Abhijit Lele

Stories by Abhijit Lele

Banking system liquidity goes into surplus mode after 3 months

Banking system liquidity goes into surplus mode after 3 months

Rediff.com   6 Mar 2024

The liquidity in the banking system moved into surplus almost after three months as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) absorbed over Rs 40,000 crore from the market on Monday, predominantly on the back of increased government spending. However, this situation may be short-lived given the higher demand for funds to pay taxes and year-end targets, treasury executives said. Meanwhile, two variable reverse repo rate (VRRR) auctions held on Tuesday received weak response.

'We are almost at peak of interest rates cycles'

'We are almost at peak of interest rates cycles'

Rediff.com   6 Feb 2024

'The stabilisation of interest rates followed by reduction is going to happen over the next year.'

RBI gives clarity to 'politically exposed persons' term to meet FATF norms

RBI gives clarity to 'politically exposed persons' term to meet FATF norms

Rediff.com   8 Jan 2024

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has updated Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for politically exposed persons (PEPs) who transact with regulated entities (REs), seeking to comply with the recommendations of intergovernmental organisation Financial Action Task Force (FATF). PEPs are individuals entrusted with prominent public functions by a foreign country, including the heads of states/governments, senior politicians, senior government or judicial or military officers, senior executives of state-owned corporations and important political party officials, said the RBI. This change is expected to provide more clarity to undertake Customer Due Diligence (CDD), said the RBI in a communication to REs.

Former Barclays banker Ashok Vaswani to head Kotak Mahindra Bank

Former Barclays banker Ashok Vaswani to head Kotak Mahindra Bank

Rediff.com   23 Oct 2023

Ashok Vaswani, a banker with more than three-and-half decades experience in building and scaling up businesses across consumer and corporate banking and payments, will be the next managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given its approval to Vaswani's appointment. Vaswani is currently President of Pagaya Technologies, a US-Israeli artificial intelligence (AI) fintech firm, which he joined in June 2022.

Net FDI in India down to $3 billion in April-August

Net FDI in India down to $3 billion in April-August

Rediff.com   23 Oct 2023

Net foreign direct investment (FDI) in India, inflows minus outflows, declined sharply in April-August this year to $2.99 billion from $18.03 billion in the same period last year on moderation in global activities and a rise in repatriation. The Reserve Bank of India's data (October 2023 bulletin) said FDI in India was $7.28 billion and FDI by India, that is money invested abroad from the country, was $4.28 billion in April-August 2023. As for 2022, FDI in India was $22.79 billion and FDI by India was $4.76 billion in April-August.

Rs 2,000 crore loans to Go First are now NPA: Central Bank of India

Rs 2,000 crore loans to Go First are now NPA: Central Bank of India

Rediff.com   23 Oct 2023

Central Bank of India classified its loans to Go First as non-performing assets (NPAs) in the July-September quarter (second quarter, or Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24). The no-frills carrier has been under insolvency proceedings since May 2023 and ceased operating flights on May 3 this year. The public sector lender's exposure, including government-guaranteed emergency credit to the ailing airline, amounts to about Rs 2,000 crore.

Savings declined but resulted in rise in assets: SBI chief economist

Savings declined but resulted in rise in assets: SBI chief economist

Rediff.com   22 Sep 2023

The net financial savings of the household sector has moderated to 5.1% of GDP in FY23 from 7.6 per cent in FY20, as households shifted their savings to physical assets amid low interest rates during the pandemic, according to State Bank of India's (SBI) Research report.

Equity FDI inflows nearly halve on global overhang

Equity FDI inflows nearly halve on global overhang

Rediff.com   20 Sep 2023

Showing the effect of the slowdown in global economic activity, the equity foreign direct investment (FDI) into India declined sharply to $13.9 billion in April-July 2023 from $22.04 billion a year ago. The net FDI, inflows minus outflows, declined from $17.28 billion in April-July 2022 to $5.70 billion in April-July 2023 on account of moderating gross FDI and a rise in repatriation. Gross FDI into India moderated to $22.0 billion during April-July 2023 from $29.6 billion a year ago, according to Reserve Bank of India data.

India's outward FDI down 33.3% in August on grim global prospects

India's outward FDI down 33.3% in August on grim global prospects

Rediff.com   15 Sep 2023

Reflecting subdued global economic growth, India's outward foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 33.3 per cent sequentially to $1.21 billion in August, compared to over $1.82 billion in July.

Bajaj Finance's B2B segment to add 1,000 cities in the next three years

Bajaj Finance's B2B segment to add 1,000 cities in the next three years

Rediff.com   11 Sep 2023

As a step to entrench its consumer finance business, Bajaj Finance (BFL) plans to scale up its business-to-business (B2B) activity, both in terms of volume as well as value. It plans to add up to 1,000 cities in the next three years and this will mark its presence in around 5,000 cities. The expansion activity will be more in Northern and Eastern India.

