Banking sector has witnessed healthy growth in advances in the third quarter of financial year 2026 (Q3FY26) against the same period last year, as the full impact of goods and service tax (GST) rate cuts drove growth. Most of the lenders saw their credit growth outpace the deposit growth in the quarter.
Public sector banks have written off loans worth Rs 6.15 lakh crore in the last five and a half years, Parliament was informed on Monday.
The Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2025-26, up from 6.5 per cent in the previous fiscal, mainly on account of better performance of manufacturing and services sectors, as per the government data released on Wednesday.
Gold and silver prices are poised to maintain their record-setting rally in the coming week as investors focus on global inflation data and key macroeconomic indicators that shape central bank policy paths, analysts said.
Public sector banks (PSBs) have written off bad loans of about Rs 5.82 lakh crore in the last five financial years, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. During 2024-25, the loan write-off of PSBs was at Rs 91,260 crore, compared to Rs 1.15 lakh crore in the previous fiscal, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
The RBI is likely to reduce the key interest rate by 25 basis points this week after keeping it on hold for two years, complementing the Union Budget initiatives to push consumption-led demand, though the sliding rupee continues to be a concern. As the retail inflation has remained within the Reserve Bank's comfort zone (less than 6 per cent) for most of the year, the central bank can take rate action to boost growth hit by sluggish consumption, opined experts.
Shares of state-owned bank stocks were under pressure on Monday due to muted deposit and credit growth numbers reported by these lenders in the October-December quarter (Q3) of 2024-25 (FY25). The Nifty PSU Bank index was down 4 per cent, with Union Bank of India emerging as the biggest loser as its shares fell 7.5 per cent to close at Rs 114.7, followed by a 5.7 per cent drop in shares of Bank of Baroda (BoB) to Rs 228 and a 4.7 per cent slide in shares of Bank of India to Rs 99.8 on the National Stock Exchange.
The next Census' findings will help identify the extent of India's ageing population and vulnerability levels.
Twenty-six entities, including the Tatas, Aditya Birla Group, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital and Religare, apart from India Post, applied. Videocon Group, later on withdrew its application.
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.
India added nearly 4.7 crore jobs during 2023-24, taking the total number of employed people to 64.33 crore spread over 27 sectors covering the entire economy, according to Reserve Bank data. The number of employed people was 59.67 crore at the end of March 2023, said the RBI's update on 'Measuring Productivity at the Industry Level-The India KLEMS [Capital (K), Labour (L), Energy (E), Material (M) and Services (S)] Database'.
India is likely to grow by 7.5 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year, driven by rising aggregate demand and non-food spending in the rural economy, according to an article in the RBI's May Bulletin released on Tuesday. The Indian economy has demonstrated marked resilience in the face of geopolitical headwinds impacting the supply chain, said an article on the state of the economy published in the May Bulletin.
Provisional RBI data for November-December show a steady increase in card usage.
Wholesale inflation rate declined marginally to 0.2 per cent in February compared to 0.27 per cent in the preceding month despite a slight uptick in the food basket. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was in the negative zone from April to October and had turned positive in November at 0.26 per cent. The inflation in February 2023 was 3.85 per cent.
The Budget should use the extra RBI surplus to better effect, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) nearly halved to $3.39 billion in April on an annual basis, as per data released by the RBI on Monday. The OFDI stood at $6.71 billion in April 2021. On sequential basis too, the outward investment from India in April was lower compared to $3.44 billion in March 2022.
The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation eased in January to 0.27 per cent, mainly due to moderation in prices of food items. WPI inflation was at 0.73 per cent in December 2023. The WPI inflation was in the negative zone from April to October and had turned positive in November at 0.39 per cent.
'The nominal GDP growth assumption for FY25 may be revised upwards on higher growth expectations.'
'Any finality in such matters requires political views. We will review it closer to the full Budget.'
As per the first advance estimates of national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday, the manufacturing sector output is estimated to grow to 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal compared to 1.3 per cent in 2022-23. Similarly, mining sector growth is estimated at 8.1 per cent in the current fiscal against 4.1 per cent in 2022-23.
