER PROTECTION

RB-IOS 2026

Revised Integrated Ombudsman Scheme:

Notified January 16, 2026

Effective:

July 1, 2026

Internal Ombudsman Directions

Issued:

January 14, 2026

Cooperative banks

State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks were brought under the RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme effective:

November 1, 2025

PART XXV — DICGC

Insured banks

As of March 31, 2026:

1,950

Break-up:

124 commercial banks
1,826 cooperative banks.

Deposit insurance limit

₹5 lakh per depositor per bank

Fully insured accounts

97.5%

Insured deposits

₹1,04,09,023 crore

= 41.1% of assessable deposits

DICGC premium

0.12% per annum

Risk Based Premium Framework

Effective:

April 1, 2026

Two-tier system.

PART XXVI — PUBLIC DEBT MANAGEMENT

Central government borrowing

Gross dated G-sec borrowing:

₹14.61 lakh crore

Net:

₹10.84 lakh crore

Weighted average yield:

6.69%

Weighted average maturity of fresh issuance:

18.88 years

Government securities ownership

End-March 2026:

Commercial banks: 34.6%
Insurance companies: 24.0%
PFs: 10.9%
RBI: 10.9%
FPIs: 1.8%

WMA

GoI WMA limits:

H1: ₹1.5 lakh crore
H2: ₹0.5 lakh crore

PART XXVII — CURRENCY MANAGEMENT

Banknotes

End-March 2026:

Volume: 17,13,215 lakh pieces
Value: ₹41,23,995 crore

₹500 note

41.2% of volume
85.5% of value

₹2,000 note

98.45% returned

by March 31, 2026.

Outstanding:

₹5,501 crore

Counterfeit notes

2,29,746

detected.

Printing expenditure

₹4,875.20 crore

Currency infrastructure

19 RBI Issue Offices
2,599 Currency Chests
2,119 Small Coin Depots.

PART XXVIII — PAYMENT SYSTEMS

UPI

FY2025-26:

Volume

24,16,169 lakh

Value

₹314.2 lakh crore

Growth:

Volume 30%
Value 20.6%

UPI accounted for nearly 86% of retail payment transactions.

RTGS

Volume growth: 15.7%
Value growth: 12.9%

NEFT

1,00,996 lakh transactions
₹502.3 lakh crore

IMPS

49,431 lakh
₹76.7 lakh crore

PART XXIX — PAYMENTS VISION 2028

Issued:

March 27, 2026

Horizon:

December 2028

Major priorities:

fraud prevention
cyber resilience
cross-border payment efficiency
authentication innovation
digital payment security
cheque security
account switching
DLEI
electronic cheques
TReDS interoperability
payment-system research and training.

Continuous Cheque Clearing

Phase I:

October 4, 2025

Objective:

T+1 → a few hours

and credit within about one hour after settlement, subject to operational conditions.

PART XXX — RBI IT ARCHITECTURE

ReBIT

RBI’s IT and cyber-support subsidiary.

More than:

1,200 professionals

IFTAS

Focus:

financial technology
payment systems
networks
messaging
cloud infrastructure
digital transformation.

e-Kuber

RBI’s core banking platform for government and banking operations.

IFS Cloud

Phase I components:

IaaS
PaaS
SaaS
CaaS
STaaS
IPaaS

`.bank.in`

IDRBT is the exclusive registrar.

By March 2026, Indian banks including PSBs, PVBs, SFBs, PBs, RRBs and LABs had migrated their corporate websites to the .bank.in domain.

PART XXXI — RBI RESEARCH & DATA

DEPR

Department of Economic and Policy Research.

FY2025-26 target:

100 research projects

Actual:

102 extensive research projects

Major themes:

inflation
monetary transmission
wage-inflation relationship
banking competition
fintech
external sector
digital technology
climate and green banking.

DSIM

Department of Statistics and Information Management.

Major initiatives:

CIMS migration
SDMX
AI/ML forecasting
climate data
high-frequency indicators
data-quality dashboards
conversational data access.

Banking Laws (Amendment) Act 2025

Presidential assent:

April 15, 2025

One important statistical-reporting change concerned the definition of fortnight for CRR/SLR reporting.

From December 15, 2025:

1st–15th
16th–last day

replaced the earlier Saturday-to-second-Friday formulation.

PART XXXII — GOVERNANCE

Central Board

The Central Board is headed by the:

Governor

Important committees include:

Audit and Risk Management Sub-Committee
Human Resource Management Sub-Committee
Building Sub-Committee
IT Sub-Committee
Strategy Sub-Committee.

