Issue: 1185
· RBI keeps Foreign portfolio
investment limits ?for 2026–27 unchanged at 6% for government securities, 2%
for state government securities ?and 15% for corporate bonds.
· RBI Forex restrictions helped
reduce pressure on Rupee.
· India’s Debt-to-GDP ratio
lowest among major economies – Finance Ministry.
· Banks may face NIM pressure
due to rising deposit rates.
· RBI cancelled licence of
Shirpur Merchants’ Co-operative Bank.
· Finance Minister says RBI has
room to cut rates and support sectors.
Moody’s retains India’s
Baa3 rating; flags Middle East conflict as emerging risk: Moody’s Ratings has maintained
India’s sovereign credit rating at Baa3 with a stable outlook, while warning
that the ongoing Middle East conflict could moderate growth and raise inflation
risks. “The stable outlook
incorporates India's gradually improving fiscal metrics since emerging from the
pandemic and resilient growth prospects compared with peers. However, fiscal
accommodation in the context of the uncertain global macroeconomic outlook
including revenue-eroding measures, could impede progress towards debt
reduction and exacerbate already weak debt affordability,” the ratings agency said
in its report dated March 31.
(Moneycontrol)
PMI Services slips to
14-month low of 57.5 in March: Services sector in India faced
the impact of the first full month of war in March, as Purchasing Managers’
Index (PMI) slipped to 14 months low of 57.5. The worst aspect was input price
inflation, which climbed to a 45 months high, S&P Global reported on Monday.
However, the good news is that job creation increased. The fall in the services
PMI is in line with manufacturing. On April 2, S&P Global published a
report saying manufacturing PMI dropped to 53.9 in March, which is lowest since
June 2022.
(Business Line)
Strong dollar pounds gold,
silver: Precious
metal prices lost sheen in March on strengthening U.S. Dollar and concerns over
a likely rise in interest rates. The rise in the prices of crude oil stoked
inflation-related concerns that may warrant an increase in interest rates. As a
result, Comex gold closed well below the psychological $5,000-mark and settled
at $4,678.6 by end March, representing a 10.85% fall last month. The damage to
Comex silver was even more pronounced closing 19.69% lower at $74.92 at the end
of March. Mirroring the trend in global markets, the precious metals closed on
a weak note in the local markets. However, the fall was cushioned to some
extent by the weakening of the Rupee.
(Business Line)
Steady Q4 expected for
banks on strong metrics: Based on provisional data
released by banks so far, they are expected to report a steady fourth quarter
(Q4FY26) on the back of healthy loan and deposit growth, controlled slippages
and a decent rise in profit, according to analysts. Loan growth has been sound
as hardening yields in the bond market led India Inc to turn to banks for
funds, going by provisional numbers shared by the banks. Similarly, deposit
growth is up, with investors preferring safety at a time when equities are
taking a beating, feeling the ripple effect of the West Asia war.
(Business Line)
RBI proposes rehaul of
business correspondent framework: The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on Monday proposed a comprehensive restructuring of the Business
Correspondent (BC) framework, introducing a differentiated structure for BC outlets,
tightening governance norms and formalising remuneration standards to
strengthen financial inclusion and oversight. The amendments, once finalised,
will come into force from July 1. The RBI has invited comments on the draft by
May 5. The central bank had set up a committee comprising officials from the
RBI, the Department of Financial Services, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)
and NABARD to review BC operations and recommend measures to enhance
efficiency. The draft proposes to define three types of delivery points which
are branch, Business Correspondent- Banking Outlet (BC-BO) and Business
Correspondent- Banking Touchpoint (BC-BT).
(Financial Express)
UCO Bank records 19% rise
in loan growth in Q4: UCO Bank announced strong
financial results for the January-March quarter of FY26. The state-owned lender
saw its credit grow by 19 percent to Rs 2.62 lakh crore. Total deposits also
rose by 11 percent, reaching Rs 3.27 lakh crore. Low-cost CASA deposits saw an
improvement. The bank's total business expanded by 15 percent. During
the period under review, low-cost CASA deposits improved to 38.48 per cent as
compared to 37.91 per cent of total deposits in the fourth quarter of the preceding
financial year, it said. The bank's total business (advances and deposits)
increased by 15 per cent to Rs 5.89 lakh crore from Rs 5.14 lakh crore at the
end of March 2025.
(Economic Times)
Small finance
banks make it big on micro revival: Small finance banks in India have
concluded fiscal year 2026 with robust business growth. These lenders
experienced higher-than-average loan portfolio expansion, exceeding 20%. This
positive trend was significantly supported by a revival in microfinance
lending. Asset quality also saw notable improvement across these banking
entities. This indicates a healthy recovery in the bottom of the pyramid
borrower segment.
(Economic Times)
M Pallonji Group gets
IRDAI’s R1 nod for general insurance venture: The Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority of India, has granted R1 approval to the M Pallonji Group for its
proposed general insurance venture, in partnership with Divya Sehgal and
Federal Bank, according to people familiar with the matter. The M Pallonji Group is
expected to hold a 51% stake, with additional capital support from Federal Bank
and a clutch of family offices.
