RBI's October 2026 MPC Minutes Say Rate Cuts Are Off the Table After the Unanimous Hike to 5.50%

22 October 2026National

The Reserve Bank of India published the minutes of its 63rd Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 21 October 2026, confirming that the 25 basis point repo rate hike to 5.50% on 7 October was unanimous (6-0) while the switch of stance from 'neutral' to 'calibrated tightening' passed 4-2, with Nagesh Kumar and Ram Singh preferring neutral. The resolution said rate cuts are 'off the table in the near term' and that policy ahead can only be a hike or a pause. The MPC raised FY27 GDP growth to 7.1% and CPI inflation to 5.2%. The next meeting is 2-4 December 2026.

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The Monetary Policy Committee was created by the Finance Act 2016 amending the RBI Act 1934 and has six members, three from the RBI and three external, with the Governor holding a casting vote | MPC minutes must be published on the fourteenth day after the policy decision under Section 45ZL of the RBI Act | India's flexible inflation targeting framework sets CPI inflation at 4% with a tolerance band of plus or minus 2 percentage points

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