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RBI's financial inclusion index hits 67 in March 2025, with growth across all segments

RBI's financial inclusion index hits 67 in March 2025, with growth across all segments

The Reserve Bank's FI-Index, which captures extent of financial inclusion in the country, rose 4.3 per cent during the year ending March 2025, the central bank said on Tuesday. The RBI had constructed the composite Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) in consultation with the concerned stakeholders, including the government. The annual index was first published in August 2021 for the fiscal ending March 2021. "Index for the year ending March 2025 has since been compiled. The value of FI-Index for March 2025 stands at 67 vis-vis 64.2 in March 2024, with growth witnessed across all sub-indices, viz, access, usage and quality," the central bank said.
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RBI caps investment by a bank in AIF scheme at 10 pc
RBI caps investment by a bank in AIF scheme at 10 pc

News18

time38 minutes ago

  • News18

RBI caps investment by a bank in AIF scheme at 10 pc

Agency: Mumbai, Jul 29 (PTI) The Reserve Bank on Tuesday capped contributions by a single regulated entity (RE), including banks and NBFCs, at 10 per cent of the corpus of an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) scheme. Also, collective contribution by all REs in any AIF Scheme should not be more than 20 per cent of the corpus of that scheme, said the Reserve Bank of India (Investment in AIF) Directions, 2025. REs refer to banks, NBFCs and All-India Financial Institutions. The RBI had issued guidelines in December 2023 and later in March 2024 prescribing the regulatory guidelines in respect of investment by the REs of the Reserve Bank in AIFs. The guidelines have been reviewed, inter alia, taking into account industry feedback as well as the regulations issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) relating to specific due diligence of investors and investments of AIFs, the RBI said in a circular on Tuesday. 'No RE shall individually contribute more than 10 per cent of the corpus of an AIF Scheme," the circular said. Collective contribution by all REs in any AIF Scheme shall not be more than 20 per cent of the corpus of that scheme. 'If a RE contributes more than five per cent of the corpus of an AIF Scheme, which also has downstream investment in a debtor company of the RE, then the RE shall be required to make 100 per cent provision to the extent of its proportionate investment in the debtor company through the AIF Scheme, subject to a maximum of the direct loan and/ or investment exposure of the RE to the debtor company," it said. The circular also said the RBI may, in consultation with the government, exempt certain AIFs from the scope of the existing circulars and the revised Directions. PTI NKD NKD MR (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: July 29, 2025, 19:00 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

IMF upgrades India's FY26 GDP growth forecast to 6.4% as trade tensions ease
IMF upgrades India's FY26 GDP growth forecast to 6.4% as trade tensions ease

