RBI stopped taking cash overnight. Today it locked Rs 1.5 lakh crore away until Monday
Every fact links to its official source.
RBI moved from overnight to a 3-day auction — your cash is parked till 24 August
Today's auction: Rs 1,50,000 crore, tenor 3 days, window 09:30 to 10:00 AM. Reversal date is Monday 24 August.
Yesterday RBI ran TWO overnight auctions and still took in bids of Rs 1,91,000 crore against Rs 1,50,000 crore notified.
Surplus cash in the banking system was Rs 3.70 lakh crore as of Wednesday.
The reason RBI keeps pushing: the tri-party repo rate had fallen to 5.06%, and before that below 5.00% — under the SDF floor.
Overnight was not holding. Three days takes the money off the table for a working week.
Why it matters: Money you park today does not come back until Monday morning. If your desk was rolling cash overnight and assuming it is available tomorrow, that assumption is wrong this week.
From the regulator
3-day VRRR today — check what it does to your Monday position
Rs 1,50,000 crore notified, bidding window 09:30 to 10:00 AM on 21 August, reversal 24 August. Treasury desks should confirm the maturity ladder still works with this cash locked over the weekend, and branch teams should not expect a liquidity squeeze at the counter. RBI press release, 20 Aug 2026 ↗
Two new faces on the RBI Central Board
The Central Government re-appointed Shri Anand Gopal Mahindra as part-time Non-official Director for four years from 20 August 2026, and appointed Shri Somanath Sreedhara Panicker on the same terms. Both are four-year terms, or until further orders. RBI press release, 20 Aug 2026 ↗
World window
The floor is the problem, not the ceiling
When the tri-party repo rate slips under the standing deposit facility rate, the corridor stops working — banks lend to each other cheaper than the central bank will pay them. That is what RBI is fixing, and it is a familiar problem wherever a system runs a large cash surplus. Business Standard, 20 Aug 2026 ↗
GROW skill
Skill: watch the tenor, not just the amount
Most people read the headline number. The number that tells you how worried RBI is, is the tenor. Overnight means fine-tuning. Three days means the overnight fix stopped working. Seven days would mean they expect the surplus to sit there. Learn to read the tenor first. RBI press release, 20 Aug 2026 ↗
The watchlist
Looking back: Yesterday we said to watch whether RBI would need a third auction this week. It did — and it went longer instead of bigger.
Watch next: Watch Monday 24 August. If the cash comes back and RBI immediately runs another long-tenor auction, the surplus is structural, not a passing week.
The numbers
Rs 1,50,000 cr — notified in today's 3-day VRRR auction
Rs 3.70 lakh cr — surplus cash sitting in the banking system on Wednesday
Rs 1,91,000 cr — bids banks put in across yesterday's two overnight auctions
5.06% — tri-party repo rate, up from 4.96% — it had fallen below the 5.00% SDF floor
5.17% — weighted average call rate, up from 5.15%
5.25% — repo rate, unchanged. The whole exercise is to pull overnight rates back towards this.
The sharp end
Yesterday RBI asked for the cash back each morning. Today it asked to keep it till Monday. The tenor is the message.
Exam corner
Anand Mahindra returns to the RBI Central Board for another four years from 20 August. A part-time Non-official Director is not a rubber stamp — the Central Board approves the RBI's own accounts, its budget and the surplus transferred to the government. RBI press release, 20 Aug 2026 ↗