Policy repo rate unchanged; focus on withdrawal of accommodation to anchor inflation while supporting growth.
The MPC decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged and to continue the stance of withdrawal of accommodation to ensure inflation progressively aligns with the medium term CPI target of 4% (+/ 2%) while supporting growth. The resolution was adopted by a 5-1 vote. Projections accompanying the decision set real GDP at 7.0% for 2024-25 and CPI inflation at 5.4% for 2023-24 and 4.5% for 2024-25, with food price volatility, monetary transmission and global geopolitical and market risks identified as key upside threats to the disinflation path.

Investor education collaboration expands fraud-prevention messaging through bank digital and branch channels to boost investor awareness.
A memorandum of understanding establishes collaboration between the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority and DBS Bank to disseminate investor safety and fraud-prevention messages across the bank's digital and branch channels, including ATM screens, branch displays, the website, messaging platforms, and social media, thereby leveraging the bank's customer touchpoints to support IEPFA's investor awareness and protection objectives.

Monetary policy must balance price and financial stability amid structural supply shocks and global fragmentation.
Central banks should recalibrate policy to balance price stability and financial stability amid higher-for-longer rates and debt vulnerabilities; strengthened prudential regulation, macro buffers and clear communication have supported resilience. Policymaking must incorporate supply-side and sectoral analysis to manage cost-push inflation, while governments build strategic reserves and invest in hard and soft infrastructure. International cooperation-secure corridors for critical minerals and food, scaled green capital flows, and interoperable digital public infrastructure for cross-border payments-alongside vigilance on AI/ML misuse, are recommended to mitigate fragmentation and preserve stability.

Sovereign Gold Bond subscription: online digital applicants eligible for discount on issue price during subscription window
Sovereign Gold Bond issuance for 2023 24 Series IV opens 12-16 February 2024 with settlement on 21 February 2024 at an issue price of Rs.6,263 per gram; a prescribed discount of Rs.50 per gram applies when subscription is made online and payment is effected through digital mode, reducing the issue price to Rs.6,213 per gram for eligible investors.

Regulation of NBFCs: hybrid entity- and activity-based framework under Scale Based Regulation to preserve financial stability.
The Reserve Bank adopts a hybrid regulatory approach for NBFCs combining entity-based and activity-based rules under prudential and conduct pillars, with the Scale Based Regulation (SBR) aligning regulatory burden to size, complexity and interconnectedness; significant differences with banks remain (entry capital, permitted activities, priority sector obligations, capital composition, and operational restrictions), deposit-taking by NBFCs is discouraged due to macro-financial safety net requirements; and supervisors expect NBFCs to address funding concentration, underwriting standards, conduct on P2P platforms, microfinance pricing, business-model concentration and technology risks.

Policy repo rate decision maintained to pursue withdrawal of accommodation and align inflation toward the target.
The MPC maintained the policy repo rate and existing rate corridor, reiterated focus on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure disinflation and anchor inflation expectations while supporting growth, and projected GDP and CPI trajectories noting food price volatility and upside risks. The committee observed that policy transmission is still acting and recorded a majority vote for status quo with a minority preferring a rate cut and a neutral stance; minutes and next meeting dates were announced.

Merger control approval: foreign insurer cleared to acquire majority stake in Indian general insurer with staged share purchases permitted.
The Competition Commission of India has approved a proposed combination whereby a foreign insurer will acquire a controlling stake in an Indian general insurer through a combination of fresh growth capital and share purchase, with provision to acquire an additional minority parcel of shares over time to attain an aggregate majority holding; the acquirer is the principal operating insurer of a global group and the target underwrites motor, property, commercial and health insurance products, and a detailed order will follow.

Government receipts, tax devolution and expenditure composition signal fiscal position through December 2023.
Consolidated monthly accounts up to December 2023 record central receipts made up of tax revenue net to the Centre, non-tax revenue and non-debt capital receipts (including loan recoveries and miscellaneous capital receipts), and note an increased Devolution of Share of Taxes to State Governments. The statement presents Total Expenditure split into revenue and capital accounts, with revenue expenditure prominently comprising interest payments and major subsidies.

Government securities auction using uniform and multiple price methods with non competitive allotment and E Kuber bidding deadlines.
The Government announced re issue auctions of specified Government securities using price based auction methods, with an option to retain additional subscriptions. Auctions employ either the uniform price or multiple price method; up to five percent of each notified amount is reserved for non competitive bidders under the Scheme for Non Competitive Bidding. Competitive and non competitive bids must be submitted electronically via the Reserve Bank of India's E Kuber system within prescribed submission windows. The Reserve Bank of India will conduct the auctions, announce results on the auction day, and require payment by successful bidders on the notified settlement date. Securities are eligible for When Issued trading under RBI guidelines.

Data driven central banking: emerging technologies boost policy analysis and payments while demanding stronger governance and cyber resilience.
Emerging digital technologies - notably AI/ML, cloud computing, biometrics, APIs and DLT - enable central banks to enhance data driven analysis, forecasting, supervisory analytics, RegTech/SupTech automation, payment system design and digital public goods like CBDCs. Realising these benefits requires robust data governance, high quality training data, interoperable protocols and auditable algorithms. Adoption creates risks of algorithmic bias, privacy breaches, cybersecurity and supply chain vulnerabilities, financial fragmentation, exclusion and future cryptographic threats; mitigation needs strengthened oversight, updated legal frameworks, resilience planning and regional cooperation.

