The Reserve Bank of India, RBI has further relaxed the Statutory Liquidity Ratio, SLR to provide more funds to banks for lending. This was in view of losses suffered by banks in their investment portfolio.

Revising its earlier limit, asking banks to reduce their hold-to-maturity bond holdings gradually to 23 per cent of deposits, RBI has now allowed banks to retain those holdings at 24.5 percent.

To further ease rupee volatility, RBI will conduct open market operations, OMOs of long dated government securities worth 8,000 crore rupees on Friday.

In a press release, RBI said that depending on evolving market conditions, it will thereafter decide on the amount and frequency of OMOs.