Issue: 1337
· GST collections in September
again crossed Rs.2 lakh crore.
· Kotak Mahindra Bank appointed
Anup Kumar Saha as the new MD & CEO, with effect from January 1, 2027.
· PFRDA targets 2-3 crore new
NPS subscribers in next two years.
· ICAR and FCI signs MoU for
Safe and Sustainable Foodgrain Storage.
· ARCs seek govt help to speed
up recovery.
· RBI asks banks to tackle
repeat customer complaints, fix gaps in grievance systems.
· UPI volumes up 23% at 24.07
bn in September.
India manufacturing PMI
rises to 7-month high of 55.1 in September: Amid strong growth in August, the manufacturing
sector appears to be accelerating further, as the Purchasing Managers’ Index
(PMI) for manufacturing rose to a 7-month high in September, S&P Global
reported on Thursday. Hiring was also good. “India’s factory sector ended the
quarter on a firmer footing. The PMI rose to 55.1 in September, up from 52.8,
as stronger domestic and overseas demand lifted sales and production.
(Business Line)
India’s Q2 growth seen at
7.3%, global risks test outlook: Finance Ministry: India’s economy is expected to
grow by 7.3 per cent in the second quarter of FY27, supported by resilient
domestic demand and investment, but higher oil prices, tightening global
financial conditions and trade uncertainty pose challenges to sustaining
momentum, the Ministry of Finance said in its Monthly Economic Review for
September 2026. The review said the economy entered the second quarter from a
position of strength after recording 7.8 per cent growth in the first quarter,
the highest first-quarter growth in the current series. However, it cautioned
that India cannot take its growth performance for granted as geopolitical
polarisation and disruptions across global supply chains intensify.
(Business Line)
Rupee drops to two-month
low of 96.31/$ as global bond rout deepens, oil jumps: The Indian rupee dropped to
its weakest level in ?two months as global bond yields surged to decadal highs ?and
oil prices jumped, deepening pressure on the South ?Asian currency that was
already hurt ?by foreign portfolio outflows
on Thursday. The rupee ended down 0.5% at 96.3150 per dollar, its sharpest
single-day fall in more than ?two months after it breached the key
psychological barrier of 96 even as dollar sales by ?state-run banks limited
its fall.
(Business Line)
Anup Bagchi: The ICICI
veteran chosen by HDFC Bank for the top job: HDFC Bank is all set for a
reset. Earlier this evening, the bank announced that the RBI had cleared the
appointment of Anup Bagchi as its MD & CEO, to succeed Sashidhar Jagdishan
once he steps down on October 26, 2026. Bagchi is currently MD and CEO of
the life insurance company ICICI Life. Bagchi joined ICICI Limited in
1992. Over the last three decades, he has worked in key positions in the ICICI
Group, including retail, corporate and investment banking and also led the
bank's treasury team early in his career.
(Moneycontrol)
RBI eases bank shareholding
rules for MFs, insurers and pension funds: The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has eased the approval process for mutual funds, insurance companies and
pension funds making subsequent acquisitions of major shareholding in banks,
allowing eligible investors to seek a one-time approval for purchases of up to
10 percent of a bank’s paid-up share capital or voting rights. The directions
come into force with immediate effect. The change comes through the
Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks - Acquisition and Holding of Shares or
Voting Rights) Amendment Directions, 2026, issued on October 1. Under the
earlier rules, an investor seeking to make an initial acquisition of major
shareholding in a bank was required to obtain prior RBI approval. If the
investor’s aggregate shareholding subsequently fell below 5 percent, another
RBI approval was required before making a subsequent acquisition of major
shareholding. “While obtaining prior
approval shall continue to be mandatory for initial acquisition of major
shareholding in a banking company, based on a review, it has now been decided
to grant one-time approval for subsequent acquisitions of major shareholding in
the same banking company by mutual funds, insurance companies and pension
funds, subject to certain requirements,” the RBI said.
(Moneycontrol)
ICICI Bank receives Rs 229
crore GST demand over minimum balance services: ICICI Bank has received a show
cause notice from the GST authorities seeking Rs 229.14 crore in goods and
services tax (GST) over services provided to customers maintaining specified
minimum balances in their bank accounts, the lender said in an exchange filing.
The notice was issued by the Additional Commissioner, CGST and Central Excise,
Division-IV, Mumbai East Commissionerate, on September 30, the bank said. The
GST demand of Rs 229,14,35,396 is in addition to applicable interest and
penalty.
(Economic Times)
Axis Bank wants to double
its Rs 8,688 crore data centre exposure: India’s growing appetite for
artificial intelligence is creating a fresh lending opportunity for banks, with
Axis Bank planning to double its exposure to data centres over the next three
years as companies race to build computing capacity, Bloomberg reported. The
country’s third-largest private-sector lender by assets currently has exposure
to about a dozen data centre clients, with the segment accounting for a little
over 2% of its corporate loan book, said Vijay Mulbagal, group head of
wholesale banking coverage at Axis Bank. Based on the bank’s first-quarter
financial data, that exposure is worth more than Rs 86.88 billion.
