RBI slashes benchmark lending rate by 40 per cent

Mumbai, May 22: In a surprise move, the Reserve Bank of India on Friday slashed the benchmark lending rate by 40 basis points to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 crisis.

In an off-cycle meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the decision was taken unanimously to cut repo to support growth.

Following the reduction, the repo rate has come down to 4 per cent and the reverse repo rate has been cut to 3.35 per cent.

The MPC, headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, has last reduced the repo rate (the rate at which central bank lends to banks) on March 27 by a staggering 0.75 per cent to 4.14 per cent.