 | | | Volume XXI | Issue 12 | March 2026
MONETARY & CREDIT INFORMATION REVIEW |  | | | | | | Note from the Editor The March 2026 issue of the Monetary and Credit Information Review (MCIR) highlights the Reserve Bank of India’s continued focus on strengthening financial systems, enhancing digital payment awareness, and promoting global cooperation. Key developments include the launch of digital payments awareness initiatives and a multi-media awareness campaign “Thoda Dhyan Se”, the release of Payments Vision 2028 outlining the future roadmap for payment systems and deliberations at the 622nd Meeting of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. We remain committed to our goal of sharing accurate information and fostering deeper understanding. The MCIR can be accessed at https://mcir.rbi.org.in as well as by scanning the QR Code. We welcome your feedback at mcir@rbi.org.in. Brij Raj
Editor | I. Monetary Policy Meeting Schedule of the Monetary Policy Committee The Reserve Bank on March 23, 2026, decided as per Section 45ZI of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, that the Monetary Policy Committee will meet during 2026-27 on the dates mentioned below: | Dates of Meetings of Monetary Policy Committee for 2026-27 | | 1st | April 6-8, 2026 | | 2nd | June 3-5, 2026 | | 3rd | August 3-5, 2026 | | 4th | October 5-7, 2026 | | 5th | December 2-4, 2026 | | 6th | February 3-5, 2027 | II. Payments and Settlement Systems Digital Payments Awareness Week 2026 Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Governor launched a pilot program titled ‘Awareness Program on Digital Payments’ on March 12, 2026, as part of the Sixth Edition of Digital Payments Awareness Week (DPAW) which was observed during March 9-13, 2026. The pilot will be conducted in Maharashtra in partnership with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited and will involve in-person awareness programs for 10 lakh participants in rural and semi-urban areas through Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). Speaking at the launch event, the Governor highlighted the importance of maintaining trust in digital payments and emphasized the Reserve Bank’s efforts towards enhancing customer awareness and protection. He urged stakeholders to take collaborative steps to further strengthen public confidence in the adoption and usage of digital payments. On this occasion, the Reserve Bank also launched a multi-media awareness campaign “Thoda Dhyan Se” (be alert / be careful), encouraging users to remain cautious while making payments and transacting online. Following the launch, the Governor interacted with the Managing Directors / Chief Executive Officers of select Payment Systems Operators (PSOs). Deputy Governors Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Dr Poonam Gupta, and Shri Shirish Chandra Murmu, along with other senior officers of the Reserve Bank, were also present at the event. Payments Vision 2028 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been periodically preparing Payments Vision since 2001. This includes providing strategic direction for structured development of the payment and settlement systems in India. The previous such document covered the period up to 2025. On March 27, 2026, RBI released ‘Payments Vision 2028’ for the duration up to December 2028. It has been prepared after considering inputs from various stakeholders and consists of 15 specific initiatives which are to be taken up during the course of next three years. The Vision document focusses on user empowerment, strengthening safeguards against fraud, enhancing efficiency of cross-border payment frameworks and promoting ease of doing business, among others. III. 622nd Meeting of Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India The 622nd Meeting of the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India was held in Patna under the Chairmanship of Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Governor on March 20, 2026. The Board assessed the emerging global and domestic economic scenario, including the evolving geopolitical developments and their impact on financial markets, along with associated challenges. The Board approved the Bank’s budget for the accounting year 2026-27 and also the Bank’s Medium Term Strategy Framework (Utkarsh 3.0) for the period 2026-29. Deputy Governors Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Shri Swaminathan J, Dr. Poonam Gupta, Shri Shirish Chandra Murmu and other Directors of the Central Board - Ms. Anuradha Thakur, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs; Smt. Revathy Iyer, Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi and Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia - attended the meeting. | IV. Regulation RBI Issues Draft Amendment Directions for ‘Review of Framework of Limiting Customer Liability in Digital Transactions’ The Reserve Bank revised the instructions on limiting liability of customers in unauthorised electronic banking transactions on March 6, 2026, in view of the considerable evolution in the digital payment and banking landscape since the issuance of existing instructions in 2017. Upon review, it was decided to issue revised instructions to banks, which shall, inter alia, enhance the scope of existing instructions to cover other categories of fraudulent electronic banking transactions, reduce the time taken by banks to process complaints related to such transactions, and introduce a compensation mechanism for small value fraudulent electronic banking transactions. Accordingly, in pursuance of the announcement made in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated February 6, 2026, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued draft Amendment Directions for public comments, proposing to amend the existing Directions on Responsible Business Conduct issued by the Department of Regulation, RBI. To read more, please click here. RBI Issues Amendment Directions on ‘Clarification on Owned Fund / Tier 1 Capital computation for NBFCs / ARCs and applicability to Credit / Investment Concentration Norms’ The Reserve Bank issued Amendment Directions on March 10, 2026, on ‘Clarification on Owned Fund / Tier 1 Capital computation for NBFCs / ARCs and applicability to Credit / Investment Concentration Norms’. The Amendment Directions were preceded by drafts, which aimed to incorporate proposed clarifications and revisions following a review of relevant provisions, Directions, and guidelines in response to requests from NBFCs. These have been suitably modified and finalized by the Reserve Bank, with a statement on the feedback provided in the Annex. Accordingly, the Reserve Bank has issued the Amendment Directions covering Prudential Norms on Capital Adequacy, Concentration Risk Management, Housing Finance Companies, Core Investment Companies, Mortgage Guarantee Companies, Asset Reconstruction Companies, and Standalone Primary Dealers. To read more, please click here. RBI issues Amendment Directions on ‘Counterparty Credit Risk - Add-on factors for computation of Potential Future Exposure’ The Reserve Bank on March 10, 2026, issued Amendment Directions relating to ‘Counterparty Credit Risk: Add-on factors for computation of Potential Future Exposure - Revised Instructions’ after examining feedback on the draft circular issued on August 20, 2025. The revised instructions modify the Counterparty Credit Risk (CCR) framework by clarifying that banks acting as clearing members of SEBI recognised stock exchanges in equity and commodity derivatives segments are required to maintain capital charge for CCR, and by largely aligning the add-on factors for calculation of Potential Future Exposure (PFE) under the Current Exposure Method (CEM) for interest rate contracts and exchange rate contracts and gold with Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) guidelines. The final Amendment Directions, incorporating feedback with a statement provided in the Annex, cover Commercial Banks, Small Finance Banks, Payments Banks, and All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs), and aim to impart clarity to regulated entities and align the CEM framework with international standards. To read more, please click here. RBI issues Directions on Prudential Norms on Declaration of Dividend and Remittance of Profit by Regulated Entities The Reserve Bank issued Directions on March 10, 2026, after examining feedback on the draft Directions issued on January 6, 2026, on prudential norms on declaration of dividend for various banks. The feedback has been incorporated with suitable modifications in the final Directions, with a statement on the feedback provided in the Annex. Accordingly, the Reserve Bank has issued five Master Directions, four Repeal Directions, and one Amendment Guideline covering Commercial Banks, Small Finance Banks, Payment Banks, Local Area Banks, and Regional Rural Banks, to revise the extant instructions, which shall come into effect from FY 2026–27, while the existing norms on declaration of dividend and remittance of profits shall remain valid till FY 2025–26. To read more, please click here. V. Renewal of the Bilateral Swap Arrangement between Japan and India Japan and India renewed the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) effective from February 28, 2026. The Bank of Japan, acting as the agent for the Minister of Finance, Japan, and the Reserve Bank of India signed the third Amendment and Restatement Agreement of the BSA. The BSA is a two-way arrangement where both authorities can swap their local currencies in exchange for the US Dollar. The size of the BSA remains unchanged, that is, up to 75 billion US Dollars. Japan and India believe that the BSA, which aims to strengthen and complement other financial safety nets, will further deepen financial cooperation between the two countries and contribute to regional and global financial stability. | Trade Relief Measures The Reserve Bank issued Directions on March 31, 2026, stating that extension of the time period for realisation and repatriation of export proceeds from nine months to fifteen months shall continue to remain in force, and the enhanced export credit period of 450 days has been extended for disbursals made till June 30, 2026, due to ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and logistical disruptions. The Reserve Bank of India (Trade Relief Measures) Directions, 2026 have been issued accordingly. To read more, please click here. VI. Debt Manager to Government Floating Rate Bond 2033 The Reserve Bank on March 20, 2026 announced the rate of interest on Government of India Floating Rate Bond 2033 (GOI FRB 2033) applicable for the period March 22, 2026 to September 21, 2026. As per the announcement, the rate of interest of GOI FRB 2033 shall be 6.75 per cent per annum. To read more, please click here. WMA Limit for Government of India The Reserve Bank on March 27, 2026 in consultation with the Government of India, decided that the limit for Ways and Means Advances (WMA) for the first half of the financial year 2026-27 (April to September 2026) will be ₹2,50,000 crore. The Bank may trigger fresh floatation of market loans when the Government of India utilises 75 per cent of the WMA limit. The