Issue: 1190
· Asian Development Bank (ADB)
raised India’s FY26 GDP growth forecast to 6.9% from 6.5%.
· Muthoot Finance announced a
300% interim dividend, boosting investor sentiment.
· IMF & World Bank meetings
flagged global economic slowdown risks due to ongoing Middle East conflict.
· Global growth forecasts for
emerging markets cut to ~3.65%, with downside risks to 2.6%.
· IMF warned 45 million more
people may face food insecurity due to supply disruptions.
· Global institutions preparing
$20–50 billion IMF support and up to $70 billion World Bank aid.
· Interest rate outlook remains
uncertain amid inflation and geopolitical risks.
Iranian oil flows at risk?
No deal in Islamabad, Trump hints at naval blockade on Iran: US President Donald Trump has
signalled a possible naval blockade against Iran after talks between the two
sides in Islamabad ended without an agreement. Hours after the collapse of
more than 21 hours of negotiations, Trump shared a news article titled
"The Trump card the president holds if Iran won't bend: a naval
blockade." While Trump did not elaborate,
the article outlines how a blockade could work by restricting Iran's oil
exports - a key source of revenue - and increasing pressure on countries such
as China that import Iranian crude.
(Business Today)
Retail inflation likely
rose 3.5-4% in March: With higher fuel prices,
retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) is likely to have surged
between 3.5 and 4 per cent in March. It was 3.2 per cent in February. Statistics
Ministry will officially release the data for March on Monday. Though
pump prices of petrol and diesel are unchanged, prices of domestic and LPG
cylinder increased with effect from March 07. While the cost of 14.2 kg
domestic LPG cylinders rose by Rs.60, that of a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder
went up by Rs.115 on the same date, impacting businesses including hotels,
restaurants and small commercial establishments. Following that, many
businesses have passed on the rise in retail prices to the consumers and that
could be seen in the headline inflation number.
(Business Line)
India-UK free trade
agreement may be operational from second week of May: India and the UK, on July 24,
2025, signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), under which
99 per cent of Indian exports will enter the British market at zero duty, while
tariffs on British products, such as cars and whisky, will be reduced in India.
“We are expecting the pact to be implemented from the second week of May,” the
official said. The two countries have also signed the Double Contributions
Convention (DCC) pact to ensure temporary workers would not have to duplicate
social levies in either country.
(Financial Express)
Banks’ exposure to
carbon-intensive sectors raises long-term credit risk, costs: Banks financing carbon-heavy
industries face growing credit risks. Research from IIM Lucknow shows this
exposure leads to higher monitoring and recovery costs over time. Financial
institutions must align lending with a low-carbon economy. Stronger capital
buffers help banks manage these climate-related risks. Transitioning to greener
portfolios benefits both the environment and business.
(Economic Times)
CreditAccess Grameen looks
to scale down microfinance growth, says MD & CEO Ganesh Narayanan: CreditAccess Grameen, the country's
largest NBFC-MFI, added about a million new borrowers in FY26 and expanded its
portfolio 14% year-on-year to Rs 29,590 crore, in a reflection that lenders
with strong promoter backing are leading the sector's revival. Nevertheless,
the company looks to scale down microfinance growth and instead focus on
diversifying into businesses such as home loans. It is also exploring an
acquisition in the mortgage market to give a push to its secured business.
(Economic Times)
Bankers see merit in RBI's
one-hour e-payment lag despite cost concerns: Bankers are not particularly
averse to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) proposal to introduce a one-hour
delay for account-to-account digital payments above Rs.10,000. While the move is
expected to increase costs due to required infrastructure upgrades, many
believe a small amount of friction in instant payment systems could help curb
rising fraud. But they indicated that they may seek to revise the proposed
threshold from Rs.10,000 to around Rs.25,000, or more. They, however, noted that
the core proposition of the instant payments system, UPI could be diluted, as “lagged credits” run
counter to the ethos of immediacy, even if they enable bypass mechanisms such
as whitelisting trusted contacts.
