With elevated crude oil prices over USD 100 per barrel amid the renewed tensions between US and Iran and concerns of a broader inflationary pressure, an SBI Research report has said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should look to increase its key lending rate the repo rate by 25 basis points during its next Monetary Policy Committee meeting scheduled in October, reported news agency PTI.

The apex bank had kept the rates unchanged for the fourth consecutive time in its August Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, maintaining the repo rate at 5.25 per cent. The next MPC meeting headed by the RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, is scheduled for October 5-7, 2026.