RBI to infuse extra liquidity by way of Open Market Operations buy, $10B foreign exchange swap for liquidity crunch

The Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI) introduced on March fifth that it’ll present liquidity by way of Open Market Operations (OMO) purchases and USD/INR Purchase/Promote swap auctions. 

On Wednesday, the central financial institution introduced that it will be conducting two Open Market Operations (OMO) buy auctions of Authorities of India securities, totaling Rs 1 lakh crore. The auctions will happen in two components: Rs 50,000 crore on March 12, 2025, and one other Rs 50,000 crore on March 18, 2025.

Moreover, the RBI will maintain a USD/INR Purchase/Promote Swap public sale for Rs 10 billion with a 36-month tenor on March 24, 2025.

The Indian banking system is at the moment dealing with its most extreme liquidity crunch in over ten years, with system liquidity transitioning from a surplus of Rs 1.35 lakh crore in November to a deficit of Rs 0.65 lakh crore in December. This deficit has continued to develop, reaching Rs 2.07 lakh crore in January and Rs 1.59 lakh crore in February.

“On a overview of present and evolving liquidity situations, the Reserve Financial institution has determined to conduct the next operations to inject liquidity into the banking system:
a. OMO buy auctions of Authorities of India securities for an mixture quantity of Rs 1,00,000 crore in two tranches of Rs 50,000 crore every to be held on
March 12, 2025 (Wednesday), and March 18, 2025 (Tuesday).
b. USD/INR Purchase/Promote Swap public sale of USD 10 billion for a tenor of thirty-six months to be held on March 24, 2025 (Monday),” the central financial institution famous.

The central financial institution reaffirmed its dedication to monitoring liquidity and market situations intently and taking any crucial steps to keep up stability and orderly liquidity administration.

The banking system has skilled liquidity challenges since November 2024, attributed to elements reminiscent of tax outflows, important international portfolio investor promoting in Indian equities, RBI intervention in foreign exchange markets, and lower-than-expected authorities spending.

To deal with this difficulty, the RBI has infused roughly Rs 3 lakh crore of sturdy liquidity into the system by way of VRR auctions, swaps, and open market operations since late-2024.