Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty pared early gains to settle lower on Wednesday due to late selling in index major Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC Bank even as the RBI took the first step towards a rate cut in its monetary policy review. Erasing its early gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 167.71 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 81,467.1. During the day, it surged 684.4 points or 0.83 per cent to hit an intra-day high of 82,319.21.
There's only a slim chance of a substantial drop.
The need for money among banks, especially for short-term funds, may turn more intense in the last month of the financial year to feed the demand for capital for tax payments and meet year-end targets. The mobilisation of funds via the certificate of deposits (CDs) has seen a threefold increase to over Rs 60,000 crore in the fortnight that ended February 23 from around Rs 20,000 crore in the fortnight of January 26, 2024, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.
High frequency indicators, like vehicles sales, air traffic, steel consumption and GST E-way bills, point towards a sequential pickup in momentum of economic activity during the second half of the fiscal 2024-25 and sustain moving forward, RBI Bulletin said on Wednesday. However, a strong dollar, driven by US economic resilience and trade policy pivots, could exacerbate capital outflows from emerging economies, push risk premiums higher, and intensify external vulnerabilities, said an article on 'State of the Economy' published in RBI's February bulletin.
SBI is the third state-run lender to lower the lending rates after Indian Overseas Bank Tuesday and Bank of Maharashtra which also lowered their loan prices by 5 bps on loan tenors of one year and above, effective April 10.
Will your home loan rates drop now that the RBI has signalled the onset of lower interest rates after 0.25 per cent cut in repo rate and CRR?
The Reserve Bank's rate-setting panel, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), began its three-day deliberations on Wednesday amid expectations of a status quo on benchmark rate mainly on account of uncertainty over the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the fears of firming inflation may also refrain the MPC from tinkering with the interest rate in its bi-monthly monetary policy outcome to be announced on Friday. The RBI had kept key interest rates unchanged at the last MPC meeting held in April.
Retail investors could be hesitant to invest in floating rate savings bonds, as these specific bonds tend to be profitable only in a rising rate environment, according to market participants. The Reserve Bank of India has allowed subscriptions for floating-rate savings bonds, 2020, via retail direct - an online portal that enables individual investors to purchase government securities.
In the face of hike in repo rate, all leading banks, including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Corporation Bank and Bank of Baroda, are exploring the possibility of raising deposit and lending rates.
The Bank Rate (6%), Repo Rate (7.75%) and Reverse Repo Rate (6%) have all been left unchanged in the half-yearly review of the monetary policy on Tuesday.
In its policy review meeting on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India hiked interest rates by 25 basis points.
From the 30-share pack, Adani Port, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, HCL Technologies and ICICI Bank were among the laggards. Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Maruti, Larsen & Toubro, ITC and Tata Steel were among the gainers.
The central bank might raise repo and reverse repo rates by 25 basis points each, they said. Still, RBI action would be conditional on its ensuring sufficient liquidity in the banking system.
Ahead of RBI's monetary policy review, SBI on Monday expressed hope the apex bank will cut interest rates by 0.5 per cent and CRR by up to one per cent to boost sagging growth.
The raising of key rates by the Reserve Bank of India is expected to ease the transition to the base rate mechanism, which came into effect from July 1.
Concerned over surging inflation, Reserve Bank of India hiked the short-term repo rate on Wednesday by 0.25 per cent to 7.50 per cent while keeping reverse repo, bank rate and cash reserve ratio unchanged.
The government on Friday raised interest rates on most post office saving schemes by up to 0.7 per cent for the April-June 2023 quarter in line with the firming of interest rates in the economy. While the interest rates for popular PPF and savings deposits have been retained at 7.1 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, there has been an increase between 0.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent in other saving schemes, a finance ministry statement said. The highest increase was in the interest rate of the National Savings Certificate (NSC), which will now attract 7.7 per cent, up from 7 per cent, for the April 1 to June 30, 2023 period.
RBI had previously cut repo rate by 0.25 per cent each in January and March.