(Business Standard)
RBI DG T Rabi
Sankar criticises banks' arbitrage trades as rupee weakens: A senior Reserve Bank of India official
criticized foreign-exchange market makers for their role in aggravating the
rupee’s weakness during the West Asia tensions, as the regulator keeps up its
tough messaging stance in its defense of the currency. Addressing an annual
foreign exchange dealers’ conference in Paris at the weekend, Deputy Governor
T. Rabi Sankar said the arbitrage between local and offshore markets strained
dollar liquidity at a time when the rupee was under pressure due to large
foreign outflows, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Business Standard)
FIIs pull Rs.28,375 crore in
five sessions; domestic buyers cushion fall as indices post best week in months: Foreign portfolio investors pulled out a net Rs.28,375.86 crore from Indian equities over the five trading sessions ended
April 10, 2026, according to data published by the National Securities
Depository Limited (NSDL). When debt, hybrid and mutual fund instruments are
included, total net outflows for the week stood at Rs.40,190.54 crore. The week
opened with the steepest single-day outflows.
(Business Line)
Swiggy co-founder Nandan
Reddy quits:
Swiggy
co-founder Nandan Reddy has quit the online food and grocery delivery major
with immediate effect, the company said in an exchange filing on Thursday. Reddy
is set to start his own venture and will spend more of his time building the
new startup. He played a crucial role in setting up operations during Swiggy’s
early days alongside co-founder and group CEO Sriharsha Majety. While Reddy has
held multiple positions at the firm, he was most recently leading Crew,
Swiggy’s AI concierge offering. Food delivery CEO Rohit Kapoor will lead Crew
going forward, according to sources aware of the matter. Aakash Bhotika, vice
president at Swiggy who has worked on the product, will continue to steer
operations.
(Financial Express)
Partial credit guarantee
soon for Rs 5 lakh crore infra projects: The Centre is working on a
partial credit guarantee scheme to de-risk infrastructure financing, with plans
to cover projects worth up to Rs 5 lakh crore over the next few years, sources
told FE. The proposed mechanism would offer a limited guarantee—likely in the
range of 5–10% of project costs—to improve lender confidence and ensure
smoother funding flows during vulnerable execution phases, sources said. At the
core of the plan is the proposed Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund, which will
support projects facing cost overruns or temporary liquidity stress during
construction and the initial stabilisation period after completion. The
guarantee cover is expected to be available for a short tenure of around 2–3
years, targeting precisely the phase where risks are highest, and revenues are
yet to materialise.
(Financial Express)
MCA to launch AI
system for green channel name approval in less than a day: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA)
plans to launch an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled model later this month
to automate and fast-track company name approvals, a senior government official
said. The system will assign a confidence rating on a scale of one to five to
each proposed company name. This rating will indicate the likelihood of
approval without glitches. Names similar to those already in use, for instance,
will receive a lower score, prompting users to try alternatives. The average
time taken for approval or rejection of a company incorporation application was
1.3 days last month, according to the MCA portal. The government aims to reduce
this to less than a day using improved technology.
(Business Standard)
FUNGIBILITY
§ Fungibility
refers to the ability of assets to be interchangeably used, simplifying trade
and exchange.
§ Fungibility
refers to the ability of an asset to be exchanged effortlessly with another
item of the same kind and value.
§ Examples
include money and commodities like corn, where identical units can be
substituted without loss of value or function. By understanding this concept,
readers can grasp its significance in economics and finance.
§ Cryptocurrencies
can be fungible or non-fungible, with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) representing
unique digital assets.
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 : 92.6492
INR
/ 1 GBP : 124.3124
INR
/ 1 EUR : 108.2760
INR
/100 JPY: 58.1600
EQUITY INDEX
Sensex:
77550.25 (+918.60)
NIFTY:
24050.60 (+275.50)
Bnk NIFTY: 55912.75 (+1091.05)
Anniversary of
the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre: April 13 is
primarily recognized as the anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
(1919), a solemn day in Indian history commemorating those killed in Amritsar.
It often coincides with the Baisakhi harvest festival and marks the start of
the Odia New Year. Globally, it is recognized as Scrabble Day and Peach Cobbler
Day.
Historical
events: April 13 in world
history is marked by major conflicts and milestones, most notably the 1919
Jallianwala Bagh massacre in India, where British troops fired on unarmed
civilians. Other key events include the 1943 dedication of the Jefferson
Memorial, the 1941 Soviet-Japan neutrality pact, and the 1970 Apollo 13 oxygen
tank explosion.
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