Mumbai, Feb 6 (PTI) Following are the highlights of the bi-monthly monetary policy announced by Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday: * Benchmark lending rates unchanged with repo rate at 5.25 pc; * Monetary policy stance remains neutral; * GST reforms, monetary easing, low inflation to support pvt consumption; * Trade deals to boost exports; * GDP growth projections revised upwards for Q1 and Q2 of FY27 to 6.9 pc and 7 pc, respectively; * Measures in Union Budget conducive for economic growth; * Retail inflation for current fiscal projected at 2.1 pc; * CPI inflation for Q1 and Q2 of FY27 projected at 4 pc and 4.2 pc, respectively; * Excluding precious metals, underlying inflation pressures remain muted; * India’s forex reserves stood at USD 723.8 bn; * Framework soon to compensate customers up to Rs 25,000 for losses in frauds; * RBI proposes measures to protect senior citizens from digital frauds; * Collateral-free loan limit for MSMEs to be doubled to Rs 20 lakh; * Banks to be allowed lend to REITs; * Branch opening norms for certain types of NBFCs to be relaxed; * Next meeting of RBI's MPC scheduled for April 6- 8, 2026. PTI NKD CS NKD DR DR

RBI monetary policy: repo rate unchanged, neutral stance; measures for fraud compensation and MSME credit expansion. Monetary policy retains the repo rate at 5.25% with a neutral stance, revises GDP and CPI projections for Q1-Q2 FY27, notes muted underlying inflation excluding precious metals, and records forex reserves. Operational measures include a customer fraud compensation framework up to Rs 25,000, protections against digital fraud for senior citizens, doubling collateral free MSME loans to Rs 20 lakh, allowing banks to lend to REITs, and relaxing certain NBFC branch opening norms.