The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct an overnight Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction of ₹25,000 crore on Wednesday, July 8, to manage short-term liquidity in the banking system. The auction is scheduled under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) between 9:30 am and 10:00 am. Banks that participate will borrow funds against government securities as collateral, with the interest rate determined through variable-rate bidding. The borrowed funds are due to be repaid on July 9.
The decision follows RBI’s review of current and evolving liquidity conditions and its assessment that additional liquidity support may be needed. Both reports note that overall liquidity remains comfortable, with surplus liquidity reported at around ₹1.19 lakh crore as of July 6. They also refer to the previous overnight VRR auction on July 7, in which participation was limited: against a notified amount of ₹50,000 crore, banks bid for only ₹1,135 crore, and the RBI accepted the full amount at a cut-off and weighted average rate of 5.26%.
Market participants will watch whether banks increase borrowing in the July 8 auction or continue to stay away, which would indicate liquidity remains sufficient.