Indians paid more than ₹26,300 crore in foreign exchange fees in 2020 — ₹9,700 crore as exchange rate markups on currency conversions, payments and card purchases, while travelling abroad.
While gloom prevails across economies, a State Bank of India report says that the Reserve Bank of India has been relatively successful in ensuring financial stability in the market since May.
The delay in stimulus announcement is disappointing and raises the probability that a stimulus, if any, might be weaker than expected, says Jefferies India.
Round II of RBI’s Covid-19 crisis measures was received by the Sensex and the Nifty 50 gaining 1,116 and 331 points each before closing 986 and 273 points higher from the previous day’s close.
The central bank has been quiet on its regular growth and inflation forecasts, citing the highly fluid circumstances, but it has given ample hints in its latest Monetary Policy report.
Day 1 of the new fiscal saw benchmark indices in the red all through the day; they closed 4% lower.
The amount is just 0.8% and 5.8% of India’s GDP and foreign exchange reserves, respectively. And the maturity profile is reasonably spread out in FY21.
While broader indices Sensex and Nifty 50 fell over 701 and 214 points respectively in intraday trade, S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap fell 2.15% and 2.59% to record new 52-week lows.
The bank should announce a specific inflation target and then raise and lower interest rates as necessary to keep inflation near the target level.
While hoping for no rate action from RBI, Ind-Ra expects a macroeconomic hotchpotch if these factors sustain beyond a quarter.
