The RBI governor's assurance should give investors enough confidence to start believing in the NBFC sector again, say bankers.
CEOs have complained that high interest rates have blocked their investment decisions. At the same time, customers are also deferring their purchases for new consumer durables, cars, and homes.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das tells Anup Roy, Raghu Mohan and Niraj Bhatt that it is time for banks to lower interest rates and start lending to cash-starved finance companies after due credit appraisal and proper risk assessment.
By no means do economists see the Reserve Bank of India stop at just a 25-bp cut. Some of the economists such as Soumyakanti Ghosh of State Bank of India are of the firm view that rates have room to fall by a total of 75 bps in the current financial year, starting with 25 bps in the August 7 policy.
Apart from easing the NPA pressure on domestic banks, the RBI's move can allow companies to raise cheap, long-term loans easily now.
Vodafone Idea, the promoter of Aditya Bira Idea Payments Bank, said in a notification to the exchanges late on Friday that the board of the bank approved winding up the business, subject to approval from the Reserve Bank of India.
The government planned to borrow 10-15 per cent of the total borrowing offshore. That works out to at least Rs 71,000 crore, or about $10.4 billion at Friday's exchange rate.
While the bond market is relatively conservative about their interest rate expectations, the currency market seems to be projecting that interest rates should be much sharper
A lack of adequate disclosures raises the financing costs of corporate firms, especially sub-investment grade ones, and keeps the capital markets small, believes RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya.
In absolute terms, the CAD stood at $4.6 billion in the current fourth quarter, compared with $13 billion in the year-ago quarter and $17.7 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2018-19.
The RBI panel has also recommended a government-sponsored 'fund of funds' of Rs 10,000 crore to support the venture capital and private equity firms investing in the MSME sector.
At the end of 2018-19, the Tata group had a consolidated debt of Rs 2.77 trillion. Tatas not only plan to avoid big-ticket acquisitions for now, the group's main focus will be on improving key metrics and reduce debt, say Shally Seth Mohile & Dev Chatterjee.
NBFCs are mainly dependent on funding their operation from their own cash flows.
Besides 15 loan transactions to the Siva group of companies, the former directors also used unique methods to ensure the group did not get into the default list.
Lenders can now review a borrower account within 30 days of default. Earlier, the banks had to start resolution within one day of default.
Nomura analysts said the Reserve Bank of India and the government would need to segregate the potential solvency issue at DHFL from liquidity issues at other larger wholesale NBFCs and HFCs.
There is a near consensus that at least a 25 basis points cut, if not 50, can be expected in the June policy.
The bond market expects at least 25 basis points cut in the June 6 policy.
People are interested in the strength of India's economy, the country's stability, and the opportunities, says Stuart Tait, regional head of commercial banking, Asia-Pacific at HSBC.
An NBFC must actively manage its collateral positions, differentiating between encumbered and unencumbered assets, and monitor such assets so that they can be mobilised in a timely manner, central bank says in circular.