(Economic Times)
ACKO launches three
products across motor, health and travel: Digital insurer ACKO has
rolled out three innovative offerings designed for motor insurance, healthcare,
and travel needs. The DriveCam is a cutting-edge dashcam that captures driving
footage, boosting safety and providing critical evidence. ACKO Clinic enables
Bengaluru residents to access healthcare services, including doctor
consultations and health check-ups. Meanwhile, AirPass is a travel subscription
service that assists domestic flyers in handling delays and cancellations,
aiming to proactively engage customers.
(Economic Times)
FPIs sell Rs 3 lakh crore
in secondary market, but invest Rs 55,000 crore in primary market: Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have remained
relentless sellers in secondary markets, offloading a record Rs 3 lakh crore in
2026 so far. However, during the same period, they bought into India's growing
IPO story, pouring in over Rs 55,000 crore during the same time period. In 2024, the net FPI
flows into the primary markets was Rs 1.2 lakh crore, while the selling in
secondary markets was also Rs 1.2 lakh core. For 2025, the pace of buying into
the primary segment reduced to Rs 73,910 crore, but selling in the secondary
markets accelerated to Rs 2.4 lakh crore.
(Moneycontrol)
Govt tightens sugar stock
holding norms:
To ensure
adequate sugar supplies during the ongoing festive season, the government on
Thursday announced tighter stockholding rules for dealers by cutting the
holding period from 30 days to 15 days from the date of receipt. The Food
Ministry also announced capping the quantity dealers can hold at 1,000 quintal,
as it seeks to prevent hoarding. It would be effective between October 15 and
November 30. A month ago, the government reduced the sugar stock
holding limit for dealers from 4,000 quintal to 2,000 quintal. As the 2026-27 sugar
season (October-September) commences, the measure according to the Food
Ministry, aims to further curb hoarding, discourage speculative trading, and
prevent the accumulation of sugar stocks by dealers.
(Financial Express)
CEA Nageswaran flags
short-term savings bias as India's population ages: India’s growing appetite for equities and
mutual funds (MFs) has not yet translated into a comparable shift towards
long-term retirement savings, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran
said on Thursday, flagging the country’s short-term savings behaviour as a key
challenge to ensuring financial security in old age. “The Indian saver has
shown a willingness to accept market risk — or so we would like to believe.
What the saver has not yet done at scale is to commit savings for a longer
tenure,” Nageswaran said at the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority’s NPS (National Pension System) Diwas event. The CEA said India’s
ageing population made it imperative for households to accumulate savings over
longer tenures, while financial markets would need to channel these savings
into productive, long-duration investments.
(Business Standard)
SEBI, RBI work on bond
indices, faster FPI onboarding: The Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are working on a framework to enable
trading in bond indices and associated derivatives, while jointly working to
cut the time taken by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to enter the Indian
market, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday. “One of the points
that we are working on is bond indices… how we can have bond indices trading on
exchanges,” Pandey said on the sidelines of the third annual conference of the
Association of Portfolio Managers in India (APMI). “I believe the RBI has
prepared some draft guidelines and asked for comments, and we are pursuing with
RBI to finalise,” he said.
(Business Line)
NCLT president pushes for
higher IBC threshold: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) President,
Anupinder Singh Grewal has called for a rethink of the threshold for initiating
insolvency proceedings, suggesting that the existing Rs.1 crore limit could be
raised to Rs.5 crore or even Rs.10 crore. He also pushed for mediation to
resolve disputes before they enter the corporate insolvency resolution process
(CIRP). At an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) event on
Thursday, Grewal said a large number of cases involving claims of Rs 1-2 crore
appeared to be driven more by recovery objectives than genuine insolvency
resolution.
(Financial Express)
Insurers mull seeking
mutual fund-style expense limits from IRDAI: The insurance industry is
considering seeking a tiered expense structure, modelled on the mutual fund
industry, as an alternative to the uniform expense limits proposed by the
sector regulator, people familiar with the discussions said. Under the proposal
being discussed, smaller insurers want to be allowed a higher EoM (expenses of
management) limit on their initial premium base, with the permitted expense
ratio declining progressively as the insurer grows.
(Economic Times)
FINANCIAL ACCELERATOR
MECHANISM
§ The
Financial Accelerator is an economic theory explaining how imperfections in
credit markets amplify business cycles. During periods of economic expansion,
rising asset prices improve borrowers' net worth, enabling easier access to credit
and encouraging further investment and consumption. Conversely, during
downturns, falling asset values weaken collateral, restrict lending, reduce
investment, and deepen the recession, thereby reinforcing the economic
slowdown.
§ This
mechanism highlights the interconnectedness of financial markets and the real
economy and underscores the importance of macroprudential regulations, capital
buffers, and timely central bank interventions to prevent financial shocks from
escalating into systemic crises.
RBI KEY RATES
Repo
Rate: 5.25%
SDF:
5.00%
MSF
/Bank Rate: 5.50%
CRR:
3.00%
SLR:
18.00%
FOREX RATES (RBI REF. RATE)
INR
/ 1 USD : 95.9927
INR
/ 1 GBP : 127.2214
INR
/ 1 EUR : 108.6151
INR
/100 JPY: 60.6700
EQUITY INDEX
Sensex:
71909.70 (-570.59)
NIFTY:
22421.95 (-198.50)
Bnk NIFTY: 54450.75 (-182.30)
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