All stories by Manojit Saha
'ICICI Pru's focus is on value of new business growth'
Rediff.com15 Aug 2023'If through growth and serving the customer we become number one, we will be very happy and very proud.'
As food prices spiral, fight against inflation not over: RBI report
Rediff.com18 Jul 2023The spike in food prices at the onset of the monsoon season has corroborated the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) view that the fight against inflation is far from over, the State of the Economy report of the central bank said. At the same time, the report said that the country is poised to become the fastest-growing major economy in the world, notwithstanding some sequential moderation in economic activity in June. Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation rate increased to 4.8 per cent in June 2023, from 4.3 per cent in May, primarily on account of an increase in food inflation.
'The first priority is to ensure seamless customer service without any disruption'
Rediff.com17 Jul 2023'We created war rooms -- from an IT perspective and also a customer war room -- to address any challenges that come up.'
'Growth is fragile'
Rediff.com11 Jul 2023'If all goes well, we may well hit or even surpass the forecast growth rate.'
Why Don't These Banks Have A Chairman?
Rediff.com29 Jun 2023UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, and Central Bank of India don't have a non-executive chairman.
'India is fastest-growing large economy in the world'
Rediff.com23 Jun 2023'India has formed tremendous resilience and still a strong growth.'
'We should not call it demonetisation'
Rediff.com12 Jun 2023'...because it is still a legal tender.'
What Links Rs 30,252 Crore And Banks?
Rediff.com7 Jun 2023Private sector banks reported the maximum number of frauds in 2022-2023.
CBDC Pilot May Continue For One More Year
Rediff.com2 May 2023One reason why volumes have not increased in the retail segment is that users are not aware of merchants who accept digital currency.
Supply shocks led to price rise during pandemic, says SBI report
Rediff.com25 Apr 2023The price hikes during Covid were more because of supply chain and logistics disruptions caused by the pandemic and the Ukraine war rather than firms increasing prices because of higher pricing power, a report by State Bank of India (SBI) said. "It is thus incorrect to infer that concentration power dictated pricing capacity of firms, thus resulting in unyielding core inflation," the report authored by Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser, SBI, said. A recent research article by former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Viral Acharya had observed that persistence of core inflation in India is due to purchasing power of top-five corporate houses.
HDFC Bank to continue opening branches at same speed in FY24 as last year
Rediff.com24 Apr 2023After opening close to 1,500 branches in 2022-23, HDFC Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, will continue expanding its branch network at the same speed in the current financial year. The lender says branch expansion is crucial for deposit mobilisation. As of March 31, 2023, HDFC Bank had 7,821 branches, up from 6,342 a year ago.
Pause now, lower later: Repo rate cuts may start by year-end
Rediff.com18 Apr 2023Higher for longer' may be the narrative in the developed markets, but interest rates might not stay high for very long in India, with a section of the market expecting rate cuts to begin this year. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to keep interest rates unchanged at 6.5 per cent in the April review - after hiking the policy repo rate in six previous meetings. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das emphasised that the pause was only for the April policy and that the central bank was ready to act if the situation demanded.
'No need to raise capital for Citi deal'
Rediff.com28 Feb 2023'Citibank customers will migrate to the Axis Bank platform over 18 months.'
Secret behing the success of Indian Bank
Rediff.com20 Feb 2023Indian Bank expects recoveries to be more than slippages in this financial year, which will result in improved asset quality.
Monetary policy making: 2022 was year of reset, 2023 could be a long pause
Rediff.com29 Dec 2022The year 2022 saw the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) start acting on the policy repo rate after a gap of two years. The six-member monetary policy committee of the RBI reduced interest rate sharply - by 115 bps - when Covid-19 struck in 2020. In March 2020, days after the nationwide lockdown was announced, MPC in an unscheduled meeting reduced the repo rate by 75 bps, followed by another 40 bps in May. Status quo was maintained for the next two years since the May repo rate hike.
Banks' balance sheet grows in double digits after 7 years: RBI report
Rediff.com28 Dec 2022The health of Indian banks continued to improve in 2021-22 with their balance sheet growing at double digits after a gap of seven years and their asset quality and capital position bettering, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its annual report on trend and progress of banking in India. At the same time, the banking regulator flagged the issue of slippages from restructured accounts. "Going forward, it is imperative that banks ensure due diligence and robust credit appraisal to limit credit risk," the report said.
MPC members voiced different views on interest rate
Rediff.com23 Dec 2022The members of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voiced different views on the interest rate and stance, with two of them indicating they may not vote for further rate increases even if Governor Shaktikanta Das and Deputy Governor Michael Patra maintain bringing down inflation as their primary objective, the minutes of the December review of the monetary policy showed. The other two members remained neutral. The MPC increased the policy repo rate by 35 basis points (bps) - which was lower than the previous three hikes of 50 bps. The repo rate has been hiked by 225 bps to 6.25 per cent since May this year.
Can RBI's digital currency replace physical cash?
Rediff.com15 Dec 2022Despite the demonetisation of 2016 and the rise in digital transactions that followed, the economy's dependence on cash has remained as high as ever. So when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a pilot project of its version of digital cash - called the central bank digital currency (CBDC) - on December 1, many questions were asked. Can the CBDC replace physical cash, even partially? Can it match cash in terms of convenience? Are CBDC transactions truly anonymous?
How Punjab & Sind Bank plans to boost deposits
Rediff.com15 Dec 2022State-owned Punjab & Sind Bank is targeting salary accounts to boost the share of low-cost deposits. Swarup Saha, managing director and chief executive officer of the New Delhi-based lender, tells Manojit Saha that the bank may see gross non-performing assets (NPAs) fall below 8 per cent if there is resolution of the stressed assets.
e-Rupee: RBI creates Rs 1.71 crore of digital currency for retail pilot
Rediff.com2 Dec 2022The pilot project for central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the retail segment went live on Thursday with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issuing Rs 1.71 crore to four participating banks based on their indents. The central bank has identified four banks for the first phase of the pilot - State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank - in four cities, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar. The highest indent was received from one private sector bank.