Explore Business Standard
Margin pressure for Indian banks could increase, as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) flexibility to inject local-currency liquidity into the banking system has narrowed amid efforts to contain rupee volatility, a report said on Thursday. However, banks' direct foreign-currency risks remain limited, Fitch Ratings said in a report. "Sector margins could decline by 20-30 bps below our current 3.1 per cent forecast for the financial year ending March 31, 2027 (FY27) if higher funding costs linked to Middle East tensions persist. This could reduce operating profit/risk-weighted assets (RWAs) - our core earnings metric - by around 30-40bps, from our 2.5 per cent forecast for FY27," it said. The base case assumed deposit costs would decline in FY27 as accommodative liquidity would enable further transmission of the RBI's 125 bps of policy rate cuts since December 2024; only 44 bps have been passed through to deposit rates as of January 2026, due to intensified competition for deposits wit
Businesses in Bangladesh are facing a liquidity crunch as the central bank has capped the withdrawal of cash from banks at Tk 2 lakh amidst uncertainty in the country following the fall of the Sheikh Hasin-led government, a media report said on Monday. The Bangladesh Bank set a cash withdrawal limit of Tk 2 lakh (Rs 1.42 lakh approximately) per account on Saturday, increasing it from the Tk 1 lakh announced earlier. The central bank decided this due to security concerns as police are yet to return to work fully, following the clashes between police and students during the widespread protests against Hasina's Awami League-led government over a controversial quota system in jobs. Interim Finance and Planning Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Sunday also said that the limit on cash withdrawals was required given the current situation. Businesses, especially those mainly dealing with cash transactions, said they would be in a tough situation if the cash crisis lingers and restrictions remain