Rediff.com interviewed people from several walks of life to know their opinions on the rise in rates by RBI.
The cost of deposits is on the rise, but banks can't raise interest rate on close to 60% of their loan books, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The RBI has set up a panel to review ATM charges, and fees levied by banks.
In his first monetary policy review since taking office on September 4, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan increased the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.50 per cent.
Exactly a fortnight ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) next monetary policy review, a key market indicator of interest rates - the overnight indexed swap (OIS) - suggests that the central bank may tighten policy by 35 basis points and then refrain from further rate hikes. RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra recently described the OIS as the primary instrument for hedging interest rate risk in India. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI will meet on December 5-7.
Economists say RBI to raise policy rates in annual policy statement in April.
RBI Governor has been under pressure from Finance Ministry.
Two members recommended bringing down the rate by 50 bps in the April policy.
Bankers do not expect any major changes in key interest rates by the Reserve Bank in its quarterly review of the monetary policy on October 31.
High interest rates have been discouraging fresh investments and dragged industrial production down for nearly two years now.
A spiralling inflation is likely to force the Reserve Bank of India to up the Cash Reserve Ratio by 0.75 per cent in FY 09, along with a 1 per cent hike in repo and reverse repo rates, global financial services major, StanChart said.
In the mid-year monetary policy review on Tuesday, RBI, left the key interest rate unchanged but reduced cash reserve ratio by 0.25 per cent to infuse additional liquidity of up to Rs 17,500 crore (Rs 175 billion) into the system.
Floating-rate mutual funds are back in demand after a year-long period of consistent outflows. In the past three months, investors have poured over Rs 6,100 crore into these debt schemes, indicating a reversal in fortunes for the category that recorded outflows for 11 consecutive months (May 2022 to March 2023), totalling Rs 32,250 crore. Floating-rate funds invest at least 65 per cent in floating-rate instruments, which have their interest rates linked to the Reserve Bank of India repo rate.
The country's largest lender State Bank of India has raised its marginal cost of funds based lending rate by 10 basis points or 0.1 per cent across all tenures, a move that will lead to an increase in EMIs for borrowers. This is the second hike in a month raising the cost by 0.2 per cent with the two consecutive increases. The revision follows an off-cycle rate increase by the Reserve Bank earlier this month. The central bank hiked the repo rate -- at which it lends short term money to banks -- by 0.40 per cent to 4.40 per cent.
Indian economy is in a sweet spot, with a mix of solid growth and moderating inflation, Moody's Ratings said, forecasting a 7.2 per cent GDP growth in the 2024 calendar year and 6.6 per cent in the next. In its Global Macro Outlook 2025-26, the rating agency said the global economy has shown remarkable resilience in bouncing back from supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, an energy and food crisis after the Russia-Ukraine war began, high inflation and consequent monetary policy tightening.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) state of the economy report observed that any durable alignment of headline retail inflation with the target of 4 per cent could recommence in the second half of FY25 and sustain until numbers closer to the target are seen during the course of FY26, dashing hopes of any reduction in the policy repo rate in the current financial year. The report, authored by RBI staffers, including Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy Michael Patra, said though headline numbers may fall in July and August due to base effect, it is likely to reverse in September.
Discuss how high inflation and interest rates are impacting you with Senior Associate Editor (Business)Faisal Kidwai.
State Bank announced a 15 basis points reduction in its lending rates, effective August 10 across all tenors.
'The rate cut could have been higher in the current economic conditions which would have had a stronger impact on business sentiment and spurred investment in a big way.'
RBI, in its first bi-monthly monetary policy statement, left the short-term lending rate, or repo rate, unchanged at 8 per cent and the cash reserve ratio static at 4 per cent.
The Reserve Bank on Friday said India is poised to become the growth engine of the world as it retained the GDP projection for the current fiscal at 6.5 per cent. Unveiling the bi-monthly monetary policy review, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said the domestic economy exhibits resilience on the back of strong demand.
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