FY2025-26 meetings

Central Board: 8
Central Committee: 46

PART XXXIII — RISK MANAGEMENT

Think of RBI’s internal-control structure as:

First line

Business/operational departments

Second line

Risk Management Department

Third line

Inspection Department

This is a very useful interview question.

ERM Framework 2.0

Shift:

Compliance-driven → value-creating and anticipatory

with:

advanced analytics
emerging-risk identification
stronger risk culture.

Next Gen-IRIS

Went live:

April 1, 2026

PART XXXIV — UTKARSH 2029

This is one of the most important institutional-development topics.

Horizon

2026–29

Structure

Three-layered

Strategy pillars

Six broad pillars covering:

Stronger regulation
Customer-centric financial inclusion
Deeper financial markets
Technology agility
Internationalisation
Future-ready organisation.

Exam interpretation

Utkarsh 2029 is not merely an HR initiative.

It is a strategic institutional roadmap for the RBI.

PART XXXV — RBI BALANCE SHEET

Size

RBI balance sheet:

26.4% of GDP

at end-March 2026,

up from 23.7%.

Income

₹4,27,684.15 crore

Expenditure

₹1,41,091.69 crore

Surplus available

₹2,86,592.46 crore

Surplus transferred to GoI

₹2,86,588.46 crore

Major income

Interest income:

₹2,35,579.79 crore

Other income:

₹1,92,104.36 crore

PART XXXVI — RBI RESERVES & REVALUATION

Contingency Fund

₹5,68,333.19 crore

Economic Capital Framework

Contingent Risk Buffer maintained at:

6.5% of balance sheet

The ECF permits a CRB range of:

4.5%–7.5%

Currency and gold

Gold held by RBI:

880.52 metric tonnes

of which:

312.32 tonnes

were held as backing for Notes Issued.

PART XXXVII — FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES

As of March 31, 2026:

US$691.11 billion

Components:

Component	US$ bn
FCA	552.28
Gold	115.40
SDR	18.62
RTP	4.81
Total	691.11

The total increased by 3.4% in US-dollar terms during FY2025-26.

Very important distinction

Foreign exchange reserves ≠ only Foreign Currency Assets.

FER consists of:

FCA + Gold + SDR holdings + Reserve Tranche Position

with the balance-sheet treatment of SDR/RTP subject to the distinctions explained in the Annual Report.

PART XXXVIII — SAVINGS

Gross savings:

34.2% of GNDI

Household gross savings:

21.3%

Household:

Net financial saving = 7.0%
Gross financial saving = 11.8%
Physical assets = 13.6%
Valuables = 0.7%

Key interpretation

Households remain the largest saving sector, but the composition of household saving is critical for financial intermediation.

PART XXXIX — FLOW OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Total flow:

₹47,04,376 crore

Break-up:

Bank credit: ₹29,19,166 crore
Non-bank: ₹17,85,210 crore
Domestic non-bank: ₹12,66,319 crore
Foreign sources: ₹5,18,891 crore

Important individual sources:

Equity: ₹3,62,328 crore
Corporate bonds: ₹3,22,114 crore
FDI: ₹3,60,337 crore
NBFC credit: ₹4,43,092 crore

Key conclusion

India’s financial system is increasingly multi-channel, not bank-only.

PART XL — SEVEN APPENDIX TABLES: PERFECT MEMORY TRICK

Memorise:

1 — Macro

2 — GDP

3 — Savings

4 — Inflation/Money/Credit

5 — Financial Resources

6 — Fiscal

7 — BoP

Or:

Macro → Growth → Savings → Money → Finance → Fiscal → External

The Appendix directly contains all seven tables.

PART XLI — TOP POLICY DATES

This is the date sheet you should revise repeatedly.

