The Reserve Bank (RBI) resisted a 'raid' planned by some in the government to extract Rs 2-3 lakh crore from its balance sheet in 2018 to meet populist spending in run-up to general elections, Viral Acharya, who was deputy governor at RBI at that time, has written.
RBI interest rate decision, macroeconomic data and global trends would guide markets' movement this week, analysts said. Besides, trading activity of foreign investors and the last batch of Q1 earnings announcements would also guide trends in equities. HSBC PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) for the services sector is scheduled to be announced on Monday.
While SGBs are a sound investment, they aren't worth buying at any price. The interest income you earn from them will not justify paying a high premium.
Amid a debate on the basis of a monetary policy stance, one may be curious enough to know how non-food retail inflation has behaved over the years in India. Let the eager souls catch a glimpse of facts. In the past 10 years, non-food inflation came down below 4 per cent on two occasions - pre-Covid period of 2019-20 and now in the first four months of the current financial year (FY25).
The Reserve Bank of India has rejected three applications, including that of West End Housing Finance, for setting up small finance banks. These applications were found not suitable for granting of in-principle approval to set up small finance banks, it said in a statement on Tuesday. RBI had received about a dozen applications to set up banks under the guidelines for 'on tap' Licensing of Universal Banks and Small Finance Banks (SFBs).
India's forex reserves rose by $223 million to a new all-time high of $689.46 billion for the week ended on September 13, according to the Reserve Bank data released on Friday. The overall forex kitty had jumped by $5.25 billion to a high of $689.24 billion for the previous reporting week ended on September 6.
The Reserve Bank on Thursday instructed banks and other financial institutions to ensure cross-border as well as domestic wire transfers contain complete information about the originator and beneficiary. The central bank has updated instructions in the Master Direction on Know Your Customer (KYC) related to wire transfers and also aligned the same with the relevant recommendation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). "All cross-border wire transfers shall be accompanied by accurate, complete, and meaningful originator and beneficiary information...," as per the updated instructions in the Master Direction.
Better protection for depositors and investors was one of the chief considerations in Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introducing, on Friday, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the Lok Sabha to amend four pieces of legislation. This amendment is also to improve audit quality in public-sector banks (PSBs), offer consistency in reporting by banks to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and provide for an increase in the tenure of directors in cooperative banks.
While Paytm (One97 Communications) is not completely past regulatory hurdles, its share price has gained in the last month or two. The Paytm handle migration is complete along with FDI clearance necessary for the Payment Aggregator (PA) license. UPI consumer data indicates stable market share, and expansion in partner networks in financial distribution. All this implies Paytm could be set to meet guidance of turning Adjusted Ebitda breakeven by Q4FY25 (ex of UPI-incentives).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said 97.87 per cent of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes have returned to the banking system, and only Rs 7,581 crore worth of the withdrawn notes are still with the public. On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation. The total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation, which was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, has declined to Rs 7,581 crore at the close of business on June 28, 2024.
'In the case of corporate credit, especially to AAA borrowers, lenders will have to take a fresh look at pricing.'
State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest lender, is looking to raise Rs 10,000 crore through 15-year infrastructure bonds as early as next week, said multiple sources aware of the development. Market participants expect a coupon in the range of 7.15-7.18 per cent for SBI's upcoming infrastructure bond issuance. This comes as demand for longer-tenor papers has remained strong in recent domestic capital market offerings.
'So, we would work with our members to ensure that we as an SRO create some sort of due diligence for fintechs.'
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will maintain the policy repo rate at 6.5 per cent during its upcoming June 8 announcement, considering the easing of retail inflation in April and the potential for further decline, indicating the effectiveness of previous policy rate actions, anticipate experts. Headed by Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das, a meeting of the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled for June 6-8. The decision of the 43rd meeting of the MPC would be announced on Thursday, June 8.
India's forex reserves jumped $5.25 billion to a new all-time high of $689.24 billion for the week ended September 6, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday. The overall kitty had jumped by $2.3 billion to a record $683.99 billion for the previous reporting week.
To provide more choices to customers, the Reserve Bank of India has suggested mandating bank and non-bank card issuers to issue debt, credit and prepaid cards on more than one network. Customers can choose any one either at the time of issue of the card or anytime later, according to draft norms released by the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday. The RBI said card issuers would also be barred from signing agreements that limit their ability to tie-up with other card-networks, according to the draft.
India's forex reserves jumped by $2.3 billion to a new high of $683.99 billion for the week ended on August 30, according to the RBI data release on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the forex reserves had jumped by $7.02 billion to a high of $681.69 billion.
The Rs 6,560-crore initial public offer of Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd received 63.60 times subscription on September 11, the last day of bidding, amid overwhelming participation from institutional buyers. The initial share sale had a price band for the offer at Rs 66-70 per share.
The police said that the threat email was sent from the accused, Mohammed Arshil's ID.
From the 30 Sensex pack, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Titan, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance were the biggest laggards. JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies and Reliance Industries were among the gainers from the pack.
To minimise risk, invest in a debt fund whose duration matches your investment timeframe.
At a time when the government is nudging the private sector to ramp up its capital expenditure (capex), the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is poised to kick-start the first-of-its-kind annual survey on the status of private sector capex from next month. "The inaugural edition of the annual exercise will start in October and will be completed by December. "The results will be made public by February next year," said Geeta Singh Rathore, director general, National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), at a data users' conference on Thursday.
