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Informist, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026

By Vaishali Tyagi and J. Navya Sruthi

NEW DELHI – The interbank call money rate ended below the Reserve Bank of India's Standing Deposit Facility rate on Monday as liquidity in the banking system was in excess, dealers said. They expected the rates to fall below the SDF rate during the day after primary dealerships met their borrowing requirement.

The one-day call rate ended at 4.40%, against 4.20% for two-day loans on Saturday. The weighted average call rate was 5.03%, up from 4.55% Saturday. The weighted average rate in the broader tri-party repo market, which includes mutual funds, rose to 4.27% from 4.10% on Saturday.

According to the latest data, the net liquidity absorbed from the banking system by the RBI – a proxy for the liquidity surplus – was INR 2.97 trillion Sunday, down from INR 3.10 trillion on Saturday and INR 3.63 trillion Friday. Inflows from open market operations auction and dollar-rupee buy-sell swap boosted the liquidity in the banking system Friday, but around INR 600 billion of outflows for excise duty and tax deducted at source payments reduced the liquidity in the system on Saturday.

Dealers expect call money rates to edge higher by Friday as it is the end of the fortnight, with market participants bracing for Goods and Services Tax outflows from next week. "I don't think so there will be a VRRR (variable rate reverse repo) as we have GST outflows starting next week. Rates may also increase slightly by Friday as it is end of fortnight," a dealer at a state-owned bank said.

OUTLOOK

On Tuesday, the one-day call money rate may open at 5.05%, near the SDF rate of 5.00% due to low demand for funds amid the surplus liquidity in the banking system. During the day, the call money rate is expected to move in a range of 4.25-5.10%. Liquidity is also expected to rise slightly due to inflows of INR 22.98 billion for coupon payment on state government bonds.

CALL RATE

4.40%--Monday's close for one-day loans

5.10%--Monday's open for one-day loans

4.20%--Saturday's close for two-day loans

BENCHMARK MIBOR (in %)  

Mumbai Interbank Outright Rates compiled by Financial Benchmarks India:

India Call: Near RBI's SDF rate as liquidity surplus at comfortable level

The interbank call money rate was near the Reserve Bank of India's Standing Deposit Facility of 5% as the liquidity surplus in the banking system was at a comfortable level, dealers said. They expect rates to fall below the SDF rate during the day after primary dealerships meet their borrowing requirement.  

According to the latest data, the net liquidity absorbed from the banking system by the RBI – a proxy for the liquidity surplus – rose significantly to INR 3.63 trillion Friday, which is the highest since Aug. 6. The liquidity absorbed was INR 2.12 trillion Thursday. Inflows from open market operations auction and dollar-rupee buy-sell swap boosted the system's liquidity.

Dealers see outflows worth INR 500 billion to INR 700 billion Monday due to payments to the government for excise duty and tax deducted at source. However, they do not see the call rate rising above the RBI's repo rate of 5.25% during the day. 

At 0944 IST, the one-day call rate was at 5.10%, up from Saturday's close of 4.20% for two-day loans. The weighted average call rate was also 5.10%, compared to 4.55% on Saturday. The weighted average rate in the wider tri-party repo market, which includes mutual funds, was 4.33%, against 4.10% the previous trading day. 

"Mutual funds ae seen lending funds in TREPS (tri-party repo market) as they have no other source to deploy funds overnight," a dealer at a private bank said. The dealer added that most banks are not seen in the tri-party repo market as rates are far below the SDF, and instead they are parking funds with the RBI at SDF. On Friday, banks parked INR 5.03 trillion at SDF, against INR 3.57 trillion Thursday. (J. Navya Sruthi)

End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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