Some basic facts of RBI:

1. Reserve Bank of India is the name of India’s Central Bank.

2. Reserve Bank of India act was passed in 1934.

3. Reserve Bank of India was established on 1st April 1935.

4. It is a statutory corporation.

5. First RBI headquarter was in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Now it is in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

6. It was nationalized on 1st January 1949.

7. It is the only authority to issue currency notes in India.

8. Emblem of RBI is panther and palm tree.

9. Highest official of RBI is called governor.

10. The first Governor of RBI was Sir Osborne Smith (1935-1937).

11. The first Indian to be made Governor of RBI was C.D. Deshmukh (1943-19490).

12. S. Manmohan Singh is the only Prime Minister who was also the Governor of RBI (1982-1985).

13. RBI is member of International Monetary fund.

14. There are 4 printing presses which print notes in: Dewas (M.P.), Nashik (Maharastra), Mysore (Karnataka) and Salboni (WB).

 

Bank Rate

This is the interest rate at which RBI lends money to the commercial banks or financial institutions. Banks make a profit by borrowing at a lower rate and lending the same funds at a higher rate of interest. If the RBI hikes the bank rate, the interest rate at which the banks lend to the people, is also raised to earn profit.

Repo or Repurchase rate

This is the rate at which banks borrow funds from the RBI. If the RBI wants to make it more expensive for the banks to borrow money, it increases the repo rate; similarly, if it wants to make it cheaper for banks to borrow money, it reduces the repo rate.

Reverse Repo rate

This is the rate at which the RBI borrows money from commercial banks or other financial institutions in order to cut the money supply in the economy.

Cash reserve ratio

It is the minimum amount of deposits to be kept by the banks with RBI. It is used to regulate the money supply in the economy. If RBI wants to increase the money supply it will decrease the Cash reserve ratio and vice-versa.

Statutory Liquidity ratio

It indicates the minimum percentage of deposits that a bank has to maintain in the form of cash, gold or any other type of approved securities. It also helps to regulate credit in the Economy.

You may check here:

The initiative by RBI for Financial Education.