RBI Revises Bank Rate & Penal Interest Rates on shortfalls in reserve requirements

Reserve Bank of India (RBI), through circular RBI/2025-26/23 dated April 9, 2025, has revised the Bank Rate as announced in the Monetary Policy Statement 2025-26. The Bank Rate has been reduced by 25 basis points from 6.50% to 6.25%, effective immediately. As a result, penal interest rates on shortfalls in maintaining the required levels of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)—which are tied to the Bank Rate—have also been revised. The penal rate for shortfalls in reserve requirements now stands at Bank Rate plus 3.0 percentage points (9.25%) or Bank Rate plus 5.0 percentage points (11.25%), depending on the duration of the shortfall. This change updates the provisions detailed in Chapter VIII of the RBI’s Master Direction on CRR and SLR (2021) and supersedes the previous circular dated February 7, 2025. All banks are required to adhere to the revised rates with immediate effect.

Reserve Bank of India

RBI/2025-26/23
DoR.RET.REC.16/12.01.001/2025-26 Dated: April 09, 2025

All banks,

Madam / Sir,

Penal Interest on shortfall in CRR and SLR requirements-Change in Bank Rate

Please refer to Chapter VIII of Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India [Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)] Directions – 2021 as well as our circular DoR.RET.REC.57/12.01.001/2024-25 dated February 07, 2025 on the captioned subject.

2. As announced in the Monetary Policy Statement 2025-26 dated April 09, 2025, the Bank Rate is revised downwards by 25 basis points from 6.50 per cent to 6.25 per cent with immediate effect. Accordingly, all penal interest rates on shortfall in CRR and SLR requirements, which are specifically linked to the Bank Rate, also stand revised as under:

Penal Interest Rates which are linked to the Bank Rate

Yours faithfully,

(Latha Vishwanath)
Chief General Manager