Days before Diwali, the monthly economic review by the finance ministry has highlighted moderation in urban demand, softening consumer sentiments and limited footfall as areas that need to be watched. In its review, released on Monday, the ministry also noted the early signs of artificial intelligence displacing workers, as described in anecdotal reports. The commentary from several large consumer goods companies, including Nestl India, Hindustan Unilever, and ITC, in their recent quarterly earnings, has been around a sluggish urban demand. Rural consumption, however, has mostly seen a revival, the companies pointed out.
Indian economy is gathering momentum in the second quarter, though inflation would continue to average above the central bank's comfort zone of 6 per cent, said an article in the RBI's monthly bulletin released on Thursday. The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation shot up significantly to 7.44 per cent in July, from 4.87 per cent in the preceding month, mainly due to soaring prices of tomato, vegetables and other food items. In his address to the nation on the Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to take more steps to contain price rise.
Global brokerage firm CLSA has reversed its early tactical shift from Indian equities to Chinese stocks, and has decided to raise India allocation while cutting exposure to China. In its report titled 'Pouncing Tiger, Prevaricating Dragon', CLSA cited challenges facing Chinese markets in the aftermath of Donald Trump's victory in the US elections as the reason for the move. "Misfortune can happen in threes. So it has played out for Chinese equities over the past week.
The net credit card additions in the banking sector nearly halved to 2 million in the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY25) from the previous quarter due to seasonal and regulatory factors. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, the net credit card additions during the April-June quarter of FY25 stood at 2 million, 48 per cent lower than 3.9 million in the December-March quarter of FY24.
India's forex reserves jumped by $9.7 billion to an all-time high of $666.85 billion for the week ended July 12, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the kitty had increased by $5.16 billion to $657.16 billion, surpassing the previous high of $655.82 billion for the week ended June 7.
In a falling market, the value of your investment keeps going down. However, the reduction in value is purely a notional loss if you remain invested. When you redeem in a falling market, the notional loss becomes a permanent loss, explains Anamika Pareek.
Wholesale inflation fell to a 4-month low of 1.31 per cent in August due to a decline in prices of vegetables and fuel, even though onion and potato prices spiked, according to official data released on Tuesday. Wholesale price index-based inflation fell for the second straight month in August after it hit a high of 3.43 per cent in May. Inflation in July was 2.04 per cent. In August last year, WPI inflation was (-) 0.46 per cent.
Against the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) projection of 7.1 per cent, India's first quarter (Q1) 2024-25 (FY25) gross domestic product (GDP) growth came in at 6.7 per cent. This is in line with market expectations and significantly lower than the 7.8 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2023-24 (FY24) and 8.2 per cent in Q1FY24. The quarter witnessed decreased government consumption and investment spending due to the parliamentary election.
In addition to interest rates, review the fine print for penalties and repayment terms, and select a reputable lender to avoid harsh recovery practices.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the decision to tweak policy rates was not in his hand as he himself is driven by the situation on the ground. In April, the Reserve Bank in a surprise move hit the pause button and decided to keep the key benchmark policy rate at 6.5 per cent. Prior to it, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was on a rate hiking spree, raising the repo rate by 250 basis points since May 2022.
Banks reported muted treasury gains during April-June of FY25 (Q1FY25) following Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) revised norms on investment portfolio effective from April 1, 2024, despite softening of government bond yields. "Banks have reported muted treasury gains during Q1 of FY25 despite softening of yields across the curve. "The main reason was change in the investment valuation and classification guidelines by the RBI.
Wholesale inflation fell to a 3-month low of 2.04 per cent in July on decline in prices of food items especially vegetables, government data released on Wednesday showed. The decline in wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation in July came after it rose for four months in a row till June, when it was 3.36 per cent. It was (-) 1.23 per cent in July last year. In April wholesale inflation stood at 1.19 per cent.
From the Sensex pack, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Steel, HCL Technologies, Sun Pharma, Nestle, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and ITC were the major laggards. Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Titan and ICICI Bank were among the major gainers.
The rise in consumer price index (CPI) inflation could see the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in an extended pause mode as regards interest rates, and in turn, keep the market rally in check, believe analysts. Signs of inflation cooling off in the US, however, is likely to provide some cushion as the expectations of a change in stance by the US Fed as regards interest rates is likely to aid sentiment. Back home, CPI inflation surged for the first time in five months to 4.81 per cent in June 2023, and was higher than the street's expectations of 4.58 per cent.
The speed at which he led the central bank in different areas -- ranging from internal reorganisation to inflation fighting, stabilising the currency, taking on rogue corporations, cleaning up bank balance sheets, and opening the sector -- makes one believe that Rajan knew he had only three years to do his job. A fascinating excerpt from Tamal Bandyopadhyay's MUST-READ Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) may extend the deadline to whitelist URLs (Uniform Resource Locators), APKs (Android Package Kit), or OTT (Over The Top) links - through which it intends to curb their misuse -is likely to be extended by 30 days as only over 3,000 registered senders (businesses) have complied, officials indicated. According to Trai officials, over 3,000 registered senders have whitelisted more than 70,000 links, but many more (thousands of others) are yet to comply with the directive as the mandatory norms are set to come into effect from October 1.
Seventeen persons, including four hailing from Taiwan, were arrested by Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch for allegedly operating a nationwide 'digital arrest' racket, a Gujarat police official said on Monday.
India's forex reserves jumped $5.16 billion to $657.16 billion during the week ended July 5, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday. The forex kitty had declined for the previous two consecutive weeks, dropping $1.71 billion to $652 billion for the week ended June 28. The reserves had touched an all-time high of $655.82 billion as on June 7 this year.