Lenders expect robust retail credit in festive season

Lenders expect robust retail credit in festive season

Rediff.com   2 Sep 2023

Lenders in India, comprising banks and finance companies, anticipate robust growth in retail credit during the upcoming festival season, stretching from September to December 2023. This expectation is based on resilient demand, government initiatives, and elections in key states.

India's outward FDI rises to $1.85 bn in July 2023

India's outward FDI rises to $1.85 bn in July 2023

Rediff.com   30 Aug 2023

Interrupting a two-month streak of decline, outward foreign direct investment (FDI) rose sequentially to $1.85 billion in July over $1.07 billion in June, an increase of 73 per cent. However, it was lower than the $2.18 billion in July last year, according to the Reserve Bank of India data. Outbound FDI, expressed as financial commitment, has three components - equity, loans, and guarantees.

Net FDI into India declines sharply to $5 billion in Q1

Net FDI into India declines sharply to $5 billion in Q1

Rediff.com   19 Aug 2023

The sectors that received most of the investment during this period included manufacturing, financial services, business services, computer services, electricity, and other energy sectors.

Flows into NRI deposits grow multi-fold to $2.14 billion in first quarter

Flows into NRI deposits grow multi-fold to $2.14 billion in first quarter

Rediff.com   18 Aug 2023

The flow of money into Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) deposits witnessed a substantial increase, touching $2.14 billion in the first quarter of this financial year (Q1FY24), compared with $349 million in the same period in FY23. The outstanding NRI deposits rose by $2.5 billion, standing at $141.28 billion at the end of June 2023, up from $138.77 billion in May 2023, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. RBI released the updated data in the bulletin after almost three months.

Indian per capita income to grow sevenfold by FY47, says SBI Research

Indian per capita income to grow sevenfold by FY47, says SBI Research

Rediff.com   16 Aug 2023

The per capita income of Indians as gleaned from income-tax filing is expected to increase from Rs 2 lakh in FY23 to Rs 14.9 lakh in FY47, coinciding with 100 years of the country's Independence, according to SBI Research. In dollar terms it will increase from about $2,500 in FY23 to $12,400 in FY47. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser, State Bank of India, said the weighted mean income was Rs 4.4 lakh in AY14. That rose to Rs 13 lakh in FY23.

India's outward FDI down 50% in H1 2023 on grim global growth prospects

India's outward FDI down 50% in H1 2023 on grim global growth prospects

Rediff.com   24 Jul 2023

India's outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) nosedived to $11.12 billion in January-June (H1 2023) from $23.57 billion in the same period last year, indicative of the slowdown in the global economy, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. The outward FDI expressed as the total financial commitment, has three components, namely equity, loan and guarantees. The sharp contraction in the commitments (outward FDI) was prominent in the April-June 2023 period.

Outward remittances surge to $2.9 billion in May

Outward remittances surge to $2.9 billion in May

Rediff.com   18 Jul 2023

Outward remittances under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) rose in May 2023 to $2.88 billion as compared to $2.33 billion in April, mainly due to an uptick in travel spend. People in India spent close to $1.5 billion on international travel in May, against $1.10 billion in April.

Net profit of listed commercial banks seen growing 44% in Q1 FY24

Net profit of listed commercial banks seen growing 44% in Q1 FY24

Rediff.com   14 Jul 2023

Benefiting from higher credit off-take and loan repricing, listed commercial banks are expected to post 43.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in their net profit in the quarter ended June 30 (Q1FY24), analysts have said. Controlled credit costs due to a healthy asset quality profile and a steady treasury book will also support a strong bottom line for the lenders in the first quarter. However, net profit may shrink sequentially, according to analysts' estimates for 13 banks sourced from Bloomberg data.

HDFC Bank-HDFC's combined loan book up 13.1%; deposits up 16.2% in Q1

HDFC Bank-HDFC's combined loan book up 13.1%; deposits up 16.2% in Q1

Rediff.com   6 Jul 2023

The merged entity's deposits grew by 16.2 per cent YoY at Rs 20.63 trillion at the end of the first quarter. Sequentially, the merged entity's advances rose by about 0.7 per cent to Rs 22.30 trillion as of March 31, 2023. However, the pace of deposit mobilisation was higher at 1.2 per cent over Rs 20.39 trillion as of March 31, 2023.

RBI asks card issuers to explore more networks, increase customer choices

RBI asks card issuers to explore more networks, increase customer choices

Rediff.com   6 Jul 2023

To provide more choices to customers, the Reserve Bank of India has suggested mandating bank and non-bank card issuers to issue debt, credit and prepaid cards on more than one network. Customers can choose any one either at the time of issue of the card or anytime later, according to draft norms released by the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday. The RBI said card issuers would also be barred from signing agreements that limit their ability to tie-up with other card-networks, according to the draft.