# RBI holds repo rate at 5.25% for fourth straight meeting 2026-08-16T10:25:08+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee on Wednesday kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% for the fourth consecutive meeting, choosing to retain a neutral stance. Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the central bank needs greater clarity on inflation and growth before any policy action. A Mint poll of 10 economists had predicted the pause amid geopolitical risks and volatile crude prices. The MPC revised its growth forecast for FY27 to 6.7% from 6.6% in June, and lowered its retail inflation estimate to 5% from 5.1%. Economists at HSBC called the policy tone dovish, but expect rate hikes of 50 basis points over the October and December meetings. Malhotra declined to disclose the crude price assumption used in the forecasts, calling it internal market-sensitive information, after the June policy had assumed $95 per barrel. Economists at Barclays said they took comfort from Malhotra's view that the current inflation rise is not entrenched, leaving room for a pause. State Bank of India chairman C S Setty called the decision balanced. The neutral stance allows a move in either direction based on incoming data, said Canara Bank CEO Brajesh Kumar. ## Coverage - livemint.com This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Canara Bank, HSBC, RBI, Sanjay Malhotra, State Bank of India, Yes Bank Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/rbi-holds-repo-rate-at-5-25-for-fourth-straight-meeting/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rbi-holds-repo-rate-at-5-25-for-fourth-straight-meeting/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/