The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified "climate shocks" as a risk to food inflation rates and overall price rise while stating that the outlook for the country's economic growth remains bright. In its Annual Report for 2023-24, released on Thursday, the central bank said easing supply-chain pressures, broad-based softening in core inflation, and early indications of an above-normal southwest monsoon meant well for the inflation outlook in 2024-25. "The increasing incidence of climate shocks, however, imparts considerable uncertainty to the food inflation and overall inflation outlook," said the RBI while noting headline inflation moderated by 1.3 percentage points on an annual average basis to 5.4 per cent in 2023-24.
Of the eight RBI governors who have held office since the 1991 economic liberalisation, Bimal Jalan had the longest stint and S Venkitaramanan, the shortest. Current Governor Shaktikanta Das will overtake Bimal Jalan before completing his second term in December, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Sensex sinks 573 pts on global tensions and high crude prices
The Indian financial and payments systems remained largely unaffected by the Microsoft services outage, though about 10 banks and NBFCs faced minor disruptions which have either been resolved or are being fixed.
From the Sensex firms, Eternal climbed 3.32 per cent. Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever were the other major gainers. However, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan and Larsen & Toubro were among the laggards.
New-age stocks to buy: Most new-age stocks have turned out to be wealth destroyers in stock markets, so far, in calendar year 2025. Shares of Ola Electric Mobility, for instance, have plunged nearly 50 per cent in the first half of CY 2025, while those of Swiggy, PB Fintech, Paytm, and Eternal (Zomato) have crashed between 6 per cent and 25 per cent, ACE Equity data shows.
Borrowers should consider switching from an MCLR-linked to a repo rate-linked loan.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that this stage would have been "premature" and "very very risky" as the retail inflation is still high, and future monetary policy action would depend upon the income data and outlook. Earlier this month, the RBI continued to maintain the status quo in the short-term lending interest rate (repo), citing inflationary concerns, though it changed the monetary policy stance to neutral.
After investing a staggering amount in May, foreign investors turned net sellers with a withdrawal of Rs 8,749 crore from the Indian equity markets in the first week of this month triggered by renewed US-China trade tensions and rising US bond yields. This momentum follows a net investment of Rs 19,860 crore in May and Rs 4,223 crore in April, data with the depositories showed.
Despite similar tax treatment, debt MFs enjoy certain advantages over FDs.
'Bank has enabling provision to raise capital up to Rs 7,500 crore over a longer period of time.'
In President Donald Trump's big priority bill, there is a proposal for a 5 percent excise tax on remittance transfers that would cover more than 40 million people, including those holding green cards and H1B visas.
In 2023-2024, 95 scheduled commercial banks received over 10 million complaints from their customers. The process of KYC at many banks has become 'HYC' -- harass your customer, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Domestic passenger vehicle wholesales were down 0.8 per cent at 3,44,656 units in May this year as compared to 3,47,492 units in the same month last year, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers said on Monday.
'Das is friendly, but he finally does what he does. The quality of engagement is very good.'
The co-operative banking sector is well regulated, and a few cases of restrictions being imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should not paint a negative picture of the entire sector, said Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary Ajay Seth on Monday. "Co-operative banks in the country are generally quite robust, and the RBI takes regulatory action whenever issues arise.
The country's forex reserves increased by $305 million to $654.27 billion during the week ended March 14, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves rose by $15.27 billion to $653.97 billion and registered the sharpest weekly rise in two years.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday approved a Rs 2.11 lakh crore dividend payout to the central government for 2023-24, more than double the amount it paid for the previous 2022-23 financial year. The decision was taken at the 608th meeting of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India held under the chairmanship of Governor Shaktikanta Das.
Among Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, NTPC, Infosys, Nestle, Sun Pharma, and Tata Steel were the major laggards. Eternal, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finserv were the gainers.
ICICI Bank has cut its savings account deposit interest rate by 0.25 per cent, according to the lender's website. The second largest private sector bank's move comes days after larger rival HDFC Bank announced similar move amid a spate of cuts in deposit offerings following RBI's two back-to-back rate decreases.
The Reserve Bank on Monday barred IIFL Finance Ltd from disbursing gold loans, with immediate effect following multiple supervisory concerns, including serious deviations in assaying and certifying the purity of the yellow metal. A leading financial services provider, IIFL Finance offers a range of loans and mortgages. The latest directions from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) pertain to only the gold loan business.
'After a long time, we have a governor who is approachable. The RBI's interactions with us are now much better.'
