The central bank on Friday said that it would conduct OMO sale auctions of government securities in three tranches. The first one of Rs 50,000 crore will be held on September 17.
There will be two more OMO sales of Rs 25,000 crore each on September 21 and September 28.
The decision was taken “on a review of current and evolving liquidity conditions”, RBI said.
The interbank market is currently flush with excess liquidity on account of the dollar-rupee swaps that were being held to absorb the $137 billion dollar inflows amassed by banks in India through dedicated mobilisation drive. On Thursday, the system saw an excess flow of Rs 10.43 lakh crore.
The central bank has been doing VRRR auctions for overnight, short-term and long term but that remained largely ineffective.
Governor Sanjay Malhotra earlier in the day said that the central bank might use a combination of instruments to absorb excess liquidity since VRRR was not yielding desired results.RBI could mobilise a paltry Rs 60,449 crore through a 26-day VRRR auction on Friday against a target of Rs 5 lakh crore. The central bank subsequently held a 4-day VRRR to mop up Rs 3.45 lakh crore, reflecting banks’ appetite for shorter-end auctions while they were not keen on giving up the durable liquidity.
RBI is also holding dollar-rupee sell/buy swaps as another tool to suck out liquidity.
Short takes
+ The Reserve Bank of India on Friday clarified that priority sector advances extended by banks out of the fresh overseas deposits mobilised as well as renewals will be excluded from adjusted net bank credit (ANBC). It further said that the amount to be excluded from ANBC for computation of priority sector targets should not exceed the fresh outstanding foreign currency non resident bank (FCNR-B) deposits and non-resident external (NRE) deposits eligible for exemption from maintenance of cash reserve ratio and statutory liquidity ratio.
+ Federal Bank is planning to raise $500 million in a medium term note programme by way of issuance of foreign currency denominated debt securities or any other related instrument. The bank board will hold a meeting on September 17 to consider this proposal, it said in a stock exchange filing. This is a modification of its earlier plan of raising funds through foreign currency denominated bonds.
+ The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority slapped a Rs 1 crore penalty on IndusInd Bank in connection with certain audit observations in 2023 relating to grievance redressal and grievance reporting mechanism. The insurance regulator conducted an inspection of the bancassurance operations of the bank in June 2023.
+ The Reserve Bank of India imporsed a Rs 1.34 lakh fine on Union Bank of India for deficiencies in currency chest operations. RBI said that mutilated currency notes and counterfeit currency notes were found in cash remittance during the FY 2021-22 and FY 2022-23. There were also shortage of currency notes in some cases.
+ The Reserve Bank of India imposed a penalty of Rs 27.30 lakh on Asset Care & Reconstruction Enterprise for non-compliance with certain provisions of the directions on income recognition. This was based on a statutory inspection of the company with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2025.
