The Interpol has issued its first Silver notice, at India's request, to track the global assets of former French Embassy officer Shubham Shokeen, who is wanted in connection with a visa fraud. The Silver notice, introduced in January this year, aims to track illicit assets across the globe. India is among 51 countries participating in the pilot project for the Silver notice, which will continue until November. The Interpol has issued two Silver notices on the CBI's request - one against Shokeen for allegedly facilitating Schengen visas for illegal gratification and another against Amit Madanlal Lakhanpal, who is wanted by the Enforcement Directorate for allegedly creating a cryptocurrency without permission and defrauding investors.
A comprehensive technical framework needed, from which a more convincing policy could be demonstrated
The government on Monday appointed Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra as the 26th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared Malhotra's name, who has been appointed as the RBI Governor for three years, starting Wednesday. Malhotra, a 1990 Batch Rajasthan Cadre IAS Officer, will replace Shaktikanta Das, whose tenure ends on Tuesday (December 10, 2024).
The industry ministry and the finance ministry are holding consultations on whether to bring the banking sector under the purview of new FDI (foreign direct investment) rules, which will categorise some Indian banks -- like ICICI Bank -- as foreign banks.
The Union finance ministry will meet CEOs of public sector banks to discuss issues related to cybersecurity in the wake of the Rs 820 crore (Rs 8.2 billion) fraud that hit Kolkata-based UCO Bank last month.
The disbursement of the second tranche comes on a day when the International Monetary Fund is holding virtual discussions on Pakistan's upcoming budget, as the visit of its mission to Islamabad was delayed due to security concerns in the region.
Perhaps because the Modi government had some differences of opinion with two of the economist governors (one of whom was appointed by the Manmohan Singh government), there is a view that its political leadership prefers a civil servant to head the RBI, notes A K Bhattacharya.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
India's economic growth rate is estimated to slip to a four-year low of 6.4 per cent in 2024-25, mainly on account of poor showing by the manufacturing and services sector, according to government data released on Tuesday. The gross domestic product (GDP) rate of 6.4 per cent will be the lowest since the Covid year (2020-21) when the country witnessed a negative growth of 5.8 per cent.
He drew the roadmap of India's economic reform, unshackled it from the licence raj and pulled it back from the brink when even its gold reserve was pledged.
Dr T V Somanathan is the first finance secretary to be appointed Cabinet secretary since 1985. His appointment at this juncture seems to carry much meaning for the forthcoming trajectory of reforms and restructuring of India's steel frame.
Dismissing reports, the Reserve Bank on Monday said there is no proposal to replace the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others on currency notes. In a statement, the central bank said there are reports in certain sections of the media that the Reserve Bank of India is considering changes to the existing currency and banknotes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others.
'The Budget needs to focus more on social welfare schemes.'
The government is set to ask PSBs to expeditiously introduce repo-rate linked products "to step up affordable credit".
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday pitched for formulating a policy for using the Reserve Bank of India's rising foreign exchange reserves for funding road projects, saying the country needs low cost finance for such infrastructure projects. Addressing a virtual event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should also have a financial arm like the power ministry's Power Finance Corporation (PFC). "We have a surplus of dollar reserves in the country. I have decided to talk with the RBI Governor, about how we can formulate a policy by which we can use this foreign exchange reserves for development of infrastructure in the country," he said.
Issues related to the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) and bilateral investment treaty between India and the UK are expected to figure during the three-day visit of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to London from April 8-10, official sources said. The minister will attend a host of meetings, including the India-United Kingdom Economic and Financial Dialogue, in London.
Reserve Bank and the finance ministry on Wednesday asked top management of banks and representative of trade bodies to push exports and import transactions in rupee. It was stressed during a meeting that banks should connect with their foreign counterparts for opening special rupee vastro accounts to facilitate cross-border trade in Indian currency rather than popular mode dollar, sources said. Trade associations and their foreign trading partners should explore opportunities to make use of the framework, sources added.
The Reserve Bank will announce draft guidelines for giving new banking licences in the next few days, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.
