Page 5 - Central Bank

Central Bank Q1 net up 77.87% at Rs 418 cr, credit costs decline sharply

Sequentially, the public sector lender's profit was down 26.8%

Australia picks first female central bank head to shepherd through reform

Lowe will leave on Sept. 17, marking the end of his 43-year career at the bank. The decision comes as Lowe is due to accompany Chalmers to a Group of 20 meeting in India next week

Indian lenders want RBI to conduct more overnight reverse repo auctions

The Indian central bank has been conducting shorter duration two-day VRRRs through the week, before being prompted by lenders to resort to an overnight auction

Sri Lanka's central bank reduces interest rates for second time in a month

Sri Lanka's central bank on Thursday announced a reduction in the interest rates aimed at enabling the cash-strapped island nation's economy to reach its potential and easing pressures in the financial markets. A statement from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said the deposit facility rate and the lending facility rates were reduced by 200 basis points to 11 and 12 per cent. This is aimed at enabling the economy to reach its potential and stabilising inflation at mid-single digit levels in the medium term while easing pressures in the financial markets, the statement said. Accordingly, the banking and financial sector is urged to pass on the benefits of this significant easing of monetary policy by the central bank to individuals and businesses, thereby supporting economic activities to rebound in the period ahead, the statement added. This is the second policy interest rate reduction as the central bank in early June brought down policy interest rates -- the first such in three ...

Singapore central bank reports largest net loss of $22.8 bn in FY23

Singapore's central bank has recorded its largest net loss of SGD 30.8 billion (USD 22.8 billion) in the 2022-2023 financial year mainly due to its aggressive monetary policy tightening to bring down inflation, its Managing Director Ravi Menon said on Wednesday. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) also raised its end-2023 forecast for core inflation to 2.5 to 3 per cent, up from an estimate of around 2.5 per cent made in April. The MAS recorded its largest net loss of SGD 30.8 billion (USD 22.8 billion) in the 2022-2023 financial year mainly due to its aggressive monetary policy tightening to bring down inflation, which paved the way for a broad appreciation of the Singapore dollar against other currencies, including US dollar, euro and yen. As MAS' financial results are reported in the Sing dollar, it saw significant negative currency translation effects of about SGD 21.4 billion, or 70 per cent of the annual net loss, Menon said. The loss widened significantly as compared t

RBI panel suggests steps for globalisation of rupee, inclusion in IMF's SDR

A Reserve Bank-appointed committee on Wednesday suggested a host of short-term and long-term measures for internationalisation of Indian rupee, including efforts for inclusion of the Indian currency in IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket. SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF to supplement the official reserves of its member countries. It is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. As such, SDRs can provide a country with liquidity. A basket of currencies defines the SDR: the US dollar, euro, Chinese yuan, Japanese yen, and the British pound. The Inter Departmental Group (IDG) headed by RBI executive director R S Ratho in its report said that internationalisation is a process rather than an event, with continuous efforts to build upon all the initiatives that have been taken in the past. Suggesting short-term measures, the panel said, there is a need to design a template and adopt a standardised approach for examining the proposals o

Surprises from Central banks see June become bumper 2023 rate hike month

Seven of the nine central banks overseeing the 10 most heavily traded currencies that met in June hiked rates, while two opted for no change, Reuters data showed

Sri Lanka to spare banks in $19.8 bn local debt restructuring plan

Sri Lanka will spare banks from being part of its local debt restructuring plan because of the possible impact on deposits, while the bulk of the burden will be shared by the Central Bank and superannuation funds, officials said Thursday. Sri Lanka's Cabinet a day earlier approved a plan to restructure nearly half of its $42.1 billion local debt following a bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund. A special Parliament sitting has been convened for Saturday to seek approval for the plan. The government has announced a bank holiday until next week to prevent any speculation-triggered bank run. Central Bank governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said the treasury bills owned by the bank will be converted into treasury bonds with a longer maturity period and the same has been proposed to superannuation funds. If those funds are unwilling to be part of the plan they may have to pay a 30% tax instead of the 14% special treatment effective now. Sri Lanka is also seeking to reduce ..

Lanka declares special bank holiday on Jun 30 to set in debt restructuring

Sri Lanka's Central Bank on Monday declared a special bank holiday on Friday to ensure a continuous five-day cooling-off period after the government's announcement on the domestic debt restructuring (DDR) process as part of the efforts to revive the cash-strapped economy. According to government sources, the DDR plan would be announced on either Wednesday or Thursday, with Parliament expected to take it up over the weekend. Governor of the central bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe, said that June 29 to July 3 would be continuous bank holidays with the Colombo Stock Exchange also observing a holiday on June 30. We have now reached the stage of announcing domestic debt optimisation. For this, we need some time (and) space to discuss the plan in the cabinet, discuss at the finance oversight committee in Parliament, and finally present it in Parliament for approval," Weerasinghe said, adding that a minimum of five days would be required for the entire process. On Thursday, Sri Lanka will ...