Wholesale price inflation eased to 2.05 per cent in March, as against 2.38 per cent in February, government data showed on Tuesday. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation, however, rose year-on-year.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
HDFC Bank has denied Lilavati Trust's allegation that the bank's MD and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan was involved in a series of financial frauds. The allegation levelled by Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMM Trust), its trustees and officials against the bank's MD and CEO are baseless and malicious, an HDFC Bank's spokesperson said.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday announced the increase of the UPI Lite wallet limit to Rs 5,000 and per-transaction limit to Rs 1,000, in order to encourage wider adoption of the popular instant payment system through mobile phones. A limit of Rs 500 per transaction and an overall limit of Rs 2,000 per UPI Lite wallet, is presently applicable, with the facility of auto-replenishment. Unveiling the October bi-monthly monetary policy, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das also said the per-transaction limit in UPI123Pay will be enhanced to Rs 10,000 from the current Rs 5,000.
The Reserve Bank on Friday retained GDP growth forecast of 7 per cent for 2024-25 financial year, lower than the 7.6 per cent expansion estimated for FY24. In its February monetary policy, the RBI had projected the GDP growth rate of 7 per cent for the financial year beginning April 1. Announcing the current fiscal's first bi-monthly monetary policy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the rural demand is gathering pace, and sustained growth in manufacturing sector should boost private investment.
India's real GDP growth in FY26 will slide further to 6.2 per cent in FY26 from 6.5 per cent in FY25, a Japanese brokerage said on Monday. In a research report, Nomura said there is a "divergence" between the growth in GST collections and across other high-frequency growth indicators like auto sales and bank credit growth.
Amid liquidity tightness in the banking system, certificate of deposit (CD) rates topped 8 per cent for some smaller banks, with rates remaining on the higher side for derivatives loss-hit IndusInd Bank. On Thursday, CSB Bank raised Rs 100 crore via one-year CDs at 8.5 per cent, while Utkarsh Small Finance Bank issued three-month CDs at 8.05 per cent to raise Rs 50 crore.
'Although we are facing constraints related to lending and resource mobilisation, the government is aware of these.'
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it has issued a Rs 611 crore show cause notice to Paytm's parent company and linked entities for "contravention" of the FEMA on various counts.
More than half a dozen private-sector banks are awaiting regulatory approval for the appointment of a second whole-time director on their boards.
Global brokerage CLSA has lowered its target price for IndusInd Bank from Rs 1,200 to Rs 900 while maintaining an outperform rating on the stock after the private lender disclosed a net worth hit of Rs 1,500 crore due to an accounting gap. The revised price target still implies an upside of 34 per cent from current levels.
Net profit of 19 listed banks is likely to decline by 4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) for the quarter ended March (Q4FY25) mainly due to pressure on net interest margins (NIM) as a result of rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), according to analysts' estimates. Additionally, loan growth is expected to further slowdown amid low demand in certain secured products, stress in the unsecured segment, and a high cost to deposit (CD) ratio across the system.
India's forex reserves increased $1.98 billion to $688.13 billion during the week ended April 25, the RBI said on Friday. This is the eighth consecutive week of a rise in the kitty, which had jumped 8.31 billion to $686.14 in the previous reporting week.
S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday upped India's GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.5 per cent, citing lower crude prices, monetary easing and normal monsoon, and said the ongoing geopolitical tensions are unlikely to put a "significant pressure" on the rupee or inflation.
Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday barred former CEO of IndusInd Bank, Sumant Kathpalia, and four other senior officials from accessing the securities markets in connection with an alleged insider trading in the bank's shares. In addition to the market ban, Sebi has impounded Rs 19.78 crore collectively from the five individuals, according to an interim order passed by the regulator.
Wholesale price inflation dropped to 0.85 per cent in April as prices of food articles, manufactured products, and fuel eased, government data showed on Wednesday. WPI-based inflation was 2.05 per cent in March. It was 1.19 per cent in April last year.
While demand for sub Rs 50-lakh affordable housing prevails, market players cite increased land rates, escalated construction costs and low margins as key prohibiting factors.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is unlikely to cut the benchmark interest rate at its upcoming monetary policy review meeting, taking place soon after the announcement of the Lok Sabha election results, amid inflation challenges, said experts. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may also refrain from rate cut as economic growth is picking up, notwithstanding the elevated interest rate of 6.5 per cent (repo) prevailing since February 2023. The meeting of the Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das headed MPC is scheduled for June 5 to 7.
