Since Sanjay Malhotra took office as governor in December, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has adopted a more accommodative stance, which bodes well for banking and the economy as they navigate a growth slowdown, according to analysts.
Towards the end of February, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restored the risk weighting on banks loans to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs; including to microfinance institutions, or MFIs) to 100 - back to its November 2023 position - from 125. It is only a partial relief though. "Higher risk weighting on unsecured lending continues to be in place while the same on bank funding to NBFCs has been done away with. "This is a positive step by RBI," says Rajiv Sabharwal, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Tata Capital.
Mint Road, on December 21, 2023, flagged the role of self-regulatory organisations (SROs) in strengthening the compliance culture in regulated entities (REs) and providing a consultative platform for policymaking. It also decided to issue an omnibus framework for SROs.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (IPRU) disappointed the market even though some analysts said the Q3FY25 results were in line. Most analysts cut margin estimates. The insurer reported M9FY25 growth of 8.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in value of new business (VNB) premium to Rs 1,575 crore, while total annual premium equivalent (APE) grew 27.2 per cent to Rs 6,910 crore.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
A Rs 525-crore contingency provision during the July-September period led to a 19 per cent fall in IndusInd Bank's share price on Friday (October 25). Contingency provisions are generally made when a lender expects more bad loans in the coming quarters. Shares of the bank on Tuesday (October 29) declined 1.53 per cent to settle at Rs 1,038.2 apiece on the BSE.
'The Casa ratio is at 33.4 per cent, which has to keep improving. Right now, there is a bit of liquidity pressure in the market.'
There is an inevitable good fallout from the government's recent proposal to limit the interest rate levied by large microfinance institutions getting priority sector loans from banks.
The government on Friday doubled the limit of Mudra loan amount under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh under a new 'Tarun Plus' category to promote entrepreneurship in the country.
In the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held forth on the need for better governance and investor protection in the banking sector. She had proposed certain amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBI Act), 1934; the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949; and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
A sea change sweeping the sector, signalling it has come of age. As much as this is a cause for celebration, it is also necessary to ask if all is well with the sector, which way it is going and, most importantly, which way it ought to go, says Subir Roy.
New players show up after 3 years; northern states take lead in loan growth.
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday decided to keep the policy rate unchanged for the tenth time in a row but changed its stance to 'neutral' that may lead to a cut in the forthcoming policies. RBI maintained status quo despite the US Federal Reserve lowering the benchmark rates by 50 basis points last month.
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank's initial public offering attracted heavy investor demand on the final day of bidding on Wednesday as the issue was subscribed a whopping 126.36 times.
The sharp pullback in mid and smallcap stocks signals a cooling-off period in segments that previously attracted considerable investor interest.
The company has appointed P H Ravi Kumar, independent director, as the interim non-executive chairman.
New regulations by the Reserve Bank of India on microfinance have prompted MFIs to go for a makeover.
'I think today RBI supervision is much sharper than what it was earlier.'
One of the hurdles for MFIs towards becoming banks is an unsecured loan portfolio.
Credit card spending in September recorded strong growth of 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), marking the highest increase in six months. Even as many banks saw higher slippages during the July-September quarter of 2024-25, spending growth exceeded 20 per cent for the first time since February. According to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), September spending reached Rs 1.76 trillion, compared to Rs 1.42 trillion in the same period a year ago. In August 2024, credit card spending was Rs 1.68 trillion.
'We have seen something do very well when the times are good but maybe not as well when the times are bad.'
Professor Yunus is in New York, accompanied by young Bangladeshis who led the student uprising against Hasina, and the bon homie he shared with two US presidents, current and past, will add masala to the conspiracy theorists.
A society that intends to use microfinance as an effective tool for poverty eradication must create a socio-legal framework that addresses the peculiar circumstances in which beneficiaries operate, Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus said. Yunus was speaking at an event organised on the occasion of his being conferred the 'Person of The Year' award instituted this year by the media group, Sakaal.
The new regulations by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on microfinance have prompted MFIs to go for a makeover, in order to cope with the new limitations imposed on them.
Indian microfinance has continued growing rapidly towards the main objective of financial inclusion, extending outreach to a growing share of poor households and to the approximately 80 per cent of the population, which has yet to be reached directly by the banks.
MFIs, with their eye on the present, often do not consider that once the claims start and the insurance company realises that it is not making money, the future of the products themselves may be in jeopardy.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) State of the Economy report for October acknowledged a slowdown in some high-frequency indicators but expressed confidence in a recovery, aided by consumption demand during the festival season. "In India, aggregate demand is poised to shrug off the temporary slowdown in momentum in the second quarter of 2024-25 as festival demand picks up pace and consumer confidence improves," said the report released on Monday.
With these four, the strength of the members -- all equivalent to ministers -- in the interim government's advisory council rose to 21.
Akula may be much celebrated, but he is not alone. There are dozens of MFI success stories, all of whom have surfaced over the last five-seven years, with a common mandate to "eradicate poverty", profitably. With a turnaround time for MFIs at one or two years, competition among the top few MFIs is intensifying to attract equity investments. Interestingly, with barely 15 per cent of rural households currently MFI borrowers, there is sufficient leeway for growth.
Trumponomics, poor growth, and high valuation certainly don't make a bullish recipe for Indian markets, warns Debashis Basu.
He said the transformation brought about by the fintech sector in India is not just limited to technology, but its social impact is far-reaching. He also stressed that fintech has dented the parallel economy and is bridging the gap between villages and cities on the financial services front. The prime minister also said that in the last 10 years, the fintech space has attracted investments of more than $31 billion and fintech startups have grown by 500 per cent.
In its first ever list of World's Top 50 Microfinance Institutions, the US business magazine has named Bangalore-based Bandhan at the second position.
The origin of the challenge is the so-called "fresh start" process. Many in the MFI industry apprehend that such a law in India will encourage small unsecured borrowers to default and destroy the credit culture. So, while'Fresh start' is a welcome step as it will free up the debtors from the archaic laws of the colonial era, debtors need handholding and counselling to prevent any misuse, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Maxwealth Trust provides around Rs 6000 to each individual, which is repayable at Rs 125 a week.
Corporate bond issuances fell by around 22 per cent in August, despite easing yields as issuers delayed raising funds awaiting the US Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates from this month. Corporates and financial institutions expect yields to fall further and borrowing costs to become cheaper, said market participants. The US Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 bps in the 17-18 September meeting, marking the start of a downward interest rate cycle.
Besides, two new entities-- IDFC and Bandhan -- have been given full-fledged banking licence.
Life has come full circle for Nobel laureate Professor Mohammad Yunus, who faced persecution during Sheikh Hasina's regime for embezzlement, is now all set to head of the interim government in Bangladesh after she resigned and fled the country.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced the doubling of the upper limit of Mudra loans to Rs 20 lakh to promote entrepreneurship in the country. "The limit of Mudra loans will be enhanced to Rs 20 lakh from the current Rs 10 lakh for those entrepreneurs who have availed and successfully repaid previous loans under the 'Tarun category', she said while presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha.
Race for Asia's No. 1 MFI spot: Bandhan now closes in on Grameen Bank
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