interest rate on WMA / Overdraft will be: i. WMA: Repo Rate ii. Overdraft: Two percent above the Repo Rate. To read more, please click here. Marketable Dated Securities The Reserve Bank in consultation with the Government of India, notified the indicative calendar for issuance of Government dated securities, including Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrB), for the first half of the fiscal year 2026-27 (April 1, 2026 to September 30, 2026) on March 27, 2026. To read more, please click here. Auction of Treasury Bills The Reserve Bank in consultation with the Government of India, notified the calendar for issuance of Treasury Bills for the quarter ending June 2026 on March 27, 2026. To read more, please click here. VII. Financial Markets RBI releases Master Direction on Unique Identifiers in Financial Markets The Reserve Bank issued a Master Direction on March 27, 2026, on Unique Identifiers in Financial Markets, consolidating earlier instructions relating to Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) and Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI), which are key data elements identified globally for reporting of OTC derivative transactions. While LEI uniquely identifies the counterparties to a transaction, UTI serves as a single unique reference number for the transaction. Over the years, the Reserve Bank has issued instructions mandating reporting of LEI for transactions in the financial markets regulated by the Reserve Bank, along with instructions mandating implementation of UTI for OTC derivative transactions. The aforesaid instructions have now been consolidated into a Master Direction with a view to improve accessibility of regulatory instructions and ease of doing business. To read more, please click here. RBI defers implementation of the Amendment Directions on Capital Market Exposures to July 1, 2026 The Reserve Bank issued the final Amendment Directions on Capital Market Exposure on February 13, 2026, on March 30, 2026, after due consideration of the feedback received as part of public consultation. These Amendment Directions were aimed primarily to (i) provide an enabling framework for banks to finance acquisitions by Indian corporates; (ii) rationalise the limits for lending by banks to individuals against shares, units of REITs, InvITs, etc. and (iii) put in place a more principle-based framework for lending to capital market intermediaries (CMIs). The Amendment Directions were to be effective from April 1, 2026. The Reserve Bank has since received representations from banks, CMIs, and various industry associations seeking an extension of the effective date, and also flagging certain operational and interpretational issues for clarification. On a review, based on further discussions with the stakeholders and on a review, it has been decided to extend the effective date of the said Amendment Directions by three months to July 1, 2026. Further, a few changes have been carried out to the Amendment Directions, primarily clarifying certain provisions relating to acquisition finance and exposures to capital market intermediaries. The major clarifications are as under: A. Clarifications to instructions on acquisition finance B. Clarifications to instructions on loan against Financial Assets C. Clarifications to instructions on credit facilities to CMIs To read more, please click here. VIII. Publications RBI Bulletin – March 2026 The Reserve Bank released the March 2026 issue of its monthly Bulletin on March 23, 2026. The Bulletin includes three speeches, one article and current statistics. Three speeches are: 1. Good Finance, Good Leadership: On the Road to Viksit Bharat@2047 - Shri Swaminathan J 2. Digitalisation for Inclusive Finance and Sustainability: Priorities for the Next Phase - Shri Swaminathan J 3. Perspectives on India’s Growth: Last Four Decades to the Present - Dr. Poonam Gupta The article in the Bulletin is on the State of the Economy: State of the Economy The conflict in Middle East and fresh trade investigations by the US have resulted in increased volatility in the global markets. The second advance estimates of GDP for 2025–26 indicate sustained resilience of the Indian economy. High frequency indicators signal towards economic activity gaining momentum in February. CPI headline inflation picked up in February on account of food and beverages. System liquidity has remained comfortable and the total flow of financial resources to the commercial sector rose, with a rise in financing from both the bank and non-bank sources. India’s foreign exchange reserves remain adequate to provide cushion against external shocks. To read more, please click here. IX. Data Release Important data released by the Reserve Bank during the month of March 2026 are as follows:
Statement about ownership and other particulars concerning Monetary and Credit Information Review Form IV | Place of Publication | Mumbai | | Periodicity of Publication | Monthly | | Editor, Publisher and Printer’s Name | Brij Raj | | Nationality | Indian | | Address | Reserve Bank of India
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Central Office,
Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Mumbai 400001 | | Names and addresses of Individuals who own the Newspaper | Reserve Bank of India
Department of Communication,
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Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Mumbai 400001 | I, Brij Raj, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Brij Raj
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March 31, 2026 |
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