As Pranab Mukherjee resigned to contest the Presidential poll, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday took charge of the finance ministry portfolio at a time when the country's economy is going through a bad phase.
Under increasing pressure to cut interest rates on Employees Provident Fund, the labour ministry is expected to meet the Reserve Bank of India brass in a bid to retain the current rate of 9.5 per cent.
Contrary to the finance ministry's initial idea that some large industrial houses could be given bank licences, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) did not name any big corporate in the first round of licensing.
In order to boost its deposit base, State Bank of India (SBI) is focusing on various segments, including JanDhan account holders, trusts, societies, and the segment below the affluent class but above the normal account holders. According to Ashwini Tewari , managing director, SBI, the bank is focusing on three broad segments. One is wealth banking, where the bank is focusing on individuals who perhaps do not qualify for private banking but are above regular accounts and require individual attention.
Tells RBI this is not the time to consider such a foray, especially given the lack of funds to spare for such a venture.
'The nominal GDP growth assumption for FY25 may be revised upwards on higher growth expectations.'
The next Census' findings will help identify the extent of India's ageing population and vulnerability levels.
Says consultations with the Ministry are nearing an end.
The government on Tuesday appointed three external members -- Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya and Nagesh Kumar -- to the RBI's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee for four years. The central government has reconstituted the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of RBI, the finance ministry said in a statement. Ram Singh is the director of the Delhi School of Economics, Saugata Bhattacharya is an economist, and Nagesh Kumar is the director and Chief Executive, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi.
The Reserve Bank of India is in favour of a cautious and gradual approach to financial sector reforms rather than a big-bang approach, as advocated by the Percy Mistry Committee report on making Mumbai an international financial centre.
A day after his appointment as the 26th governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), outgoing Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Tuesday said one must understand the economic landscape and do what was best for the economy. "Let me first go, join, understand the turf ... Here it is a different role," Malhotra said, speaking to reporters in front of North Block.
In FY24 alone, 1.34 million fraud cases were reported, amounting to losses of Rs 1,087 crore.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) added another 102 metric tonnes to the domestically held gold in the April-September period, as per a disclosure made on Tuesday. The overall quantity of the precious metal stored in local safes stood at 510.46 metric tonnes as of September 30, which was up from over 408 metric tonnes as on March 31, 2024. The central bank said it added another 32 metric tonnes of gold reserves in the six-month period to take the overall tonnage to 854.73 metric tonnes, as per the half yearly report on management of foreign exchange reserves.
The finance ministry wants the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to switch its policy stance, with growth concerns occupying centre stage and inflation showing signs of moderating.
The country's new home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, today said he prefers a Congressman as his successor in the finance ministry, setting off speculation about the implication of his statement.
The finance minister continues to be backed by the same policy team in charting out the broad strategy as in the few earlier Budgets.
In December last year, the finance ministry had asked five state-run banks -- Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India -- to explore merger opportunities in the banking industry.
Prospects of a bumper kharif harvest are expected to lower food inflation in the coming months, making the country's inflation outlook benign, the Union Ministry of Finance (FinMin) said in its monthly economic report for October released on Monday.
However, the prime minister has told confidants that he was unable to do justice to the foreign affairs portfolio and admitted the need for a full-time foreign minister.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed the opening of nine special vostro accounts with two Indian lenders - Uco and IndusInd Bank - to facilitate overseas trade in rupee, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Tuesday. Apart from the domestic lenders, Russia's two largest banks - Sberbank and VTB Bank - are the first foreign lenders to have received approval from the central bank for settling international trade transactions in rupee. "Nine accounts have been opened. One each in Uco Bank, Sberbank, and VTB and six with IndusInd Bank. There are six different Russian banks who have opened special vostro account in IndusInd," Barthwal said.
The Finance Ministry said on Thursday it is holding consultations with the Reserve Bank f India and will approve the draft guidelines for granting new banking licences within 15 to 20 days.
'It has also outlived its initial purpose of reducing physical gold imports.'
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