Thursday 9 February 2012

What is CRR, SLR, Repo Rate & Reverse Repo Rate?

What is CRR: Cash Reserve Ratio?

It refers to the amount of liquid cash that every bank has to keep with Reserve Bank of India (RBI).The ratio helps in ensuring the solvency of the banks.If RBI increases the CRR then the available amount that banks can lend to the customers reduces hence, the overall circulation of money in the market can be controlled. RBI uses CRR as a tool to drain out or release the liquidity in the market to curb inflation.
The current CRR is 6%. (As on 21st Nov, 2011)

What is Repo Rate& Reverse Repo Rate?

Repo (Repurchase) Rate is the rate at which the RBI lends money to the banks against securities for a short period of time. This is the temporary tool used to bridge the gap between demand and supply of money in the banks. When banks have shortage of money they borrow money from RBI at Repo Rate.
When banks have surplus they deposit that funds with RBI and earn at the prevalent  

Reverse Repo Rate. Banks use this measure when they have excess funds and they don’t have any better investment option for a short period of time.
The current repo rate (As on 21th Nov, 2011) is 8.50 % and reverse repo rate is 7.50%.

TRIVIA: The Repo rate has been increased 13 times since March, 2010 by the RBI. The basic motive being to control the inflation rates in the Indian economy.

What is SLR?

SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) is the amount a commercial bank needs to maintain in the form of cash, or gold or government approved securities (Bonds) before providing credit/loan to its customers. SLR rate is determined and maintained by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) in order to control the expansion of bank credit in the economy.RBI can raise SLR up to 40%.
The current SLR is 24% (As on 21stNov, 2011).

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