Pointing out that inflation rate is a little beyond comfort zone, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council said the current situation is not favourable for a cut in interest rates. The inflation rate stood at 5.11 per cent for the week ended March 1. For the second week in a row that the rate was over 5%. The RBI aims to limit average rate of inflation for the current fiscal at 5 per cent. When the inflation rate is rising, it is always critical to bring down the rates.
The Union finance ministry on Thursday said the falling inflation rate would result in further lowering of interest rates. "The trend is clear for falling inflation and this will translate into lower interest rates," Economic Affairs Secretary in the Finance Ministry Ashok Chawla said while commenting on the inflation data.
The Great Shamsuddin Family is a seemingly light chamber piece that hides its claws of social commentary under the chirpy banter of an apartment full of women, observes Deepa Gahlot.
The minister said she has already taken up the matter with the Finance Ministry.
Private banks may lower deposit rates. The Reserve Bank of India on Friday prodded banks to reduce interest rates after the monetary policy measures announced by it over the last five months have failed to result in lower cost of funds for the economy.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Wednesday allayed fears over significant hardening of interest rates in view of the high government borrowings, pegged at around Rs 4.5 lakh crore (Rs 4.5 trillion) this fiscal.
Banks have not cut rates yet as March is typically a busy season.
'Economic activity appears to have peaked in the second quarter of FY26, with industrial output, exports, and business confidence all softening from October 2025.'
Economists are of the opinion that interest rates are likely to remain stable or moderate this year.
Will the government now push to move away from what Mr Rajan has been doing in the last few years?
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent and decided to continue with its accommodative stance against the backdrop of concerns over the emergence of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.
Soon after RBI's decision, three banks namely Yes Bank, HDFC Bank and Union Bank reduced the benchmark prime lending rate by 50 basis point each. SBI had last month slashed benchmark prime lending rate by 75 basis points to 13 per cent.
Kiaan Shetty loves Kurukshetra so much that he recommends it to his friends too.
The bank said that it has retained interest rate on savings bank deposit at 3 per cent for customers with balances above Rs 100,000. Customers with SB balance up to Rs 100,000 will continue to get the rate of interest at 3.50 per cent despite cut in the repo rate by the RBI earlier this month.
The EPF Board on Saturday once again deferred decision on the contentious issue of interest rate for its four crore subscribers till the next meeting to facilitate more consultations between the Labour and Finance ministries.
Two days after the repo rate cut, the Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan on Monday said the soft interest rate bias will continue.
Enthused by government's commitment to act proactively and ensure more liquidity to promote economic growth, ICICI Bank managing director K V Kamath on Monday promised to review interest rate in the next few days.
While inflation has stayed in the negative territory for past several weeks, analysts are wondering whether the interest rates have bottomed out with signs of economic recovery.
The soft interest rate regime is now over with the rates on government securities likely to harden for at least two years, economic think tank Institute of Economic Growth has said.
Food inflation came down to 10.35 per cent in the first week of August from over 20 per cent late last year.
As if any proof was needed, the spate of Cash Reserve Ratio hikes clearly underlines the Reserve Bank of India's intention to clamp down on inflation before the situation deteriorates any further.
The boards of three PSU banks - Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Andhra Bank met in deference to the Finance Ministry's insistence, but quite unexpectedly they did not roll back the rate hikes announced last week.
United Bank of India on Friday said it had decided to bring down interest rates on domestic term deposits of various tenures by 25 to 50 basis points with effect from Saturday.
Aiden Markram and Mitchell Santner's individual performances could potentially decide the outcome of the T20 World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Monetary policy easing, coupled with the relaxation of lending rules and greater election-driven fiscal spending in the first quarter of 2019, will provide some support to growth during the first half of 2019-20 fiscal
'The next phase of India's IPO cycle will be defined by quality, pricing discipline and investor selectivity.'
ABN Amro Bank on Tuesday said it does not see any imminent upward pressure on interest rates because of stable inflation rate and enough liquidity in the market.
Jaitley said if interest rates were lowered, the economy could grow faster than 7-7.5 per cent.
Ahead of its mid-quarterly policy review, the Reserve Bank today hinted at cut in interest rates, saying moderation in inflation due to lower economic growth and cooling global oil prices provide room for easing monetary policy.
Warning banks on interest rates risks, high transaction costs and NPAs, ICRA said Indian banks are yet to attain global standard in profitability and productivity despite posting over 40% growth in net profit in the first half of this fiscal.
A neutral monetary policy stance, heavy government borrowing, and issuers adjusting to a higher-for-longer yield environment have set the stage for a largely stable corporate bond market in 2026.
Pranab Mukherjee has projected government borrowings of Rs 4.51 lakh crore for the current fiscal.
The banking regulator is scheduled to come out with its monetary policy for FY 09 on April 29. "We will wait for the (RBI's) policy statement before taking any decision on our interest rates," ICICI Bank Managing Director & CEO K V Kamath told reporters on the sidelines of an Indian Merchants Chamber-organised press conference in Mumbai on Thursday. Interest rate decisions would also be influenced by prevailing market conditions, Kamath said.
Retirement fund body EPFO on Thursday lowered the interest rate on Provident Fund deposits to 8.5 per cent for the current financial year, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said on Thursday.
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