All stories by TAMAL BANDYOPADHYAY
Should market experts be part of RBI's MPC?
Rediff.com21 Aug 2020'Three external members of the first MPC are respected researchers with excellent academic background, but there is no harm in considering academicians with diverse backgrounds such as finance and labour along with economists for this body,' recommends Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'It is not easy to be a gatekeeper of financial stability'
Rediff.com19 Aug 2020'There are deeper, underlying, forces at work and we need institutional arrangements to guard against them.'
'There is a need for more supervisors at the RBI'
Rediff.com19 Aug 2020'Those who come from outside are surprised at the relatively small strength of the RBI supervisory cadre, relative to the needs of the country and the needs of the financial sector.'
When an American professor worked at the RBI...
Rediff.com10 Aug 2020'We get to know secrets such as some of India's top-rated firms do not always make payments when due and many State-owned, listed, enterprises that borrow in bond markets default regularly.' 'Without naming the bank, he says that ever-greening of poor loans by a part of India's shadow banking lay at the doorstep of India's banking, notably 'one private bank'.' Viral Acharya's Quest for Restoring Financial Stability in India won't be music to many ears, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Why reduce the bank CEO to a titular head!
Rediff.com4 Aug 2020'The CEO will neither be able to guide the senior team in operational matters nor decide on their appointment, compensation or removal.' 'Yet, the CEO is responsible for the profit and loss of the bank!' 'Why would the senior executives listen to him?' 'Which self-respecting professional would want to be a CEO with these constraints?' asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
7 out of 12 PSBs made losses in first quarter
Rediff.com22 Jul 2020'The PSBs ended up recording Rs 7,709 crore losses in the March quarter compared to the Rs 11,688 crore profits of their private peers,' reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Want to buy a house? Now is the time!
Rediff.com17 Jul 2020'This is for the first time home loan rates have dropped below 7 per cent,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Do you use Fintechs? Read this please!
Rediff.com15 Jul 2020Fintechs need to behave with responsibility and transparency. A lot of mis-selling has been happening. Other issues have been plaguing the fledgling industry -- high interest rates, even higher processing fees, harsh collection process and, most critically, data leakage leading to rampant frauds, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
How the RBI's new home finance rules affect you
Rediff.com6 Jul 2020'Real estate loans are given in the garb of retail loans, sourcing money cheap from the NHB refinance window.' 'This loophole is being plugged,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Want to know what India's top bankers are up to?
Rediff.com30 Jun 2020The bosses of SBI, Union Bank and Central Bank have been driving down to their offices everyday to take stock of the biggest loan drive ever undertaken for MSMEs, discovers Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
India's 1st smart city is all set to take off in a big way
Rediff.com23 Jun 2020'Initially, Gift City was just another real estate project, but all that changed with Modi moving to New Delhi,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Bankers are COVID Warriors too!
Rediff.com11 Jun 2020'Like doctors, health workers, police, bankers are also COVID warriors,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Nirmalaji, junk rating agencies, save the economy
Rediff.com8 Jun 2020'It may sound like sacrilege, but does it really matter if the global raters downgrade India for fiscal slippage?' asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Explained: How P2P lending can help us
Rediff.com2 Jun 2020'As banks grapple with risk aversion and savers see an erosion in the value of money, the P2P platform can be a win-win for both borrowers and lenders,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Why it makes sense for banks to lend to MSMEs
Rediff.com19 May 2020'In times of recovery, we may see a rural-urban divide with the urban pockets affected more by COVID-19, but the MFI business model should encourage banks to handhold them in this hour of crisis,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
RBI wants to end lazy banking
Rediff.com6 May 2020'Banks are being encouraged to lend instead of parking their resources with the RBI and earn risk-free interest income,' points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Will RBI's rate cut force banks to lend?
Rediff.com28 Apr 2020'One way of doing this could be offering credit guarantee to the banks, say 10 per cent, for fresh loans given to micro, small and medium enterprises,' observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
BIG headache awaits banks this September
Rediff.com21 Apr 2020'We do not know when we will get to the business-as-usual mode.' 'Many borrowers may not be able to pay up.' 'The incidence of cheque bouncing has doubled or even trebled, some lenders say,' says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
What should the RBI do next, Mr Das?
Rediff.com17 Apr 2020'No one cares about fiscal deficit now. Or for that matter, inflation.' 'The focus is on growth and growth alone.' 'RBI needs to break the risk aversion of banks and infuse adrenaline in their veins', says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Explained: The 3-month loan moratorium
Rediff.com14 Apr 2020'Common sense says if one can afford, servicing the loans during this period is a better bet than postponing it by three months,' says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.