Central Bank of India has announced its earnings announcement schedule for the third quarter of financial year 2025-26, joining other listed companies in the ongoing earnings season. The public sector lender will hold its board meeting on January 16 to discuss the October-December quarter results.

Board Meeting and Dividend Declaration

The scheduled board meeting will address the bank's financial performance for Q3 FY26 and is expected to announce the third interim dividend for the financial year 2025-26. This follows the bank's practice of declaring interim dividends during the fiscal year.

Earnings Season Context

The announcement comes as part of the broader earnings season, with several companies listed on BSE and NSE releasing their schedules for third quarter results of financial year 2025-26. Banks and financial institutions typically announce their quarterly results during designated periods to provide stakeholders with regular updates on their financial performance.

What to Expect

Investors and stakeholders will be looking forward to the bank's performance metrics for the October-December quarter, including key financial indicators and the dividend announcement. The third interim dividend declaration will be particularly significant for shareholders as it represents the bank's commitment to returning value during the fiscal year.

PwC Partner and Economic Advisory Services leader Ranen Banerjee has made a strong case for the Reserve Bank of India to maintain status quo on interest rates, arguing that any cut at this time would amount to 'wasting a bullet' in an environment characterized by robust growth and benign inflation.

RBI Unlikely to Cut Rates in February MPC Meeting

The Reserve Bank is unlikely to reduce the key policy rate in the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting scheduled for February 4-6, 2026, according to Banerjee. This will be the last MPC meeting of the current fiscal year, headed by Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra.

Banerjee told PTI that if growth numbers continue to hold up and base year revision provides better estimates as expected, there would be no justification for a rate cut. The economist emphasized that the current economic conditions do not warrant monetary easing.

Private Capex Not Interest Rate Sensitive

Addressing concerns about private capital expenditure, Banerjee clarified that private capex is not interest rate sensitive and will pick up only when capacity utilization approaches 85%. He explained that current capacity utilization remains in the 70-75% range, which does not create immediate urgency for additional private sector capacity expansion.

"I do not think that private capex is held up because of the interest rate. It is because there is uncertainty of demand or the confidence in demand or sustainability of demand is not there," Banerjee stated.

Recent RBI Rate Cut History

The MPC's recent monetary policy actions show a pattern of accommodation. Last month, the six-member committee voted unanimously to lower the repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 5.25% while retaining a neutral stance. This marked the fourth rate cut since February 2025, following a pause in August and October meetings.

Inflation Targeting Framework

The central bank operates under a government mandate to ensure consumer price index-based retail inflation remains at 4% with a margin of 2% on either side. With inflation currently contained within this target range and growth remaining robust, Banerjee argues that monetary policy tools should be preserved for when they are genuinely needed.

"Firing a bullet when it is not needed as we are having good growth and contained inflation. So, there is no need for a rate action at this point of time," he concluded, advocating for the MPC to continue its pause rather than pursue further rate cuts.