NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a 1% cut in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), releasing Rs 2.5 lakh crore into the banking system, in a major move to boost liquidity aimed at supporting lending to productive sectors of the economy.The CRR reduction will be implemented in four equal phases and will bring the reserve requirement down to 3% by November 29, 2025. This allows banks to maintain a lower level of 3% liquid cash reserve with the RBI, providing them additional funds for lending activities.The last time the RBI made such a significant CRR cut was on March 27, 2020, when it slashed the ratio by 1% and the repo rate by 75 basis points in response to the Covid-19 crisis.“The Reserve Bank remains committed to provide sufficient liquidity to the banking system. To further provide durable liquidity, it has been decided to reduce the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 100 basis points (bps) to 3% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) in a staggered manner during the course of the year,” RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said.The implementation will occur in four 25 bps installments, beginning September 6, October 4, November 1 and November 29, 2025, Malhotra continued, while announcing the bi-monthly MPC outcome.“The cut in CRR would release primary liquidity of about Rs 2.5 lakh crore to the banking system by December 2025. Besides providing durable liquidity, it will reduce the cost of funding of the banks, thereby helping in monetary policy transmission to the credit market,” he added.Enhanced credit availability will support economic growth, which decreased to a four-year low of 6.5% in FY’25.“I would like to reiterate that we will continue to monitor the evolving liquidity and financial market conditions and proactively take further measures, as warranted,” he said.The previous CRR reduction of 50 basis points to 4% occurred in December 2024’s MPC announcement, implemented in two 25 basis point instalments effective from December 14, 2024 and December 28, 2024. This action released Rs 1.16 lakh crore into the banking system, easing liquidity constraints.Earlier on May 4, 2022, RBI raised the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 4% to 4.5% during an unscheduled meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), with the change taking effect from May 21 that year.However, the RBI kept the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) unchanged at 18%. Under the SLR rule, banks must hold 18% of their total deposits or net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) in government securities. This requirement helps ensure banks have enough liquidity to meet withdrawal demands and maintain financial stability.