Liquidity push: RBI announces Rs 2 lakh crore bond buys and $10 billion swap; steps up support for banking system
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday announced a fresh liquidity infusion, unveiling plans to purchase government securities worth Rs 2 lakh crore and conduct a $10 billion dollar-rupee swap auction to ease conditions in the banking system.The central bank said the open market operations (OMO) purchases and the USD/INR buy-sell swap auctions will be carried out between December 29, 2025 and January 22, 2026, as it seeks to ensure orderly liquidity amid evolving market conditions.“On a review of current liquidity and financial conditions, the Reserve Bank has decided to conduct OMO purchases and a USD/INR buy-sell swap to inject liquidity into the banking system,” the RBI said in a statement.Under the plan, OMO purchase auctions of Government of India securities aggregating Rs 2,00,000 crore will be conducted in four tranches of Rs 50,000 crore each. These auctions are scheduled for December 29, 2025, January 5, January 12 and January 22, 2026.In addition, the RBI will hold a USD/INR buy-sell swap auction of $10 billion with a tenor of three years on January 13, 2026. The central bank clarified that the swap will be a simple buy-sell foreign exchange transaction, under which banks will sell US dollars to the RBI and simultaneously agree to buy back the same amount at the end of the swap period.The latest liquidity measures come days after the RBI conducted OMO purchases of Rs 1 lakh crore and a $5 billion dollar-rupee buy-sell swap auction for a three-year tenor.The central bank said it will continue to closely monitor liquidity and financial market conditions and take further steps as required to maintain orderly system liquidity.
