RBI makes repo-linked interest rates mandatory

Loans to get cheaper as RBI cuts repo rates

RBI imposes penalty on seven public sector banks for violating norms

Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty ranging between one to two crore rupees on seven public sector banks for violating norms on fraud classification, bill discounting and monitoring of end use of funds. The central bank said in a press release that Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Union Bank of India were fined 1.5 crore rupees each, while Allahabad Bank and Bank of Maharashtra were penalised 2 crore rupees each. Oriental Bank of Commerce was penalised with 1 crore...

Govt approves proposal given by RBI on draft modalities of guarantee to operationalize Budget announcement

The government has approved a proposal given by the Reserve Bank of India on draft modalities of the guarantee to operationalize the Budget announcement. This is in regard to one-time partial credit to the Public Sector Banks for purchase of high-rated assets of financially sound Non-banking financial companies.  Disclosing this Finance Ministry officials said in New Delhi today, after the approval from the Government, the modalities would be set in motion by RBI. The Department of Financial Ser...

RBI advises all banks to accept coins of all denominations

Reserve Bank of India has advised all banks to immediately direct all their branches to accept coins of all denominations. RBI's advisory came yesterday after it received complaints about non-acceptance of coins by branches of various banks. Reserve Bank advised all banks to accept coins of all denominations tendered at their counters for transactions or exchange and ensure strict compliance in the matter. 

Farm loan waivers, income support schemes increasing risks to fiscal consolidation of the states: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) today said that farm loan waivers and income support schemes are increasing risks to fiscal consolidation of the states.   The remarks were made during a meeting between the members of the 15th Finance Commission and the RBI senior officials, including governor Shaktikanta Das and the deputy governors, at the central bank headquarters in Mumbai.   A statement from the RBI said that the central bank, in its presentation, listed out the specific factors that will dri...

RBI issues norms for banks to set up currency chests

Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has come out with guidelines for banks to set up new currency chests, which include minimum area of 1,500 square feet for strong room.  The RBI said that the new chests should have a processing capacity of 6.6 lakh pieces of banknotes per day. It added that for those situated in the hilly/ inaccessible places, capacity should be 2.1 lakh pieces of banknotes per day.  Earlier, a RBI appointed committee had recommended that the apex bank should encourage banks to open la...

RBI to unveil this fiscal's first bi-monthly policy decision today

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet for the new fiscal's first bi-monthly monetary policy today. The MPC would declare its first bi-monthly policy statement for 2019-20 on Thursday. The central bank said in a release yesterday that the MPC will meet from today to Thursday for the first bi-monthly policy. Industry and experts are expecting that the banking sector regulator may cut the key lending rate by 0.25 per cent so as to boost the ec...

RBI exploring mobile phone-based solution to help visually impaired identify banknotes

The Reserve Bank of India is exploring the possibility of mobile phone-based solution to help visually-impaired people easily identify the currency notes. Currently, intaglio printing-based identification marks are present in the banknotes of Rs 100 and above for helping the visually challenged. About 80 lakh people in the country are likely to benefit from the initiative. The device/mechanism, once developed should be able to identify the denomination of a currency within two seconds and read i...

RBI relaxes ECB norms for infrastructure creation

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday liberalised the norms governing foreign borrowings for infrastructure creation.  The central bank in a notification said that the minimum average maturity requirement for the External Commercial Borrowings, ECBs in the infrastructure space raised by eligible borrowers has been reduced to three years from earlier five years. The RBI has said that the provisions have been reviewed and in consultation with the Government of India.