Date	Event
Apr 9, 2025	Repo –25 bps; accommodative
Apr 21	LCR review
May 7	Framework for Formulation of Regulations
May 8	Digital Lending Directions
Jun 6	Repo –50 bps; CRR reduction; gold/silver framework
Jun 12	KYC reforms
Jun 19	Project Finance Directions
Jul 2	Prepayment Charges
Jul 29	AIF Directions
Aug 6	Co-lending + NFB Credit Directions
Aug 13	FREE-AI report
Sep 17	Regulatory Review Mechanism
Sep 26	Deceased Customer Claims
Sep 29	Interest Rate on Advances amendment
Sep 30	Revised liquidity framework
Oct 4	Continuous cheque clearing Phase I
Oct 7	FX-Retail/Bharat Connect; Basel draft
Nov 13	Export realisation 9→15 months
Nov 28	244 Master Directions
Dec 5	Repo –25 bps to 5.25%
Dec 11	Current/CC/OD + fortnight definition
Jan 5, 2026	Related-party lending
Jan 10	FEMA Guarantees Regulations
Jan 14	Internal Ombudsman Directions
Jan 16	RB-IOS 2026
Feb 9	ECB rationalisation
Feb 18	UTI framework
Mar 10	Dividend framework
Mar 27	Payments Vision 2028 + UTI MD
Mar 30	Capital Market Exposure
Mar 31	Trade Relief Measures 2026

The official chronology describes these measures and their effective dates; some measures were finalised after the reporting year, so always distinguish announcement during FY2025-26 from post-year-end finalisation.

PART XLII — INSTITUTIONS YOU MUST KNOW

Institution/Unit	Core role
MPC	Monetary policy
FSD	Financial stability/macrostability
DoR	Banking regulation
DoS	Banking supervision
FMRD	Financial-market regulation/development
FMOD	Liquidity & forex operations
FED	FEMA/foreign exchange management
DGBA	Government accounts/banking
IDMD	Public debt management
DEIO	Foreign-exchange reserves
DPSS	Payment systems
FinTech Department	Innovation, CBDC, ULI, AI
DEPR	Economic research
DSIM	Statistics/data
CEPD	Consumer education/protection
Legal Department	Legal framework
RMD	Second-line risk management
Inspection Department	Third-line assurance
ReBIT	RBI IT/cyber support
IFTAS	Financial technology/allied services
RBIH	Innovation ecosystem
DICGC	Deposit insurance
BRBNMPL	Banknote printing

PART XLIII — DEFINITIONS YOU MUST BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN

CRR

Cash Reserve Ratio: portion of specified bank liabilities maintained as cash reserve with RBI.

SLR

Statutory Liquidity Ratio: prescribed liquid assets maintained by banks.

WACR

Weighted Average Call Rate; RBI’s operating target for monetary policy.

SDF

Standing Deposit Facility; allows eligible banks to park funds with RBI without collateral.

MSF

Marginal Standing Facility; overnight borrowing facility for eligible banks against specified securities.

OMO

Open Market Operations; RBI purchase/sale of government securities to influence durable liquidity.

REER

Real Effective Exchange Rate; trade-weighted exchange-rate index adjusted for relative prices.

NEER

Nominal Effective Exchange Rate; trade-weighted nominal exchange-rate index.

CAD

Current Account Deficit; current-account outflow exceeding inflow.

GFD

Gross Fiscal Deficit; broad measure of government’s borrowing requirement.

EBLR

External Benchmark Lending Rate.

MCLR

Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate.

WALR

Weighted Average Lending Rate.

SRVA

Special Rupee Vostro Account used for INR trade settlement.

ULI

Unified Lending Interface.

CBDC

Central Bank Digital Currency.

ECL

Expected Credit Loss framework for forward-looking recognition/provisioning of credit losses.

LCR

Liquidity Coverage Ratio; short-term liquidity resilience requirement.

HQLA

High Quality Liquid Assets.

PSL

Priority Sector Lending.

DICGC

Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation.

RB-IOS

Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.

PART XLIV — TOP 25 PROBABLE MCQs

1.

Real GDP growth in FY2025-26 was:

Answer: 7.6%

2.

Manufacturing GVA growth was:

Answer: 11.5%

3.

CPI inflation was:

Answer: 2.1%

4.

M3 growth was:

Answer: 15.3%

5.

Money multiplier was:

Answer: 6.1

6.

SCB bank-credit growth was:

Answer: 17.1%

7.

Credit-deposit ratio was:

Answer: 81.4%

8.

CRR was reduced to:

Answer: 3%

9.

End-FY repo rate:

Answer: 5.25%

10.

Central GFD in 2025-26 RE:

Answer: 4.4% of GDP

11.

External debt/GDP:

Answer: 20.4%

12.

CAD:

Answer: 1.1% of GDP

13.

UPI FY2025-26 value:

Answer: ₹314.2 lakh crore

14.

DICGC insurance limit:

Answer: ₹5 lakh

15.

DICGC insured banks:

Answer: 1,950

16.