(Economic Times)
Mkts rise over 1% on truce
hopes; bank stocks lead rally as oil prices ease: Indian equity markets advanced on Monday as
oil prices softened amid reports that regional mediators are pushing for a ceasefire
between the US and Iran. The benchmark Sensex ended at 74,107, up 787 points,
or 1.07 per cent. The Nifty closed at 22,968, gaining 255 points, or 1.1 per
cent. Both indices fell over 0.7 per cent intraday. The total market
capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms rose by ?5 trillion to ?428 trillion.
Gains were led by banking stocks, which rallied following positive quarterly
business updates ahead of the earnings season.
(Business Standard)
Plan to focus on capacity
building for independent directors: Sebi chief: The Securities and Exchange Board of India
(Sebi) will undertake a joint initiative with professional bodies, businesses,
and academia for capacity building of independent directors to improve
corporate governance, Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Monday. Speaking at
the CII Corporate Governance Summit, Pandey highlighted gaps in effective
governance. “What we are increasingly observing is a gap — not in intent, not
in regulation — but in translation. Boards are well constituted, but not always
equally effective. Information is available, but not always interrogated
deeply. Independence exists in form, but may not always translate into (an)
independent perspective,” the Sebi chairman said.
(Business Standard)
RBI keeps FPI debt
investment limits unchanged for FY26?27: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday has
kept the percentage limits for foreign portfolio investor (FPI) investment in
government securities (G-Sec), state government securities (SGS) and corporate
bonds unchanged for the financial year 2026?27. The FPI limits in G-Sec,
SGS and corporate bonds will continue to remain at 6%, 2% and 15%,
respectively. The RBI has also retained the 50:50 allocation of incremental G?Sec limits between the general
and long?term sub?categories. Alongside the
unchanged percentage caps, the RBI has released revised absolute limits FY26?27. For April–September 2026,
the total permissible FPI debt investment stands at Rs 15,51,646 crore, rising
to Rs 16,32,640 crore for October 2026–March 2027. The aggregate limit of the
notional amount credit default swaps sold by FPIs shall be 5% of the
outstanding stock of corporate bond, translating into an additional limit of Rs
3,30,464 crore for FY26-27.
(Financial Express)
New highway
rules from April 10: Payments at toll plazas only via FASTag or UPI: The Union Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways has announced that from April 10, 2026, cash payments will no longer
be accepted at any national highway toll booth. Under the new rule, toll
payments will be accepted only through FASTag or UPI. Under the new rule, toll
payments will be accepted only through FASTag or UPI as cash will no longer be
accepted. Reports further stated that if you are commuting and don’t have a
FASTag and choose to pay through UPI instead, you will be charged an extra 25%
on top of the regular fee.
(Financial Express)
Launch of the
first ever Annual Survey of Incorporated Services Sector Enterprises (ASISSE): NSO launches the first ever Annual Survey
of Incorporated Services Sector Enterprises (ASISSE) covering incorporated
services sector enterprises across India with the reference period being the
financial year 2024-25. The survey is aimed at developing a comprehensive
database of the incorporated services sector of the country. The survey uses
GSTN database as sampling frame. More than 1.21 lakh enterprises will be
surveyed in ASISSE.
(PiB)
EQUATION OF
EXCHANGE
·
The equation of exchange is an economic identity
that shows the relationship between the money supply, the velocity of money,
the price level, and an index of expenditures.
·
It says that the total amount of money that changes
hands in the economy will always equal the total money value of the goods and
services that change hands in the economy.
·
In its basic form, the equation says that the total
amount of money that changes hands in an economy equals the total money value
of goods that change hands, or that nominal spending equals nominal income.
·
The equation of exchange has been used to argue that
inflation will be proportional to changes in the money supply and that total
demand for money can be broken down into demand for use in transactions and
demand to hold money for its liquidity.
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 : 93.0591
INR
/ 1 GBP : 122.9919
INR
/ 1 EUR : 107.2568
INR
/100 JPY: 58.3200
EQUITY INDEX
Sensex:
74106.85 (+787.30)
NIFTY:
22968.25 (+255.15)
Bnk NIFTY: 52609.10 (+1060.35)
World Health Day: April 7 is
celebrated annually as World Health Day to mark the anniversary of the founding
of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. It is a global awareness day
dedicated to highlighting a specific priority health issue and promoting
healthier living worldwide.
Historical
events: April 7th is
globally recognized as World Health Day, marking the 1948 establishment of the
World Health Organization (WHO). Historically, this day witnessed the 1994
start of the Rwandan Genocide, the 1541 departure of St. Francis Xavier for
India, and the 1843 enactment of the Indian Slavery Act. In 1934, Mahatma
Gandhi suspended his civil disobedience movement.
****Have a nice Day****
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