Few finance ministers announce any taxation measure that could upset the stock market. Ms Sitharaman decided to take that risk, observes A K Bhattacharya.
Stocks such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank are among the top banking picks of analysts for 2017. A decline in cost of funds and treasury gains are expected to help stabilise their net interest margins
Poor earnings show in the September quarter (Q2FY24), with hints of likely weakness in asset quality going ahead, forced analysts to cut earnings estimates of SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Card). On the bourses, shares of the State bank of India arm tumbled 7.4 per cent to Rs 732 apiece on the BSE in the intraday trade as investors factord in near-term concerns. Analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, for instance, slashed SBI Card earnings by 8 per cent and 10 per cent for FY24 and FY25, respectively, as they expect the company to face pesistent magin pressure.
'I would say restore the banks to health, get active board composed of professionals, then there will be an ideal situation for merger.'
In a soon to be published book, 'Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy,' former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian says though RBI has a good reputation, it does not mean it's always right, as for years, the RBI was unable to grasp the seriousness of the loan repayment problems or identify the prolonged frauds of Nirav Modi and the likes.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das will hold a meeting with CEOs of public sector banks on Wednesday to discuss issues concerning slow deposit growth and sustainability of high credit demand. As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, deposits rose by 9.6 per cent as compared to 10.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis, while credit offtake witnessed a jump of 17.9 per cent as against 6.5 per cent a year ago. According to an agenda circulated for the meeting, sources said, sustainability, including pricing and slow growth of deposits, would be discussed.
Available data obscures the true stress in bank books, and the pandemic will result in balance sheet impairments and capital shortfalls at lenders, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Monday. Balance sheet impairment and capital shortfalls will be more evident once the regulatory reliefs are rolled back, Das said in the bi-annual Financial Stability Report, asking lenders to augment capital.
Banks are in need of government support to manage the stressed assets
After showing a consistent rise in the previous 4 quarters, gross NPAs of 40 listed bank declined to Rs 10.03 trillion at the end of June 2018, from Rs 10.25 trillion in the previous quarter.
Listed housing finance companies (HFCs), as a group, posted a 3.7 per cent drop in second-quarter (Q2) profit year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 5,830 crore and 19 per cent sequentially on rise in interest expenses and uptick in provisions and write-offs. Operating income rose 13.7 per cent YoY to Rs 54,086 crore in Q2 of 2022-23 (FY23). Sequentially, income was up 62.3 per cent, from Rs 33,331 crore in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021-22 (FY22).
Currently, banks are closed every second and fourth Saturday of a month. Why shouldn't they be shut every Saturday? When most customers carry their banks in their pocket (the app on the mobile phone), there is no need to keep banks open on Saturdays, argues Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday underpinned the need for ensuring the quality of bank credit in the context of financial stability.
Public sector banks (PSBs) have written off a massive Rs 8 trillion of loans in the seven years of the Narendra Modi government in office. This is more than twice the capital infused by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government during the period. Between 2014-15 and 2020-21 (FY21), the Centre had infused Rs 3.37 trillion into PSBs. At Rs 1.06 trillion, FY19 saw the highest capital infusion.
Bank credit growth declined to 8.5 per cent in January from 13.5 per cent in the year-ago period.
'Clients deemed higher-risk are required to update their KYC more frequently.'
Banks are set to sell dud-loans worth Rs 90,000 crore of 22 firms in the first tranche to the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL). It's reason for cheer given that such sales to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) have been poor in recent times. In fiscal 2020, their assets under management (AUM) contracted by 4 per cent; and in fiscal 2021, it fell by another 100 basis points to Rs 1.07 trillion. So, why are we where we are?
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may allow non-resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) greater exposure to domestic equities if their investments are sent through foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) registered at the GIFT City International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). The proposal will be taken during Sebi's board meeting on Saturday along with other key agenda items such as easing of voluntary delisting mechanism and introduction of a regulatory framework for real estate fractional ownership platforms, said people in the know. At present, the combined holdings of NRIs and OCIs in a global fund have to be less than 50 per cent, while that of a single NRI or OCI is capped at 25 per cent.