FREE-AI recommendations:

Answer: 26

17.

FREE-AI pillars:

Answer: 6

18.

ULI API hits:

Answer: 9.6 crore

19.

MuleHunter.ai implemented by:

Answer: 26 banks

20.

Payments Vision 2028 issued:

Answer: March 27, 2026

21.

NSFI 2025-30 released:

Answer: December 1, 2025

22.

RB-IOS 2026 effective:

Answer: July 1, 2026

23.

Master Directions after consolidation:

Answer: 244

24.

RBI surplus transferred to GoI:

Answer: ₹2,86,588.46 crore

25.

Foreign exchange reserves at March 31, 2026:

Answer: US$691.11 billion

PART XLV — TOP 20 DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONS

These are the areas I would prioritise for a serious RBI Grade B or UPSC examination.

Priority A — Extremely High

Discuss India’s growth-inflation dynamics during FY2025-26.
Explain the monetary-policy decisions of the RBI during 2025-26.
Analyse monetary-policy transmission during FY2025-26.
Discuss India’s financial-system resilience and emerging risks.
Explain the role of UPI, CBDC and digital payments in India’s payment ecosystem.
Discuss RBI’s regulatory response to FinTech and AI.
Analyse India’s external-sector resilience despite the large merchandise trade deficit.
Discuss RBI’s financial-inclusion strategy and NSFI 2025-30.

Priority B — High

Fiscal consolidation and government debt.
Liquidity-management framework.
Banking-sector regulatory reforms.
Public debt management.
Currency management.
Cybersecurity and digital resilience.
Consumer protection and Ombudsman framework.
INR internationalisation.
RBI governance and Utkarsh 2029.
RBI balance sheet and Economic Capital Framework.
Financial-market development and regulation.
RBI’s research/data architecture and use of AI.

PART XLVI — MOST PROBABLE “COMPARE” QUESTIONS

These are dangerous because candidates often mix concepts.

CRR vs SLR

CRR → maintained with RBI.

SLR → liquid assets maintained by banks.

Repo vs SDF

Repo → RBI provides liquidity against collateral.

SDF → banks park liquidity with RBI without collateral.

WACR vs Repo Rate

WACR → operating target/market rate.

Repo → policy rate.

NEER vs REER

NEER → nominal.

REER → adjusted for relative prices/inflation.

GDP vs GVA

GDP → value added plus net taxes on products.

GVA → value added by producers/sectors.

CAD vs Trade Deficit

Trade deficit → merchandise exports minus merchandise imports.

CAD → broader current-account balance including services, income and transfers.

Supervision vs Regulation

Regulation → rules/framework.

Supervision → monitoring compliance, risks and behaviour.

CBDC-R vs CBDC-W

CBDC-R → retail.

CBDC-W → wholesale.

ReBIT vs IFTAS

ReBIT → RBI’s IT/cyber technology support.

IFTAS → financial technology, payment infrastructure, network and allied services.

PART XLVII — NUMBERS THAT ARE EASY TO CONFUSE

7.6%

GDP growth

7.7%

GVA growth and PFCE growth

11.5%

Manufacturing growth

2.1%

CPI

0.7%

WPI

15.3%

17.1%

Bank credit

16.2%

Deposits

81.4%

Credit-deposit ratio

4.4%

Central GFD

20.4%

External debt/GDP

1.1%

CAD/GDP

89.8%

Reserves/external debt

691.11

US$ billion — FX reserves

765.5

US$ billion — external debt

314.2

₹ lakh crore — UPI value

47.04

₹ lakh crore — total financial resources

PART XLVIII — CRITICAL FOOTNOTE TRAPS

Trap 1: FY2025-26 BoP data

Appendix Table 7 is:

April–December 2025

and provisional.

Do not call it full-year FY2025-26 data.

Trap 2: GDP base year

The newer GDP series uses:

2022-23 = base year

for the relevant newer data.

Trap 3: CPI base year

2025-26 spans:

2012=100 → 2024=100

during the year.

Trap 4: Reserve money date

Reserve money:

March 30, 2026

Money supply:

March 31, 2026

Trap 5: RE vs BE

RE = Revised Estimate.

BE = Budget Estimate.

Never call BE actual expenditure.

PART XLIX — COMPLETE 30-PART COVERAGE AUDIT

Now the important question:

Have we actually covered the entire Annual Report?

