All stories by Abhijit Lele
How Bank of India Plans To Counter Deposit Woes
Rediff.com28 Nov 2024A grooming branch network for servicing HNIs is a stepping stone for a full-fledged wealth management business.
'Uncertainty related to inflation has not gone'
Rediff.com22 Nov 2024'In addition, we have geopolitics and politics and all the other things that will affect commodity prices.'
'Lending rate cut still some time away'
Rediff.com20 Nov 2024Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's call for making lending rates affordable may not resonate anytime soon as banks still struggle with margin compression, and await clues from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on liquidity and rate action. Hinting that any lending rate cut was some time away, State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Vinay M Tonse said there was still some aggression in the market regarding deposit pricing.
Private banks leading AI adoption in banking services, says RBI study
Rediff.com22 Oct 2024Private sector banks in India are taking the lead in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in areas like fraud detection, customer segmentation, and chat automation, according to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) study. The asset size and capital adequacy ratio are influencing the rate of adoption.
India Inc Biggies Plan To Invest $800 Bn
Rediff.com15 Oct 2024Roughly 40% of this projected outlay is expected to go towards emerging industries, including green hydrogen, clean energy, semiconductors, and electric vehicles.
After UPI and ULI, banks to set up Unified Recovery Interface
Rediff.com9 Sep 2024Eying benefits from digital banking, lenders are now looking at building Unified Recovery Interface (URI) for enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and getting good prices for properties of defaulters. This would be managed by PSB Alliance Ltd, a company set up by all public sector banks in the country. M V Rao, chairman, Indian Banks' Association (IBA), said: "Till now we had Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a product developed by National Payments Corporation Ltd (NPCI).
'Rates to remain elevated for bulk deposits'
Rediff.com21 Aug 2024'In the case of corporate credit, especially to AAA borrowers, lenders will have to take a fresh look at pricing.'
Results review: PSBs' net profit grows 16% to Rs 39,974 crore in Q1
Rediff.com13 Aug 2024Public sector banks (PSBs) posted 16.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in net profit at Rs 39,974 crore during the June 2024 quarter. While net interest income (NII) showed subdued growth of 7.1 per cent, provisions and contingencies declined by 10.5 per cent Y-o-Y. This aided the bottom line to show steady growth.
C S Setty: SBI's New Boss
Rediff.com1 Jul 2024'You will see him frequently asking customers -- especially retail -- about service experience, pain points, areas of improvement and suggestions.'
Jio Fin arm plans Rs 36K cr deal with Reliance Retail
Rediff.com27 May 2024Mukesh Ambani's Jio Financial Services (JFS) is set to seek shareholders' approval for its leasing subsidiary to acquire telecom equipment and devices worth Rs 36,000 crore ($4.33 billion) from Reliance Retail. Jio Leasing Services Limited (JLSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of JFS, plans to enter the device leasing business, and the equipment will be deployed in broadband wireless connectivity and other services.
'Liquidity will improve in system after elections'
Rediff.com24 May 2024'We may see little softness in liquidity position after the stabilisation of the government.'
SBI to hire over 15,000 in FY25 to boost operations, expand network
Rediff.com13 May 2024State Bank of India (SBI) is planning to recruit over 15,000 people in 2024-25, increasing the strength of those in the field for marketing. The recruits will be also for deployment in the bank's operations subsidiary and expanding the branch network. The operations subsidiary - State Bank Operations Support Services - became functional last year.
'There Is No Modi Wave'
Rediff.com3 May 2024'I am shocked that the BJP makes so many commitments. What did they deliver as the NDA?'
Outward foreign direct investment by Indian companies stabilises in FY24
Rediff.com22 Apr 2024The outward foreign direct investment (FDI) by Indian companies stabilised in 2023-24 (FY24) after witnessing a fall in 2022-23 (FY23). The actual outward FDI inched up slightly to $13.75 billion in FY24 from $13.49 billion in the previous financial year (FY23), according to finance ministry data. This stability came after a sharp fall in outward flows in FY23 from $18.52 billion in 2021-22 (FY22).
Credit growth, quality assets likely to spur bank profits in Q4 FY24
Rediff.com17 Apr 2024With high credit growth and healthy asset quality, listed commercial banks are expected to report steady growth in earnings during the fourth quarter ended March 2024 (Q4 FY24). Profits are expected to grow at 9.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and net interest income (NII) by 8.7 per cent in Q4 FY24, according to Bloomberg analysts' estimates. According to Motilal Oswal Securities, while bank credit growth has been robust, deposit growth has also gathered pace.
Net FDI in India down 38% in Apr-Jan
Rediff.com20 Mar 2024Net foreign direct investment (FDI) in India, inflows minus outflows, declined 38.4 per cent year-on-year to $15.41 billion in the first 10 months of this financial year due to an increase in the repatriation of capital. According to the Reserve Bank of India's data in the March 2024 bulletin, FDI in India was $25.53 billion and outflows were $10.11 billion in April 2023-January 2024. In the same period last year, FDI inflows stood at $36.75 billion and outflows at $11.75 billion.
Battle for short term money likely to turn more intense in March
Rediff.com13 Mar 2024The need for money among banks, especially for short-term funds, may turn more intense in the last month of the financial year to feed the demand for capital for tax payments and meet year-end targets. The mobilisation of funds via the certificate of deposits (CDs) has seen a threefold increase to over Rs 60,000 crore in the fortnight that ended February 23 from around Rs 20,000 crore in the fortnight of January 26, 2024, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.
8 NBFCs eye ECB route to raise over $2 billion
Rediff.com7 Mar 2024The NBFCs, which filed for ECB in January with the Reserve of India (RBI), include REC (over $500 million), Tata Motors Finance ($200 million), L&T Finance Holdings ($125 million), and Shriram Finance ($750 million), according to the RBI data. A senior executive with State Bank of India (SBI) said overseas borrowing by Indian companies, including highly rated NBFCs, was likely to grow because hedging costs were low and there was a softening bias in global interest rates.
Banking system liquidity goes into surplus mode after 3 months
Rediff.com6 Mar 2024The 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'
Rediff.com6 Feb 2024'The stabilisation of interest rates followed by reduction is going to happen over the next year.'