Banking news

 🍒 ‘Consumer confidence slips to a new low in May’ : Our Bureau The Consumer Confidence Survey released by the Reserve Bank of India for the month of May showed that the consumer confidence for the current period weakened further.  The current situation index (CSI), which has been in the negative territory since July 2019, fell to a new all-time low as consumer perceptions on general economic situation and employment scenario lowered further. The future expectations index (FEI) moved to pessimistic territory for the second time since the onset of the pandemic. This was driven by sharp fall in expectations on general economic situation, employment scenario and household income over one-year horizon. Household spending, too, weakened in the latest survey round, with essential spending showing signs of moderation while non-essential spending continues to contract. - Business Line

🍒 RBI approves re-appointment of Vishwavir Ahuja as MD, RBL Bank : The Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment of Vishwavir Ahuja as the Managing Director and CEO of RBL Bank for a one-year period with effect from June 30, 2021.  “The re-appointment is subject to the approval of shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting,” RBL Bank said in a regulatory filing on Friday. - Business Line

🍒 DSP MF moves court to secure ₹100 cr investment in Sintex NCD : DSP Investment Managers has filed an intervention application with National Company Law and Tribunal (NCLT) to secure its investment of ₹100 crore in the non-convertible debentures issued by Sintex BAPL.  The move follows after Axis Bank declaratory suit claiming first charge over the proceeds from sale of assets by Sintex BAPL. DSP Investment Managers is the asset management company of DSP Mutual Fund. DSP Credit Risk Fund had invested about ₹100 crore in the non-convertible debentures of Sintex BAPL in 2017. Subsequently, the company defaulted on its payment obligation and the fund house had written down the investment to ₹2 crore as of April-end. - Business Line

🍒 India's foreign exchange reserves will help tide global spillovers, RBI says : India’s foreign exchange reserves have by all indications crossed $600 billion, central bank chief Shaktikanta Das said, a huge buffer that will help insulate Asia’s third-largest economy from global spillovers and volatile external flows.  Earlier this year, the country’s foreign-exchange reserves briefly surpassed Russia’s to become the world’s fourth-largest, as the Reserve Bank of India continued to hoard dollars to cushion the economy against any sudden outflows. The reserves are enough to cover around 15 months of imports and have been bolstered by rising inflows into the booming stock market and foreign direct investments. “While these flows ease external financing constraints, they also impart volatility to financial markets and asset prices, while producing undesirable and unintended fluctuations in liquidity that can vitiate the monetary policy stance," Das said after announcing the decision to keep interest rates unchanged. - Live Mint

🍒 ‘RBI’s Rs 16,000 crore special liquidity facility to Sidbi to help MFIs mitigate Covid-related challenges’ : The microfinance industry on Friday said the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to provide a special liquidity facility of Rs 16,000 crore to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) for on-lending and refinancing purposes will provide support to microfinance institutions (MFIs) to mitigate challenges arising out of the pandemic.  Alok Misra, CEO of MFIN, the umbrella body of MFIs, expressed hope that small and medium MFIs will be “prominently” covered under on-lending and refinancing facilities by Sidbi as the industry is facing disruptions in collections due to the second wave of Covid-19. Industry bodies were, however, “slightly disappointed” because the RBI did not announce any measure on including microfinance institutions under the Resolution Framework 2.0.