Status key

🟢 Complete — substantive coverage provided
🟡 Partially covered — content appeared elsewhere but the dedicated part needs strengthening
🔴 Gap — dedicated article not separately produced

Part	Subject	Status
1	Overall Economic Assessment	🟢
2	Economic Outlook 2026-27	🟢
3	Real Economy	🟢
4	Inflation	🟢
5	Money & Credit	🟢
6	Financial Markets	🟢
7	Equity, INR & Flows	🟢
8	Government Finances	🟢
9	External Sector	🟢
10	Monetary Policy	🟢
11	Liquidity & Transmission	🟢
12	Credit Delivery & Financial Inclusion	🟢
13	Financial Market Regulation	🟢
14	FX Management & INR Internationalisation	🟢
15	Financial Stability	🟢
16	Banking Regulation	🟢
17	FinTech, AI, CBDC & ULI	🟢
18	Supervision, Enforcement & Consumer Protection	🟢
19	Public Debt Management	🟢
20	Currency Management	🟢
21	Payments	🟢
22	IT Architecture	🟢
23	Communication & International Relations	🟢
24	Government Accounts & FX Reserves	🟢
25	Research, Statistics & Legal	🟢
26	Governance & HR	🟢
27	Risk Management, Audit & Strategy	🟢
28	Balance Sheet & Accounting	🟢
29	Major Policy Announcements	🟢
30	Statistical Appendix	🟢

PART L — COMPLETENESS AGAINST THE ANNUAL REPORT

The Annual Report’s major architecture covers:

Part One — Economy

✔ Growth
✔ Inflation
✔ Money & credit
✔ Financial markets
✔ Fiscal policy
✔ External sector

Part Two — RBI Operations

✔ Monetary policy
✔ Liquidity
✔ Financial inclusion
✔ Financial-market regulation
✔ FX management
✔ Financial stability
✔ Banking regulation
✔ FinTech
✔ Supervision
✔ Public debt
✔ Currency
✔ Payments
✔ IT
✔ Communication
✔ Government accounts
✔ Research/statistics
✔ Legal
✔ Governance/HR
✔ Risk management
✔ Balance sheet/accounts

Annex

✔ Major policy chronology

Appendix

✔ Tables 1–7

Thus, at the subject-matter level, the entire Annual Report has been covered in the 30-part architecture and this master revision.

PART LI — WHAT TO STUDY FIRST

If you have 30 days:

Days 1–10

Parts 1–10:

Economy + inflation + money + monetary policy

Days 11–17

Parts 11–18:

Liquidity + financial inclusion + regulation + FinTech + supervision

Days 18–22

Parts 19–24:

Debt + currency + payments + IT + international relations + government accounts

Days 23–25

Parts 25–28:

Research + governance + risk + balance sheet

Days 26–27

Part 29:

Policy chronology

Days 28–30

Part 30 + this master revision:

Statistics + MCQs + revision

PART LII — IF YOU HAVE ONLY 7 DAYS

Study in this order:

Day 1

GDP + GVA + inflation

Day 2

Money + credit + monetary policy

Day 3

Fiscal + external sector

Day 4

Banking regulation + supervision

Day 5

FinTech + CBDC + UPI + cyber

Day 6

Financial inclusion + debt + currency + governance

Day 7

All numbers + policy dates + Appendix Tables + descriptive questions

PART LIII — IF YOU HAVE ONLY ONE DAY

Forget everything else and revise this sequence:

7.6

GDP

2.1

CPI

15.3

17.1

Bank credit

16.2

Deposits

81.4

Credit-deposit ratio

5.25

End-FY repo

3

CRR

4.4

Central GFD

20.4

External debt/GDP

1.1

CAD/GDP

691.11

FX reserves, US$ bn

314.2

UPI value, ₹ lakh crore

47.04

Total financial resources, ₹ lakh crore

1,950

DICGC insured banks

₹5 lakh

DICGC insurance

26

MuleHunter banks

9.6 crore

ULI API hits

26

FREE-AI recommendations

244

Master Directions

₹2.866 lakh crore

RBI surplus transferred to GoI

PART LIV — THE BIGGEST THEMES OF RBI ANNUAL REPORT FY 2025-26

If a descriptive question asks:

“Identify the major themes emerging from the RBI Annual Report FY2025-26.”

your answer should revolve around these 10 themes:

1. Strong growth with exceptionally low inflation

7.6% GDP growth alongside 2.1% CPI inflation.

2. Monetary easing with careful liquidity management

Repo reduced by 100 bps during FY2025-26.

