E-Rupee: RBI’s big out-of-the-box moment is still to come
A heady air of mutual—and self— congratulation hovered over the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) 90th-year celebration held on 1 April. It was almost palpable in the speeches made. Governor Shaktikanta Das said that “well-calibrated and coordinated monetary and fiscal policies" between RBI and the Centre had “shielded the economy from shocks" like covid and two wars. The central bank’s chief expressed satisfaction that “today our GDP growth is robust, inflation is moderating, financial sector is stable, the external sector remains resilient and forex reserves are at an all-time high." He gave key reforms like the 2016 insolvency code and RBI’s legal mandate to tame retail prices due credit. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman lauded RBI’s pandemic package of credit and debt relief and hailed its role in the rupee’s external stability (in peer comparison) and an orderly yield curve for Indian bonds. Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged RBI to think out of the box on credit, calling Das an expert at it, noted RBI’s success in the context of reform enablers, and spoke of more to be done. The heady air at the venue was better deserved than what the optical demands of poll season may suggest. By any reckoning, India’s economy has emerged quite well from the covid blow four years ago, thanks to a decisive yet judiciously restrained mix of stimulus—fiscal and monetary both.

SFBs seek glide path from RBI to become universal banks citing eligibility

The first set of small finance banks – totalling ten – were granted licenses in 2015, and most of them started operations in 2016-17. As of end-June 2023, twelve SFBs with 6,589 domestic branches across the country were operational. With the merger of AU Small Finance Bank and Fincare, there are now 11 SFBs.

Foreign exchange derivatives market in a fix before new RBI rules

Also, weighed down by dollar demand from local oil companies and weakness in its Asian peers, the rupee on Wednesday ended at a new closing low of 83.44 versus the US currency.

RBI starts FY25 with four VRRR auctions
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kicked off liquidity management operations in the new financial year by conducting four variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auctions — two each on April 2 and April 3 — to suck out surplus liquidity from the banking system and reinforce its “withdrawal of accommodation” monetary policy stance.

Banks go slow on personal loan as growth eases
The sharp growth in personal loans is losing momentum as banks have started going slow on unsecured loans following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) hike in risk weight on personal loans last year.  

Suryoday SFB reports 41% jump in gross advances in Q4FY24
Mumbai: Suryoday Small Finance Bank reported a robust 41 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in gross advances and 50 per cent y-o-y growth in total deposits in the fourth quarter vis-à-vis the year-ago period. As of March-end 2024, the bank’s gross advances stood at ₹8,650 crore (₹6,114 crore as of March-end 2023), per provisional figures of key business parameters for the fourth quarter.

Canara Bank launches loans for healthcare, savings accounts for women
Canara Bank launches healthcare loan, women’s savings account, digital solutions
The Hindu Business Line

Union Bank raises Rs 42,000 cr from DIFC to fund overseas business growth

The fund was arranged by Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai Branch, Union Bank of India said in a regulatory filing.

Our cost of fiends is the lowest in the peer group': MD & CEO V Vaidyanathan, IDFC Bank

How big a challenge is it to raise deposits?

RuPay credit cards on UPI: You can now apply for EMIs through the app

Apply for EMIs on past and future purchases

Credit card transactions soared 11% to ₹9.30 trillion between June-Dec 2023: Report
Amid the digital revolution era in the country, credit card transactions remained second-favourite among citizens for payments after the UPI system. Whereas, debit card payments remained sluggish. The credit card transactions saw an 11% rise between June and December 2023 in India, according to a report by Worldline.

Banks’ credit growth to slow a mite to about 14-15% in FY25
Crisil Ratings assessed that credit growth for banks is expected to remain healthy in fiscal 2025, but grow a tad slower at 14 per cent, compared with 16 per cent estimated for fiscal 2024, given the likely moderation in economic growth.

How a domestic rating agency wants to take on the big guns
Mumbai: Homegrown Care Ratings Ltd plans to start its sovereign debt ratings service with countries in Asia and Africa, followed by Europe in the long term, a top executive said. The agency, which is creating a subsidiary in GIFT City for the purpose, will start with countries where it already has some presence, such as Nepal, Mauritius and South Africa.

