RBI to conduct 14-day variable rate repo sale for Rs 1 lakh cr today

Mumbai, March 9

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The RBI will conduct a 14-day variable rate repo (VRR) auction on March 10 to inject up to Rs 1 lakh crore ($12.19 billion) into the banking system, it said on Thursday.

This will be only the second VRR auction conducted by the RBI since February 2020. The previous VRR auction was conducted on February 10 for Rs 50,000 crore.

The liquidity deficit in the banking system had widened to over Rs 70,000 crore in February, with the daily average liquidity also slipping into deficit on a monthly basis for the first time since May 2019.

Second VRR since February 2020

• This will be only the second VRR auction by the RBI since February 2020. The liquidity deficit in the banking system had widened to over Rs 70,000 crore in February
• Although liquidity, on a daily basis, was a surplus of around Rs 25,000 crore on March 8, it is expected to dip into a deficit in the coming weeks due to payments for GST among others

Although liquidity, on a daily basis, was a surplus of around Rs 25,000 crore on March 8, it is expected to dip into a deficit in the coming weeks due to payments for GST among others.

“We may have close to Rs 3 trillion of outflow towards advance tax and GST in the next fortnight, which may have compelled the RBI to double the quantum of VRR compared to the previous auction,” a trader with a private bank said. — Reuters