Sanjay Malhotra

Money Moves

Chaired the MPC meeting that hiked rates

India's central bank raised its benchmark lending rate for the first time in more than three years. The 25 basis point hike brings the repo rate to 5.5%.

Updated Yesterday

New Capabilities

RBI provides wholesale CBDC (e₹) and Unified Market Interface

Three Indian companies raised ₹1,025 crore in corporate bonds that exist as digital tokens on a shared ledger, with the cash leg settled instantly in the Reserve Bank of India's digital rupee. India is the first country to issue bonds natively on a distributed ledger while keeping formal ownership records with its statutory depositories.

Updated Sep 11

Rule Changes

Led unanimous MPC decision to hold repo rate at 5.25% on February 6, 2026

India surpassed Japan in mid-2025 to become the world's fourth-largest economy. On February 1, 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Union Budget 2026 (India's first major tax code rewrite since 1961), with ₹12.2 lakh crore for capital expenditure and ₹20,000 crore for carbon capture technologies.

Updated May 23

Money Moves

Leads RBI pause on rate cuts Feb 6, 2026; shifts focus to liquidity management as trade deal eases external pressures

In 2025, under Governor Sanjay Malhotra, the RBI cut its repo rate by a cumulative 125 basis points—from 6.50% in February to 5.25% on December 5. It was the sharpest easing since 2019. The cuts came with $16 billion in liquidity injections via bond purchases and a dollar-rupee swap, which Malhotra called a rare Goldilocks period of sub-target inflation and strong growth.

Updated May 9