NBFC loan sanctions up 6% in Q3, led by consumption loans, urban growth slows
Mumbai: Loan sanctions by non-bank companies grew 6 per cent on year to ₹4.3-lakh crore as of December 2023, primarily driven by growth in consumption loans such as two-wheeler, consumer, gold, personal and education loans. Person loans grew the highest in absolute terms at ₹14,429 crore, or 27 per cent, on year to ₹67,722 crore. However, they grew only 1 per cent on quarter, likely in part due to the higher risk weights on some unsecured loans rolled out by the RBI in November 2023. Gold loans grew 14 per cent y-o-y and 8 per cent q-o-q to ₹44,744 crore, and two-wheeler loans by 22 per cent on year and 39 per cent on quarter to ₹20,717 crore, according to data by CRIF and FIDC.

UPI dominance: UPI transactions posts 56% YoY volume growth in H2 2023, buoyed by expansion in mobile transactions
Within the growing digital payments landscape of India, UPI has maintained its dominant position with the total number of UPI transactions registering a growth of 56 per cent on-year in H2 2023, with the volume being at 65.77 billion as against 42.09 billion in H2 2022, said a report by Worldline. The value of transactions during the same time period surged by 44 per cent from Rs 69.36 trillion to Rs 99.68 trillion.

Digital payments growth buoyed by rise in acceptance channels, lower ticket size: Worldline
Mumbai: The rapid growth in digital payments in India is being led by a robust increase in the payments acceptance infrastructure channels, according to a report by Worldline India which showed UPI QR codes grew 57 per cent from July 2022 to 31.7 crore as of December 2023, and Bharat QR codes grew 32 per cent to 59.6 lakh.

Mobile wallet payments in India to breach $6-trillion mark in 2028: GlobalData
Hyderabad: Payments through mobile wallets have caught the imagination of people in the country. This mode of payment is going to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 18.3 per cent over the next four years to breach the $6-trillion mark in 2028, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.

Indian travellers can now use PhonePe UPI payments over 8,000 merchants in Singapore
Fintech firm PhonePe on Wednesday said its users can now make payments through UPI in Singapore under a pact signed by the company with The Singapore Tourism Board.

Fintech start-up Perfios appoints ex-Adobe BFSI head Sridhar Narayan as Chief Business Officer
Bengaluru: Fintech-focused software start-up Perfios has appointed former Adobe India’s financial services head Sridhar Narayan as its Chief Business Officer. Prior to joining Perfios, Sridhar has led the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) business at Adobe India. Previously, he spent a decade at Microsoft, SRI, and IBM in the past.

PhonePe users can now make payments through UPI in Singapore
Indian travellers can now use PhonePe to make payments via UPI in Singapore

TRUST Mutual Fund launches maiden equity scheme ‘Flexi Cap Fund’
TRUST Mutual Fund on Wednesday announced the launched of its maiden equity fund ‘TRUSTMF Flexi Cap Fund’. The New Fund Offer (NFO) will open on April 5 and close on April 19, 2024.

Trust Mutual Fund forays into equity space with launch of flexicap scheme

The fund house, which launched its first scheme in January 2021, was so far focused only on the debt space, managing around Rs 1,200 crore across seven schemes.

Experts suggest to keep low-cost Nifty 50 index fund at core of portfolio

S&P Dow Jones cap Indices recently published the S&P Indices Versus Active Funds (SPIVA) India scorecard for the year ending December 2023. Over a five-year horizon, 85.7 per cent largecap funds failed to beat their benchmarks. The number was lower at 58.1 per cent for the mid/smallcap category.

Blackstone to invest $2 bn yearly in India, wants quicker M&A clearances
Mumbai: Global private equity major Blackstone Group is confident of investing $2 billion annually in India, a top official said on Wednesday.
 

Stellar returns: Blackstone to invest $17 billion more in India
Mumbai: “I want to do more,” said Jonathan Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Inc, which is planning fresh private equity investments of $17 billion in India. Gray was talking to the media in Mumbai about Blackstone’s investments and exposure in India, which geographically has given the highest returns in private equity for the asset manager over the last 19 years.

Tier-1 capital raise by banks halves to Rs 17,516 crore in 2023-24
Banks raised about Rs 17, 516 crore through the additional tier I (AT1) bonds in Fy24, which was 49.8 per cent less than the amount raised in Fy23, according to Prime Database.

Bonds claim pride of place with issuances reaching over 62 per cent of overall bank lending