3. Strong credit expansion

Bank credit grew 17.1%.

4. Fiscal consolidation

Central GFD moved down to 4.4%.

5. External resilience

CAD remained at 1.1% of GDP despite a large merchandise trade deficit.

6. Financial-system resilience

Supervision increasingly became forward-looking, risk-based and technology-enabled.

7. Digital transformation

UPI, CBDC, ULI, DPIP, digital lending and AI dominated the innovation agenda.

8. Responsible AI

FREE-AI provided a structured framework for innovation and risk management.

9. Financial inclusion and customer protection

NSFI 2025-30, EDDPE, KYC reforms and RB-IOS strengthened the inclusion/protection architecture.

10. Institutional modernisation

Utkarsh 2029, ReBIT, IFTAS, Next Gen-IRIS, data modernisation and cyber resilience point toward a more technology-driven central bank.

PART LV — THE “RBI ANNUAL REPORT IN 20 LINES” VERSION

If you can remember only one page, remember this:

India grew 7.6% in FY2025-26.

GVA grew 7.7%.

Manufacturing grew 11.5%; services grew 8.7%.

CPI inflation fell to 2.1%.

Repo rate ended at 5.25%.

CRR fell to 3%.

M3 grew 15.3%.

Bank credit grew 17.1%.

Credit-deposit ratio reached 81.4%.

Central GFD fell to 4.4% of GDP.

External debt was 20.4% of GDP.

CAD was 1.1% of GDP.

FX reserves reached US$691.11 billion.

UPI processed ₹314.2 lakh crore.

Total financial resources to the commercial sector were ₹47.04 lakh crore.

NSFI 2025-30 introduced 5 Panch-Jyoti objectives and 47 action points.

FREE-AI provided 26 recommendations across 6 pillars.

MuleHunter.ai was implemented by 26 banks.

Master Directions were consolidated into 244 instructions.

RBI transferred ₹2,86,588.46 crore surplus to the Government of India.

FINAL MASTER REVISION — THE HIGHEST-PRIORITY EXAM AREAS

If I had to rank the most probable RBI Grade B or UPSC Exam areas, I would put them in this order:

🔴 Tier 1 — Must Know

Monetary-policy decisions and repo-rate journey
Inflation and revised CPI series
GDP/GVA growth and sectoral composition
Money and credit
Liquidity framework and transmission
Financial inclusion + NSFI 2025-30
Banking regulatory reforms
FinTech + CBDC + ULI + FREE-AI
Financial stability + fraud + cyber resilience
Payments + UPI + Payments Vision 2028
External sector + CAD + reserves
Fiscal consolidation
RBI balance sheet + ECF

🟠 Tier 2 — Very Important

Public debt management
INR internationalisation
Currency management
Consumer protection/RB-IOS
DICGC
RBI IT architecture
Governance + Utkarsh 2029

🟡 Tier 3 — Don’t Ignore

RBI research
Statistical systems/CIMS/SDMX
Legal developments
Communication strategy
International relations
Government accounts/e-Kuber
HR and institutional development

FINAL VERDICT

The RBI Annual Report FY 2025-26 tells a coherent story:

High growth + low inflation + monetary easing + strong credit + fiscal consolidation + manageable external vulnerability + rapid financial digitisation + increasingly technology-enabled regulation and supervision.

For the examination, however, don’t stop at the headline story.

The examiner can attack from three directions:

1. Number

“By how much?”

2. Institution

“Which RBI department/framework?”

3. Date

“When was the measure introduced?”

The strongest preparation therefore combines:

NUMBER + CONCEPT + INSTITUTION + DATE + IMPLICATION

For example:

CRR → 3% → monetary/liquidity instrument → four 25-bp tranches → September–November 2025 → released durable liquidity.

Or:

NSFI → 2025-30 → RBI/FSDC-SC framework → Dec 1, 2025 → Panch-Jyoti + 47 action points → financial inclusion.

Or:

FREE-AI → Aug 13, 2025 → 6 pillars + 26 recommendations → responsible/ethical AI in finance.

That is the level at which this Annual Report should now be prepared for an RBI Grade B or UPSC examination.

Master revision status: COMPLETE at the subject-matter level.
Statistical Appendix: COMPLETE.
Policy chronology: COMPLETE.
Major statistics: COMPLETE.
Definitions/institutions: COMPLETE.
Probable objective/descriptive areas: COMPLETE.