Education finance is a complex and dynamic sector. There are too many variables -- the course, the calibre of students, the universities, and the job prospects once the course is over, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The finance minister chaired a meeting through video conference with major private banks and NBFCs to ensure effective rollout of ECLGS and uninterrupted liquidity to Indian MSMEs in this difficult time.
India Inc's investment project announcement falls to Rs 11.3 trillion. In the coming months, the pace of investments would depend on how soon consumption demand picks up and private sector investment ramps up investment in infrastructure.
Dealers say the significant increase in sales was driven by a need to plug the diminishing inventory as most dealerships were transitioning from BS-IV to BS-VI when the Covid-19 lockdown was announced.
The RBI's decision to tighten norms for unsecured personal loans is credit positive because lenders will need to allocate higher capital for such loans, thus improving their loss-absorbing buffers, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday. The Reserve Bank last week raised risk weights on unsecured retail loans, credit cards and lending to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) by 25 percentage points. Moody's said unsecured loans have been growing rapidly in the past few years, exposing financial institutions to a potential spike in credit costs in case of sudden economic or interest rate shocks.
Experts are of the opinion that though the second half of this financial year will see some recovery, volume growth is likely to remain in single digit as compared to the double-digit rise recorded in past years.
Market players said NBFCs and HNIs are recalibrating their plans based on the changing dynamics.
'Even where we are now today, the growth rates are very good, but we need to get to 8-9 per cent growth in the years to come.'
'Das is friendly, but he finally does what he does. The quality of engagement is very good.'
Banks are in the process of getting a board-approved restructuring framework in line with the RBI's framework and eligibility defined by the central bank.
Exuding confidence in sustaining the tempo of credit growth, public sector bankers said on Wednesday that consolidation in the public sector bank (PSB) space has given them a robust base to scale. The privatisation of PSBs can be done through divestment of government stake to a wider base of investors without haste. There is nothing to worry about at this point (high credit offtake) as underwriting standards and risk management are much better.
Agriculture and allied activity loans are not eligible for the interest on interest waiver announced by the government last week, the finance ministry has clarified.
The company is set to be India's first microlender to become a bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday allowed microfinance lenders to fix interest rates on loans with a rider that those should not be usurious for the borrowers. A microfinance loan is defined as a collateral-free loan given to a household having an annual income of up to Rs 300,000. Each regulated entity (RE) should put in place a board-approved policy regarding pricing of microfinance loans, said the 'Master Direction - Reserve Bank of India (Regulatory Framework for Microfinance Loans) Directions, 2022'. In the past, the central bank used to announce the rates on quarterly basis.
The April-June quarter (Q1) of the current financial year (FY25) may be soft for banks with loan growth moderation, net interest margin (NIM) pressures, and higher staff and credit costs inching up, according to analysts. Credit growth could ease due to the lagged impact of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightening and deposit growth has weakened, and the current account and savings account (CASA) ratio has declined 10-370 basis points (bps) quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) for many banks.
The company has kicked off sale of infrastructure assets as well as sale of a part of the promoter holding in Zee to repay loans.
The Reserve Bank on Friday retained the GDP forecast for the current financial year at 9.5 per cent and flagged global semiconductor shortages, elevated commodity prices and potential global financial market volatility as downside risks to economic growth. In his address after the three-day meeting of the rate-setting panel, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said recovery in aggregate demand gathered pace in August-September, and it is reflected in high-frequency indicators, like railway freight traffic; port cargo; cement production; electricity demand; e-way bills; GST and toll collections. "The ebbing of infections, together with improving consumer confidence, has been supporting private consumption," he said, and added the pent-up demand and the festival season should give further fillip to urban demand in the second half of the financial year.
The focus of the meeting will be on enabling businesses and households to avail of the revival framework on the basis of viability, necessary steps like finalising bank policies and identifying borrowers, and discussing issues that require addressing for smooth and speedy implementation.
The Reserve Bank on Thursday asked card companies not to issue unsolicited credit cards or upgrade an existing card without the explicit consent of the customer, failing which they will have to pay double the billed amount as penalty. It also asked card issuers and third-party agents not to resort to intimidation or harassment during recovery of dues from customers. In its master directions on credit card and debit card issuance, the RBI said "the issue of unsolicited cards/upgradation is strictly prohibited".
The bottom lines of several private sector banks have taken a hit following the recent guidelines released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on alternate investment fund (AIF) investments. Last month, the RBI announced that regulated entities, such as banks, non-bank lenders, and home financiers, cannot invest in AIFs that have directly or indirectly invested in companies that have borrowed money from the lenders. In case an entity had already made such an investment, they must liquidate the investment or make 100 per cent provision, RBI had said.
Under Section 71 of the legislation, which took effect this month, corporate bond issuers have to create a debenture redemption reserve equivalent to at least 50% of a planned bond sale before the maturity of the security.
As per RBI, the CRO shall be a senior official in the hierarchy of an NBFC and shall possess adequate professional qualification/ experience in the area of risk management.
In the past two months alone, four companies have garnered a cumulative Rs 22,400 crore via this route.
German insurance giant Allianz is planning to widen base in India with foray in banking business through its unit Dresdner Bank, besides expanding its existing non-banking financial services.
Aditya Birla Nuvo gets board's nod, Videocon submits application.
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday allowed for-profit companies with large and widespread retail outlets to act as business correspondents. The move will both deepen and broaden financial inclusion. Non-banking finance companies, however, have been excluded from the list.
With funds more readily available, Fitch expects a portion of stalled housing projects to resume construction, and this will feed into its forecasts for India's buildings sector growth in the short term.
Companies don't have to be in the field to nudge people to return money they owe lenders.
Gujarat and Karnataka have been ranked as the best performers in developing startup ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs, according to the ranking of states and Union territories by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Among smaller states having population of less than one crore, Meghalaya has been adjudged as the best performer. The rankings are based on the initiatives taken to develop the startup ecosystem for promoting budding entrepreneurs.
Based on a feedback, the exchange could cap a sector's weight at 25 per cent, or align with the broader market.
The financial services sector, including NBFCs and housing finance companies (HFCs), have historically been the largest borrowers from MFs.
The company also expects to benefit in its proposed banking foray through partnership with Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Nippon Life Insurance
Noted banker Uday Kotak said the country's financial system is currently in a Darwinian mode as only the fittest lenders are able to survive. Kotak also said that historically, whenever there has been a problem with a private sector lender, it has been merged with a state-run bank.
While the government has infused huge capital into PSBs, the same has largely been used to mitigate losses and has failed to contribute meaningfully to credit growth.
'FDs should hold your emergency funds, equivalent to around 6-12 times your monthly expenses.'
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.
In January, Visa's chief executive officer, Al Kelly, said during an earnings call that "there's been a burst of the balloon in valuations in the fintech world". Noting that the trend of lower valuations "is a helpful characteristic of the current environment", he added: "We will look for capabilities and management teams that will bring more value to Visa than we can bring ourselves." Data from KPMG's Pulse of Fintech H2'22 shows that global fintech investment - via mergers and acquisitions (M&As), private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms - at $164.1 billion in 2022, was down 31 per cent over the year before. Indian fintechs held up better during this timeframe, attracting $6 billion, or a fall of 24 per cent.
The combined profit before tax of 748 companies, which have declared their results for Q1FY21, is down 46 per cent YoY. Their net sales went down by a quarter as the Covid-19 lockdown led to a sharp fall in economic activity.
GE Commercial Finance, which has an asset base of more than $230 billion globally, is planning to increase its exposure in the Indian market.
