Croatia’s switch to Euro

Croatia has taken two major steps towards further integration with the European Union (EU) by adopting the euro and joining the Schengen zone. The country officially became the 20th member of the eurozone on January 1st, and the removal of ..

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2023

Category: International / World Current Affairs

Supreme Court Verdict on Demonetisation Case

The Supreme Court of India has upheld the 2016 decision of the Narendra Modi government to demonetize currency notes of INR 500 and INR 1,000 denominations. The decision, which was taken by a 4:1 majority of the Constitution Bench, stated ..

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2023

Category: Economy & Banking Current Affairs

India’s Holdings of US Government Securities Reached Record High

In February, India’s holdings of US government securities reached 177.5 billion USD- an increase of 33.2 billion USD in one year. Top Countries Holding US Government Securities The US Treasury Department had released data on foreign holdings of its government ..

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cuts its key lending rate

As per 4th bi – monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2019-20, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut  its key lending rate — repo rate – by 25 basis points to 5.15% in an effort to boost a sluggish ..

What could be implications of RBI’s mandate to link lending rates to an external benchmark?

The Reserve Bank of India, in a recent announcement, has mandated the banks to link their lending rates for loans to an external benchmark. This has made it mandatory for the banks to pass on the benefits of rate cuts ..

Merger of the 10 Public Sector Banks

In a slew of measures announced by the Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman on 30th August, 2019, to take the country out of economic doldrums, one particular step of the government has stood out. This was the planned merger ..

RBI’s Surplus Transfer

The Reserve Bank of India has transferred a surplus of Rs. 1.76 lakh crores to the Indian Government. This payment, which is equal to 1.25% of the Indian GDP (in nominal rates for 2018-19) aims to provide some breathing space ..

Housing Finance Companies to be treated as NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a notification stating that housing finance companies (HFCs) will be treated as one of the categories of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) for regulatory purposes and it will come under its direct oversight. ..