Of the eight RBI governors who have held office since the 1991 economic liberalisation, Bimal Jalan had the longest stint and S Venkitaramanan, the shortest. Current Governor Shaktikanta Das will overtake Bimal Jalan before completing his second term in December, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The UK government announced on Monday that it has facilitated London-based banking major HSBC to buy the embattled UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank for 1 pound, securing the deposits of more than 3,000 customers worth around 6.7 billion pounds. Santa Clara, California-based Silicon Valley Bank - which specialised in lending to technology companies - was shut down by US regulators on Friday in what was the largest failure of a US bank since 2008. According to experts, although the UK arm of SVB was small with only around 3,000 business customers, its collapse would have presented a risk for the tech sector which is seen as crucial to Britain's economic growth.
US President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs and a travel ban on Colombia after the South American nation refused to accept two American military planes deporting undocumented Colombians. The move comes after President Trump announced mass deportations of illegal immigrants and warned countries of consequences if they refuse to accept them. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in a post on X, said that the US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals and denied the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into Colombian territory. Trump responded by imposing a 25% tariff on all goods coming into the US, a travel ban and immediate visa revocations on Colombian government officials, and visa sanctions on all party members, family members and supporters of the Colombian government. The US also announced enhanced customs and border protection inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo on national security grounds. In retaliation, Colombia announced a 25% import tariff on American products.
The most striking features of this Budget was its focus on simplification and improving the ease of doing business in India, asserts Kaku Nakhate.
In the context of market integrity, the IRAI and RBI should go over the minutes of the LIC and SBI board meetings when the decisions to invest in Adani equity or debt were taken, notes Jaimini Bhagwati, former World Bank treasury professional.
Apart from the emotional value attached to buying gold, the yellow metal offers protection against inflation, interest rate spikes, currency and geopolitical risks, says Anamika Pareek.
We the people are left in the wind, waiting on the whims of an unengaged president and an oligarch with a nearly bottomless wallet, observes Sree Sreenivasan.
This licence will further enhance the niche role Doha Bank is playing and facilitating the movement of trade between Qatar and India.
The Tata Group is one of the very few Indian MNCs which has carved out a niche in China's highly competitive market, notes Rup Narayan Das.
Those who consider the rupee as a proxy for virility have started thumping their chests and dreaming of dethroning the dollar from its coveted position, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The difference between what the banks play in the US and India is not that of soccer and football but rugby and football. SVB also has a unique character. But when risks are mispriced, the fallout could be very similar, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
There was no smooth surge in middle class prosperity for foreign businesses to tap into because of the Indian economy was mismanaged, argues Debashis Basu.
A delegation of high-level executives from US public pension funds (non-profit and government sectors) is visiting India next week to assess and familiarise themselves with the investment opportunities in the country. These executives belong to various American states and cumulatively represent $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) invested across the US and global markets. The United States (US) mission to India, which includes its embassy and consulates and the Department of Treasury, along with India's Ministry of Finance and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), is hosting the delegation.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das kept the red flag on cryptocurrencies flying, warning that the next financial crisis can be triggered by private cryptocurrencies if such speculative instruments are allowed to grow.
'One way of doing this could be offering credit guarantee to the banks, say 10 per cent, for fresh loans given to micro, small and medium enterprises,' observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
It is high time the Indian government signalled discomfort with the UK providing refuge to those accused of financial crimes in India, states Jaimini Bhagwati.
Commenting that running a country is not a play for those born with a golden spoon, Modi said, "They have gone from Amethi and will go even from Rae Bareli."
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.
Leading bourses BSE and NSE and money markets will remain closed on Thursday on account of Eid al-Adha also known as Bakrid. Earlier, the holiday was scheduled for June 28. The markets are now open on Wednesday. The change came after the Maharashtra government declared June 29 a public holiday as the festival of Bakrid falls on this day instead of June 28 declared earlier.
These sweeping financial sanctions follow the action earlier this week to cut off Russia's frozen funds in the United States to make debt payments.
The Indian rupee, which has depreciated 1.1 per cent so far in August, is expected to decline further on the back of a strengthening US dollar and a weakening Chinese yuan, according to a Business Standard poll of analysts. The Indian rupee hit an all-time low recently, closing at 83.15 per dollar. Five of the 10 respondents said the Indian currency might touch 83.5 per dollar in August itself, while others said the worst could be over.
Gold is an excellent asset class for diversification and should be included in all long-term portfolios.
A key reason for the rise in crypto currencies in 2023 is the possibility of the world's first Bitcoin ETF over the next few months.
Let's take a look at countries holding biggest stake in United States's Treasury securities.
In the new decade, the scene will change because the banks till recently had been challenged by the fintechs, but the techfins have now entered the arena, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Many in the US establishment must hope that the crisis would put the brakes on China's growing military might. Well, it ain't gonna happen, says T T Ram Mohan, who was appointed a member of the prime minister's economic advisory council on Wednesday, October 28, 2021.
India and the US on Thursday said they are looking forward to the reconvening of the India-US Trade Policy Forum later this year to further enhance trade relationship and identify new areas for engagement.
Modi had also said recently that there is a need to administer "bitter medicine" to revive the ailing economy.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday highlighted "significant reforms" undertaken by the government including National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) and National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) as she met institutional investors in Boston. Sitharaman arrived in the US on Monday for a week-long trip to attend the annual meet of the World Bank and IMF in Washingon as well as G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting. During the official visit to the US, Sitharaman is expected to meet US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The venture is seen as a rival to the World Bank.
China's intended role for AIIB is not so different from the existing Western lenders like the World Bank.
As many as 40 staffers, in the key equities and investment banking division in India, could be asked to go as part of the London-headquartered lender's global layoffs, said people aware of the development. HSBC India declined to comment.
Fifty per cent of bank restructured assets were in infrastructure, steel, power and telecom sectors.
Don't be surprised if growth in the second half of the financial year drops below 4%, which is where it was in the year before the pandemic, warns T N Ninan.
Bankers need to take a call on whether they will allow technology firms to run banks or banks themselves will turn into tech firms, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The benchmark BSE Sensex and Nifty closed marginally higher in a volatile trade on Tuesday as gains in FMCG, power and energy stocks helped the indices extend gains for a fifth straight day. The 30-share BSE benchmark ended 20.86 points or 0.04 per cent higher at 58,136.36 with 16 of its constituents ending in the red. During the day, it hit a high of 58,328.41 and a low of 57,744.70.
'Rhetoric and chest-thumping are running high on India's recent growth record.'
'But will the giant waves developing elsewhere allow us to sail smoothly into fair winds?' asks Debashis Basu.
With huge accumulated foreign exchange reserves at their disposal, developing countries, mainly India, China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico, are giving invaluable reverse aid to the United States, although it is not counted as aid.
Expect heightened volatility and stress to hit the markets. Caution may be the need of the hour, alerts Akash Prakash.
The evolving RBI-government relationship, a reversal in the interest rate cycle and return to profitability will dominate bankers' conversation this year, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
