More Stories

Informist, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026

NEW DELHI – The two-day interbank call money rate ended below the Reserve Bank of India's Standing Deposit Facility rate of 5.00% on Saturday amid ample liquidity surplus, dealers said. Volumes were significantly low in the interbank call money market. The two-day call rate fell to a low of 4.75% and ended at 4.90%, against the close of 5.25% Friday for three-day loans, amid lack of demand for funds, a dealer said. 

The RBI's net liquidity absorbed – a proxy for the banking system liquidity surplus – was INR 6.94 trillion Thursday, down from INR 7.38 trillion Wednesday. 

Dealers said participation in the call money market remained subdued as traders were holding back funds to participate in the initial public offering of National Stock Exchange, with Monday being the last day to subscribe. Most participants have shifted to the tri-party repo market, which boosted volumes in that market, dealers added. The tri-party repo rate ended at the Reserve Bank of India's repo rate of 5.25% Saturday, in line with the weighted average tri-party repo rate. The weighted average tri-party repo rate was 5.07% Friday. 

Going forward, participation in variable rate reverse repo auctions is expected to remain low as banks will need funds for quarter-end credit disbursements, tax outflows in the coming days, and to participate in initial public offerings of National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., dealers said. Monday onwards, payments of about INR 1.8 trillion will begin for goods and services tax. The RBI will conduct an overnight VRRR of INR 1 trillion Monday, against the INR-2.25-trillion operation it held Friday and INR-3-trillion auction it held Thursday. "I expect participation in Monday's VRRR to be very low, with subscription of around INR 25,000 crore (INR 250 billion) coming in, as people will need money for credit disbursements, tax outflows, or IPO participation," a dealer at a state-owned bank said. 

The IPO of NSE was fully subscribed as on the second day after opening on Thursday, with strong demand from both non-institutional investors and qualified institutional buyers. 

OUTLOOK

The one-day call money rate is likely to open near the Reserve Bank of India's repo rate of 5.25% on Monday. However, outflows towards goods and services tax payments beginning Monday are likely to put upward pressure on rates, while outflows related to settlement of the central bank's intervention in the foreign exchange market are likely to continue to drain liquidity, dealers said. Monday is also the last day of the initial public offering of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., which is expected to see the highest participation from institutional investors, adding to upward pressure on overnight borrowing rates, dealers said.

The RBI will conduct an overnight VRRR of INR 1 trillion Monday. Some market participants expect the RBI to conduct more open market operation auctions to sell gilts after announcing INR 1 trillion worth of such sales for September. Dealers expect the one-day call rate to be at 4.80–5.35% Monday, while the one-day tri-party repo rate is seen at 5.00-5.30%.

CALL RATE

4.90%--Saturday's close for two-day loans

4.90%--Saturday's open for two-day loans

5.25%--Friday close for three-day loans

End

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

Edited by Avishek Dutta

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.