Indian Express

timean hour ago

  • Indian Express

IMF upgrades India's FY26 GDP growth forecast to 6.4% as trade tensions ease

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for India to 6.4 per cent for both 2025-26 and 2026-27 on account of easing global trade tensions, with the world economy also seen expanding at a slightly faster pace than what the multilateral organisation had predicted in April. 'In India, growth is projected to be 6.4 per cent in 2025 and 2026, with both numbers revised slightly upward, reflecting a more benign external environment than assumed in the April reference forecast,' the IMF said in an update to its World Economic Outlook report, referring to India's fiscal years that begin in 2025 and 2026. According to non-partisan policy research center The Budget Lab at Yale, US consumers faced an overall average effective tariff rate of 18.2 per cent as on July 28, down from 28 per cent on April 9. India's GDP is estimated to have increased by 6.5 per cent in 2024-25, the lowest growth rate in four years. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), meanwhile, expects the GDP to grow by another 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal, with the Indian finance ministry estimating it in the range of 6.3-6.8 per cent. For 2026-27, the RBI on April 9 had forecast a growth rate of 6.7 per cent. Back in April, the IMF had cut its growth forecasts for India by 30 basis points (bps) to 6.2 per cent for 2025-26 and by 20 bps to 6.3 per cent for 2026-27 due to 'higher levels of trade tensions and global uncertainty'. Since then, the tariff war waged by the US has eased somewhat, with IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas calling the Trump administration's April actions an 'unprecedented escalation'. Moreover, global financial conditions have eased and the US dollar has weakened around 8 per cent since January, allowing the IMF to now project that the global GDP will grow 3 per cent in 2025 and 3.1 per cent in 2026, up from 2.8 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively, predicted in April. However, the IMF continued to warn that while the 'modest decline in trade tensions' had contributed to the resilience of the global economy, tariffs remain 'historically high' and global policy remains highly uncertain, with risks to the world 'firmly to the downside'. '…compared to our pre-April 2 forecast, global growth is revised downwards by 0.2pp (0.2 percentage points) this year. At around 3 per cent, global growth remains disappointingly below pre-COVID average. And we continue to project a persistent decline in global trade as a share of output despite the recent frontloading, from 57 per cent in 2024 to 53 per cent in 2030,' Gourinchas said. One percentage point is equal to 100 basis points. The other countries expected by the IMF to grow at a faster pace now in both 2025 and 2026 include the US, Canada, China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. China, in fact, received the largest growth forecast upgrade by the IMF, with its GDP now seen expanding 4.8 per cent in 2025, up from 4 per cent predicted in April. 'This revision reflects stronger-than-expected activity in the first half of 2025 and the significant reduction in US–China tariffs. The GDP outturn in the first quarter of 2025 alone implies a mechanical upgrade to the growth rate for the year of 0.6 percentage point. A recovery in inventory accumulation is expected to partly offset payback from front-loading in the second half of 2025. Growth in 2026 is also revised upward by 0.2 percentage point to 4.2 per cent, again reflecting the lower effective tariff rates,' the IMF said. China's GDP grew 5.4 per cent and 5.2 per cent in the first two quarters of 2025, beating forecasts, and keeping the world's second largest economy on track to meet the government's full-year growth target of 5 per cent. Siddharth Upasani is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. He reports primarily on data and the economy, looking for trends and changes in the former which paint a picture of the latter. Before The Indian Express, he worked at Moneycontrol and financial newswire Informist (previously called Cogencis). Outside of work, sports, fantasy football, and graphic novels keep him busy. ... Read More

India's household consumption set to pick up in 2-3 quarters: Report
India's household consumption set to pick up in 2-3 quarters: Report

Business Standard

time2 hours ago

  • Business Standard

India's household consumption set to pick up in 2-3 quarters: Report

The overall household consumption is set to pick up in the next two to three quarters on rural strength, a Swiss brokerage said on Tuesday. Softened inflation, which boosts purchasing power, improving crop outlook on good monsoons and a $20 billion social welfare spends on women are set to strengthen rural consumption, UBS Securities said in a report. Urban consumption will "stabilise" on aspects like RBI's rate cuts, $10 billion of policy stimulus through personal income tax changes and improved availability of credit, it said. "Even as rural activity is gaining traction, we believe it is still too early to expect a broad-based recovery in household consumption, as rural consumption accounts for less than half a percentage share of the total," its chief India economist Tanvee Gupta Jain said. "In our base case, we expect overall household consumption to start picking up over the next 2-3 quarters as rural consumption strengthens," she said. There is a "divide" within rural consumption wherein the demand for mass-market products is muted while premium categories continue to grow, the report said. Real rural wage growth adjusted for food inflation rose to a six-year high of 4.5 per cent while agricultural terms of trade "worsened" on lower food prices in the June quarter, the report said. Rural consumer sentiment was up, two-wheeler and tractor sales were up 9 per cent and 35 per cent on-quarter, respectively, and rural fast-moving consumer goods sales were also robust, the report said. On the urban consumption front, the report said demand indicators, including passenger car sales and production of durable goods, fell sequentially in the June quarter, even as urban consumer sentiment remained stable. The $ 55 billion payout to government employees from 2026, as the eighth pay commission recommendations get implemented, will help the urban demand, it said.

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