The Indian economy is estimated to grow at 7 per cent in the 2022-23 fiscal, down from 8.7 per cent a year ago, mainly due poor performance of mining and manufacturing sectors. As per the first advance estimates of national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday, the manufacturing sector output is estimated to decelerate to 1.6 per cent in the current fiscal from 9.9 per cent in 2021-22. Similarly, mining sector growth is estimated at 2.4 per cent in the current fiscal as against 11.5 per cent in 2021-22.
During Abe's tenure, Japan had announced support for a number of major projects. These included the bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, besides allocations for a freight corridor between Mumbai and New Delhi.
Among the Sensex constituents, ICICI Bank was the biggest gainer with 11 per cent jump, followed by State Bank of India, which rose 8.04 per cent.
Kotak Bank was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, falling 3.71 per cent, followed by RIL, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC and ITC.
India's services exports in December stood at $12.87 billion, slightly higher from a month earlier, according to the Reserve Bank data released.
The Indian financial system's asset quality improved despite the pandemic, but it could be due to special dispensations by the regulator, and banks would likely see increased stress on their books once the schemes expire. According to the annual trend and progress report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released on Tuesday, the data available for this financial year so far indicate that banks' bad debts have moderated while provision coverage ratios (PCRs), capital buffers as well as profitability indicators have improved relative to pre-pandemic levels.
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended at 15,485.40 down 351.07 points or 2.2% and the 50-share Nifty ended at 4,646.35 down 100 points or 2.1%.
The Nifty ended (provisional) at 5,230 -- up 26 points. The BSE market breadth was positive. Out of 2,967 stocks traded, 2,087 advanced while 782 declined.
India's rupee is likely to remain under pressure due to high prices of crude oil and other commodities, and may stabilise at around 79-80 against the US dollar in the near term, say experts amid limited headroom available with the Reserve Bank to check the weakening of the domestic currency. The currency has slumped over 5 per cent this year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent international crude oil prices soaring to a decade high. On Monday, rupee ended at a fresh all-time low of 78.34 (provisional) against the US dollar.
The rupee plunged 58 paise to close at an all-time low of 81.67 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday as the strengthening of the American currency overseas and risk-averse sentiment among investors weighed on the local unit. Moreover, escalation of geopolitical risks due to conflict in Ukraine, a negative trend in domestic equities and significant foreign fund outflows sapped investor appetite, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 81.47, then fell further to close at an all-time low of 81.67 against the American currency, registering a decline of 58 paise over its previous close.
The provisional restructuring plan has been carried out by lenders, led by State Bank of India, under the Reserve Bank of India's February 12, 2018 circular.
Indian economy is projected to grow 7.1-7.6 per cent in the current financial year despite shifting geopolitical realities across the world, a report said on Wednesday. In its India's economic outlook - July 2022 report, leading consultancy Deloitte India said that as 2021 was coming to a close, there was optimism in the air but the optimism received a jolt early this year as a wave of Omicron infections swept through the country and Russia's invasion of Ukraine happened in February. "These events aggravated the pre-existing challenges such as surging inflation, supply shortages, and shifting geopolitical realities across the world with no definite end in sight.
Services exports in September this year were worth $12.29 billion, marginally down from the previous month, according to the Reserve Bank data.
Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging over 13 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, TCS, Kotak Bank and Reliance Industries. On the other hand, Nestle India, HUL, Tech Mahindra and Sun Pharma ended in the red. NSE Nifty zoomed 273.95 points, or 3.03 per cent, to finish at 9,266.75.
Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 5 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel. On the other hand, HUL, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, TCS and ITC were among the laggards.
BSE Sensex on Monday closed nearly 34 points higher at 26,350.17 with gains in realty, power, FMCG and oil & gas stocks amid sustained buying by domestic institutional investors.
Equity markets rallied after softer-than-expected inflation data in the US and UK rekindled hopes of the end of the rate-hiking cycle by major central banks. The soft inflation reading drove down bond yields and the US dollar, whetting the appetite for risky assets. The 10-year US bond yield fell below 4.5 per cent after topping 5 per cent less than a month ago.
Equities went into a tailspin on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank surprised the market with a mid-cycle rate hike in a bid to tame soaring inflation.
The Reserve Bank said overseas direct investments by Indian companies, including Bharti Airtel, totalled $2.37 billion in February, up about 30.25 per cent year-on-year.
RBI in its policy review last month kept interest rates unchanged and said it sees an upside risk to inflation.
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