Accused's greatest lure is its queer couple at the centre of storm but by sidestepping their camaraderie for polite affection, the drama does itself immense disservice, observes Sukanya Verma.
The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India will work together to ensure price stability and benign interest rates in the economy, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Saturday.
Ahead of RBI policy meet, India Ratings said an interest rate hike of 0.50 per cent in the remaining part of the fiscal will throw the BSE 500 companies into a quandary.
'We believe the truth is in the middle, and that India is at an important crossroads.'
While the RBI deregulated interest rates on fixed deposit schemes in 1997, it continues to fix the rate on savings deposits.
'The day that the market realises that they've overspent (on AI) and there's a sudden collapse in the capex, then India can start outperforming again.'
Nearly two-thirds of external commercial borrowings (ECBs) raised so far in the ongoing financial year (2025-26/FY26) have been routed through Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a sharp jump from the 36 per cent recorded in 2024-25.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday increased the benchmark lending rate by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40 per cent in a bid to contain inflation, which has remained stubbornly above the target zone of 6 per cent for the last three months. The decision follows an unscheduled meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), with all six members unanimously voting for a rate hike while maintaining the accommodative stance. While the inflation has remained above the targetted 6 per cent since January, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the inflation print in April is also likely to be high.
Given the macro setting, the outlook remains positive for each of the four key parameters - inflation, current account deficit, fiscal deficit and currency stability, says Rahul Bhushkute.
India has managed high government debt-to-GDP, a slowing domestic revenue engine, lower household savings and a more hostile geopolitical environment separately in the past. But together, they threaten to undo the growth narrative on which today's optimism rests, warns Debashis Basu.
Foreign portfolio investors sold stocks worth Rs 1.42 trillion in 2025, with their sales hitting Rs 12,257 crore in the first four trading days of September.
Retail inflation inched up to 0.71 per cent in November on rising prices of vegetables, protein-rich items, and fuel, government data showed on Friday. The consumer price index (CPI)-based retail inflation had fallen to a record low of 0.25 per cent in October, mainly due to lower prices helped by GST rate cuts and a favourable base.
An interest rate cut, at a time when demand was not showing any sign of revival, would boost sentiments, especially for interest-rate sensitives like the car and real estate sectors, which had been showing negative growth, a majority of the 15 CEOs polled by Business Standard said.
Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao said the rapid expansion of the government borrowing programme was coming in the way of the central bank's monetary policy objective of a lower interest rate regime and called for more independence for the central bank.
Israel has for more than two decades and several US presidencies worked to draw the United States into a full-scale war with Iran. Having finally achieved that, the last thing it wants is Trump declaring victory and going home, as he is prone to do. Ali Larijani was the figure most capable of handing Trump a negotiated exit with something to show for it. Without Larijani, the road to an exit gets considerably narrower. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
After a big loss, teams often give excuses instead of honestly admitting they played badly.
While inflation dropped to 0.44 per cent for the week ended March 7, the BPLR of the top five Indian banks was in the range of 12.25-16.75 per cent. In the corresponding period last year, inflation was estimated at 7.78 per cent, while lending rates were in the range of 12.25-12.75 per cent. Real interest rate is the difference between WPI-based inflation and the prevailing benchmark prime lending rate.
Bankers on Tuesday said interest rates have bottomed out in the second quarter and rates may start rising in the coming months in line with a pick-up in credit off take, expected on the back of a revival in the economy.
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.
Karnataka Chief Minister announces a ban on social media for children under 16 and increased measures to prevent drug abuse in schools, colleges, and universities, alongside investments in education infrastructure and mental health support.
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 minister said she has already taken up the matter with the Finance Ministry.
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.
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.
Realme P4 Power 5G Debuts in India with record-breaking 10001 mAh Titan battery, 1.5K AMOLED screen and Dimensity 7400 Ultra Chipset
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded sharply by nearly 1 per cent on Monday, driven by strong buying in power, banking, and financial stocks.
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.
Will the government now push to move away from what Mr Rajan has been doing in the last few years?
Economists are of the opinion that interest rates are likely to remain stable or moderate this year.
'My concern is that, although everything is expressed in monetary terms, you are effectively combining values that have been adjusted using different price measures.'
A Kerala court has awarded damages of Rs five lakh to a retired army officer for malicious prosecution by the police.
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.
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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.
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