The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday announced a fresh round of liquidity measures through open-market operations (OMOs) and a foreign exchange buy-sell swap, under which it will inject close to Rs 3 trillion into the banking system. The central bank said it would purchase Government of India securities worth Rs 2 trillion through OMOs, spread across four tranches of Rs 50,000 crore each to be conducted on December 29, January 5, January 12 and January 22.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to cut the repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.5% was contrary to the expectations of many economists. Firstly, most of the economists expected the MPC to cut the repo rate by 25 bps citing the weakening of inflation, prospects of economic growth, geopolitical uncertainty and comfortable system liquidity.
Even as the high inflation figure for October has ruled out any possibility of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) monetary policy committee (MPC) in December, a rate cut in February also looks uncertain due to global uncertainties. Economists told Business Standard that unless domestic growth slows markedly, the outlook on rate cut remains unclear. India's headline inflation touched a 14-month high of 6.2 per cent in October, breaching the MPC's upper tolerance band of 6 per cent.
After an extremely stable 2023, the Indian rupee started 2024 on a promising note and has turned out to be the best-performing Asian currency so far in January, appreciating 0.1 per cent despite 2 per cent rise in the dollar index. All other Asian currencies depreciated by around 1.4-4 per cent during the month. The local currency regained its ground against the greenback on the back of foreign portfolio inflows, said market participants.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) might relax the disclosure norms around rumour verification to help smooth implementation and ease compliance amid pushback from India Inc, said people in the know. The rule has been notified following amendments to the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) by Sebi. However, its implementation has been deferred until February.
Despite the narrowing spread of yields between the benchmark 10-year Indian government bond and the 10-year US Treasury bond, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are continuing to invest in the domestic debt market this year -- a trend backed by a stable currency and a less volatile bond market. FPIs have been net buyers in the debt market in 2023 so far, marking the first time since 2019. The yield spread between the 10-year Indian government bond and the 10-year US Treasury note stood at 3.14 per cent on August 8 - the narrowest in over a decade.
CAD, which is the difference between outflow and inflow of foreign currency, touched a historic high of 6.7 per cent in the third quarter.
After the initial euphoria, there is a growing concern as inflation goes down to less than a quarter from its 13-year high of 12.91 last August and seems headed towards zero and sub-zero levels beyond this month.
The inflation in vegetables remained stubborn, which jumped 16.91 per cent
Spiralling prices pinched the pocket of consumer as edible oil, fuel and many other commodities turned dearer this year amid pandemic-induced disruptions but the inflationary pressure is anticipated to ease, though marginally, in the coming months. As consumers, at retail as well as wholesale levels, are willy-nilly learning to live with the new normal of curbs to contain the spread of coronavirus infections, experts are of the view that elevated inflation is likely to stay longer. After dealing with the devastating blows from the second COVID wave, especially during the April-June period, the economy is well on the revival path but the emergence of Omicron might unsettle the recovery trajectory in the short term.
Experts disagree with the idea and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has the sole right to print money, is not comfortable with it as well.
Economists caution that the underlying cause could be an alarming drop in demand -- something that's not good for economic growth.
The rupee has depreciated 10.5 per cent against the dollar this year, making it Asia's worst-performing currency.
The main reason was that CPI inflation would likely remain below 4 per cent till July.
Last week, the Consumer Price Index-based inflation for the month had contracted to 4.4 per cent.
A rising rupee is a tailwind for dollar investors.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to keep policy rates unchanged at a six-weekly rate review on Tuesday, ending a year-long cutting cycle as it focuses instead on underpinning the plunging currency.
Within hours of rate cut announced by RBI, United Bank has reduced the benchmark lending rate by 0.25 per cent, while other banks including market leader SBI have indicated that they would follow suit.
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As many as nine respondents said RBI would hold the repo rate at 8% till March-end, 2015
Voting for the 2014 general elections will begin in April and it is expected Budget 2014-15 will be presented in June.
After fighting inflation for more than two years, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao finally managed to bring it below the five per cent level - the tolerance level of the central bank - in FY14.
Official GDP data for the second quarter of the current fiscal year ending March are due to for release this Friday.
The central bank has, so far, cut its repo rate by 125 bps.
The Survey shows fiscal consolidation despite slowdown in growth.
RBI is expected to discuss about the impact of GST in its monetary policy.
2013 foreign currency non-resident deposits to mature in Sep-Nov
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