'We have essentially tried to set out an agenda for the next five years and it, in essence, represents the political commitment to that agenda.'
The RBI has cited corporate governance and regulatory issues for not extending Kapoor's term. Further, the lender has been directed to search for a successor.
Breaking silence over the Rs 12,967 crore scam at Punjab National Bank, he said: "I have chosen to speak today to convey that we at the Reserve Bank of India also feel the anger, hurt and pain at the banking sector frauds and irregularities."
Conceding that there has been risk aversion among the lenders stemming from their rising asset quality concerns, the Governor said banks should lend to productive sectors, notwithstanding the importance of asset quality, by being discerning.
Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Viral V Acharya further said that the impact of the notes ban would only be temporary and would help in bringing informal sector into the mainstream economy.
Kapoor was among the founding team of Yes Bank, along with Ashok Kapur who died in 2008.
'We have a plan to plough back a 'This year in the first half we had profits of more than Rs 31,000 crore.' significant amount of profits this financial year.' 'We have seen this organic plough back of profit is one of best ways to support the equity of the bank.'
Consensus continues to be cautious with analysts pointing towards tougher days ahead
Rajan said it is hard to offer an objective self-assessment but the RBI should probably have raised more flags about the quality of lending in the early days of banking exuberance.
The stock was the top gainer among the blue-chips on both Sensex and Nifty.
'In plain simple English, these practices amount to a looting of our country's future by some in the business community, in cahoots with some lenders,' says RBI Governor Dr Urjit R Patel.
In the aftermath of the PMC Bank mess which was in the RBI's highest rating of 'A' category, trustworthiness of these ratings may be up for a review.
Bank stocks have underperformed in the second quarter of FY'14 with the BSE Bankex declining 18 per cent compared to fall of 1 per cent in the BSE 30-stock index, Sensex, during this period.
Loan against gold as a product is catching on fast. Let's keep the momentum going, but aim for sustainable growth. A few bad apples should not ruin the brunch, argues Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Reserve Bank on Thursday proposed tighter norms for treatment of wilful defaulters under which banks and other lenders will be required to examine all accounts with outstanding amount of Rs 25 lakh and more to see if the borrower is deliberately not repaying the loan. The central bank has issued a 'Draft Master Direction on Treatment of Wilful Defaulters and Large Defaulters' on which comments have been invited till October 31. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the draft Master Direction expands the scope for regulated entities which can classify borrowers as wilful defaulters and broadens the definition of wilful default.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday exuded confidence that inflation would further decline and the government is on track to meet its budgetary target for deficit and said that there is no fear of stagflation in India. Replying to the debate on first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants 2022-23 in Lok Sabha, the finance minister said inflation has come down and it is now in the tolerable band of the RBI. Inflation has been declining since April 2022 and it is declining further, she said.
Gross non-performing assets of public sector banks surged to 9.32 per cent (Rs 4.76 lakh crore) of advances in 2015-16, from 5.43 per cent (Rs 2.67 lakh crore) in 2014-15.
Total income on a standalone basis increased to Rs 1,74,972.96 crore.
Its total income (consolidated) rose to Rs 79,302.72 crore in the quarter under review, compared to Rs 74,948.51 crore in the year-ago period
The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday reported a 55 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 5,245.88 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 on account of decline in bad loans. The bank's net profit stood at Rs 3,375.40 crore in July-September quarter of the previous fiscal, SBI said in a regulatory filing.
Indeed, there were frauds, and the politician-banker-industrialist nexus played a role in the rise of NPAs, but governance issues in Indian banking are far more nuanced and complex, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In the June quarter of FY24, 51 per cent of consumers who took small-ticket personal loans already had more than four credit products at the time of accessing yet another new loan, compared with just 17 per cent in the June quarter of FY20, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
"Fitch Ratings has placed Punjab National Bank's (PNB) Viability Rating of 'bb' on Rating Watch Negative (RWN), following the large fraud reported by PNB," the US-based agency said in a statement.