Governance obligations for UCB directors require robust oversight of finance, credit practices, compliance and operational resilience.
Directors of Urban Co-operative Banks must safeguard depositor interests through robust governance, comprising fit-and-proper board composition, comprehension of financial statements and audit reports, adherence to system-based asset classification where required, strict underwriting standards, avoidance of connected-party lending, monitoring of concentration and large exposures, and ensuring effective compliance, internal audit, vigilance and fraud reporting with sustained corrective action.

Internal Ombudsman independence ensures impartial internal grievance review and systemic remedies before external escalation.
Internal Ombudsman independence and effectiveness are central to a strengthened internal grievance redress framework within regulated entities. The IO must act as an independent apex reviewer with tenure and compensation protections, produce transparent reasoned decisions, analyse complaint patterns to recommend policy and operational changes, and receive adequate staffing and infrastructure. Regulated entities must operationalise this role by providing resources, creating SOPs based on IO inputs and external decisions, and configuring complaint systems to auto escalate service deficiency rejections to the IO for impartial secondary review.

Monetary policy anchoring inflation and financial stability to support growth while enabling secure digital payments and FinTech innovation.
The Reserve Bank of India emphasises preserving macroeconomic and financial stability through an actively disinflationary monetary policy, timely liquidity and rate actions, and structural reforms, while strengthening bank and non bank balance sheets via proactive supervision and macroprudential tools. Simultaneously, the RBI promotes a non disruptive FinTech and payments ecosystem-anchored by UPI, a Regulatory Sandbox, a proposed self regulatory organisation, and a pilot Central Bank Digital Currency (e Rupee)-balancing innovation, consumer protection, and operational resilience against a challenging global backdrop.

Independence of assurance functions is essential to maintain risk-aware governance and prevent systemic financial instability.
Assurance functions-compliance, risk management and internal audit-must have adequate independence and stature to identify, escalate and facilitate proactive management of risks. They provide layered lines of defence: business units as the first line, compliance and risk frameworks as the second, internal audit as the third, with external audit and supervision as subsequent complementary lines. Operational focus includes "regulation-plus" compliance, timely remediation of RAR and RMP observations, ICAAP-aligned capital and risk appetite planning, strict monitoring of risk limit breaches, risk-based audit scoping, and use of technology for continuous monitoring.

Insolvency and bankruptcy framework: enhancing time bound resolution and creditor control to improve corporate recovery and credit flows.
The speech emphasises that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code established a unified, time bound, creditor driven resolution regime prioritising going concern value, CoC decision making, claw back remedies and cramdown protection. It acknowledges implementation constraints-adjudicatory capacity, appellate delays, cross border and group resolution complexities-and urges reforms including better use of Information Utilities, enhanced NCLT/NCLAT capacity, strengthened resolution professional skills, and streamlined procedures to reduce loss given default and improve credit flows.

Regulatory harmonisation of housing finance and NBFC rules proposed, aligning deposit, derivatives, product diversification, and data standards.
The Reserve Bank of India issued a draft circular proposing regulatory harmonisation between HFCs and NBFCs, inviting stakeholder comments. The draft aligns deposit directions for deposit-taking HFCs with NBFC norms, permits HFC participation in derivatives for hedging, allows diversification into other financial products, and requires adoption of Account Aggregator technical specifications; it also proposes review of directions for deposit-taking NBFCs.

Credit/Investment concentration norms for government owned NBFCs: draft circular invites stakeholder feedback and comments by specified deadline.
A Draft Circular on credit and investment concentration norms for government owned NBFCs has been issued for consultation and will apply to all government owned NBFCs registered with the Reserve Bank; stakeholders are invited to submit written feedback by email using the prescribed subject line within the consultation period.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code: strengthen creditor led resolution, pre pack adoption and secondary markets to improve recoveries.
The address evaluates the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code as a creditor centric statutory framework and outlines the Reserve Bank's role in operationalising it for large stressed accounts. It highlights implementation gains-resolution and settlement outcomes, improved recoveries against liquidation and fair values, and behavioural changes due to the credible threat of insolvency-and identifies key challenges: delayed CIRP timelines, litigatory tactics, creditor coordination gaps and judicial bottlenecks. It proposes four priorities: wider use of PPIRP, reaffirming financial creditor led resolutions, legislating a group insolvency framework, and developing a vibrant secondary market for stressed assets.

Financial stability measures support banking system resilience through targeted crisis relief and comprehensive regulatory reform.
The address sets out the Reserve Bank's coordinated crisis responses and long term regulatory reforms that supported the banking turnaround: immediate liquidity and borrower relief measures during NBFC stress and the pandemic, two targeted Resolution Frameworks with clear eligibility and safeguards, and structural reforms including leverage and large exposure norms, digital lending and securitisation guidelines, a scale based NBFC regime, uniform capital and liquidity standards, strengthened governance and conduct rules, and enhanced, unified supervision supported by sharper analytics, capacity building and cybersecurity controls.

Declaration of dividend and remittance of profits: draft regulatory update invites stakeholder comments and proposes revised bank guidelines.
The Reserve Bank has issued a draft circular on declaration of dividend by scheduled commercial banks and remittance of profits by foreign bank branches, inviting comments from banks, market participants and other stakeholders as part of a comprehensive review to update the guidelines issued in 2005 and 2003 and to align those rules with subsequent regulatory developments.