'Economic activity appears to have peaked in the second quarter of FY26, with industrial output, exports, and business confidence all softening from October 2025.'
'The government's decision to keep interest rates unchanged on small savings schemes will certainly constrain banks' ability to cut deposit rates further.'
A neutral monetary policy stance, heavy government borrowing, and issuers adjusting to a higher-for-longer yield environment have set the stage for a largely stable corporate bond market in 2026.
Cleaner balance sheets, regulatory support and strong growth prospects helped Indian private banks attract over $6 billion in foreign capital, with more deals expected in 2026.
The relation between a regulator and its regulated entities is collaborative and not adversarial with the common objective of maintaining the stability and credibility of the financial system. However, the action on regulated entities like penalties and business restrictions are the last resort, Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Friday.
The committee formed under the Life Insurance Council to review the commission structure in the life insurance sector has recommended capping distributor commissions or deferring them to ease acquisition costs. The recommendations will be sent to the insurance regulator -- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its Financial Stability Report (FSR), cautioned that stress tests indicate two scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) may have to dip into their capital conservation buffers (CCBs), unless stakeholders infuse capital, under a scenario involving a gradual slowdown in domestic GDP growth and a moderate rise in inflation, with limited policy easing space available to the central bank.
The country's banking system, while remaining "resilient" with bad loans at over a decade low and strong capital buffers, will continue to face intense competition from non-bank sources for resource mobilisation, said the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2024-25 report.
Sanjay Malhotra has made structural changes to banking regulation to bring down costs and increase efficiency. Plus, he kicked off a benign interest regime. But there are challenges ahead.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday announced a fresh round of liquidity measures through open-market operations (OMOs) and a foreign exchange buy-sell swap, under which it will inject close to Rs 3 trillion into the banking system. The central bank said it would purchase Government of India securities worth Rs 2 trillion through OMOs, spread across four tranches of Rs 50,000 crore each to be conducted on December 29, January 5, January 12 and January 22.
Overall economic activity continued to hold up in November with demand conditions remaining robust, thanks to strengthening urban demand, but manufacturing and rural demand showed some signs of deceleration even as services remained strong, according to an article on the State of the Economy written by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials in the central bank's December bulletin.
Leading non-banking financial company (NBFC) Shriram Finance on Friday said Japan-based MUFG Bank would invest Rs 39,618 crore, or $4.4 billion, to acquire a 20 per cent stake on a fully diluted basis through a preferential issue of equity shares.
Private-sector lender IndusInd Bank had said the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) interacted with its officials this week and would send a written communication seeking specific details related to the accounting discrepancies identified at the bank.
'We have seen that stablecoins lack the basic attributes of money, their advantages are neither unique nor unambiguous and their risks are all too real.'
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday allowed multiple entities in a bank group to undertake the same business as long as they cater to different client segments, while mandating board approval to ensure that any overlap in business has proper rationale and justification.
Importers are rushing to hedge their dollar positions amid the sharp depreciation of the rupee against the American currency and expectations of further volatility even as exporters are holding off after suffering mark-to-market (MTM) losses on earlier hedges.
Recent years have been turbulent for the insurance industry due to direct and indirect tax reforms, regulatory overhaul and other external pressures. The events cumulatively slowed growth rate to single digits from the high teens seen earlier.
The consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation hitting an all-time low in October would encourage the six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut the policy repo rate in its upcoming December 3-5 meeting. However, the July-September GDP growth, expected to be above 7 per cent, may act as a deterrent.
It will enable real-time intel sharing among banks and other financial sector participants to strengthen customer protection against digital fraud.
Notwithstanding global headwinds, the Indian economy saw further momentum in October on the back of goods and services tax (GST) rate rationalisation and festival spending, as indicated by high-frequency indicators, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) monthly State of the Economy report said.