Governor Sanjay Malhotra delivers surprise 50 bps rate cut

Amid slowing growth and muted inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a surprise move, delivered a bigger-than-expected repo rate of 50 basis points on Friday, June 6. Marking a third straight cut, the six-member monetary policy committee (MPC), led by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, lowered the policy rate to 5.50%. With today's cut, the RBI MPC has reduced rates by 100 basis points in 2025, to provide support to the economy amid global headwinds such as trade war worries. The RBI first delivered a quarter-point reduction in February, its first cut since May 2020. It made a similar-sized cut in April.