Lenders set to clear Rs 400 crore to bring Go First back on runway

Go First plans to operate around 150 daily flights with 22 aircraft. The airline also plans to operate charter flights for defence forces in the initial phase

Türkiye delivers 650-basis point hike to 15% but still underwhelms

The move suggested that the new central bank governor may have limited room to aggressively tackle inflation under the watch of the country's president

Pak lost $3.7 bn as expatriates used unofficial channels for remittances

Pakistan lost at least USD 3.7 billion in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year as expatriates used unofficial channels for remittances due to the huge exchange rate gap, the cash-strapped country's central bank has said. The Pakistani rupee has been in a state of freefall for most of the year due to pressure on the depleting foreign exchange reserves, creating a difference between the inter-bank and private money market exchange rates. Data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday showed that the country lost USD 3.7 billion in remittances during the first 11 months of FY23 mainly due to a widening exchange rate gap. Overseas Pakistanis who sent money to their relatives and families apparently resorted to unofficial channels to transfer funds, causing a loss to the official remittances that majorly contribute to helping support the balance of payments, the Dawn newspaper reported. It said the remittances sent by Pakistani expatriates dipped month-on-month b

India, UAE central banks discuss rupee-dirham trade progression: Goyal

Discussions between the central banks of India and UAE on promoting bilateral trade in the rupee and dirham to reduce transaction cost is progressing at a "very" fast pace, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. As the top leaders of both countries are decisive, so one "can imagine good outcomes very soon" on this, he added. India and the UAE already implemented a free trade agreement (FTA) in May last year to give a boost to bilateral trade and economic ties. The central banks of both countries are discussing the standard operating procedures and modalities. These talks were started in March 2022, and now "it is about a year since then, but both the countries have made significant progress," Goyal told reporters here. The RBI and the Central Bank of the UAE have been in a "very active" dialogue, and the finance ministry here is also "very" supportive and handling the entire issue, he said. "I am sure that given the high level of engagement on both sides, not

Sri Lanka hopes for single digit inflation by year-end: Guv Weerasinghe

Sri Lanka's Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe has said the decisive policy measures taken by the government to deal with the catastrophic economic crisis will help reduce the country's hyperinflation to single-digit by the year-end. Weerasinghe who took over the economic recovery process at the height of the crisis last year said that short-term painful measures were vital to restore the long-term stability of Sri Lanka's economy. Addressing a symposium on entrepreneurship organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) here on Thursday, he said, "We have taken very decisive measures to curtail and prevent inflation rising, which went to the peak of 70 per cent. Now it is under 30 per cent. It will certainly be a single digit by the fourth quarter of this year with the measures that we have implemented." Commenting on the restrictive measures taken by the government to stabilise the island nation's economy, Weerasinghe said that collective policy measures are painf

PSBs extend gains on hopes of firm Q4; Nifty PSB index zooms 13% in 1 month

Among the individual stocks, Indian Bank and Uco Bank were up 3 per cent, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India, Canara Bank and State Bank of India were up 2 per cent on the NSE

Bank of Japan's new head says banks stable, rules out major policy shift

The new governor of Japan's central bank signalled on Monday that he plans no drastic changes in its ultra-low interest rate policy, sticking to earlier messaging on the topic. Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Japan's financial institutions are not facing the sorts of turmoil seen recently with bank failures in the US and Europe. He pledged to do his utmost to maintain stability in both prices and financial systems in the world's third-largest economy. Markets have calmed and, as far as the impact on the Japanese system, we have maintained the easy monetary policy, and there is ample capital and fluidity, Ueda said. Japan's central bank is seeing its first leadership change in a decade, at a time when inflationary pressures around the world remain a risk and central banks are fighting back with big interest rate increases meant to slow economic activity. Ueda is taking over what many see as the unfinished work of his predecessor, Haruhiko Kuroda, whose second five-year term ende

Pakistan raises benchmark interest rate by 100 bps as IMF Loan in Limbo

The overall balance of payments position continues to remain under stress, with foreign exchange reserves still at low levels, the central bank said

Neeraj Nigam new RBI executive director, will lead consumer education dept

Central bank executive was regional director of Bhopal office, holds bachelor's degree in civil engineering

Russia's external debt hits 15-yr low to $380.5 bn in 2022, says cenbank

Russia's external debt fell to $380.5 billion in 2022, its lowest level in 15 years, the central bank said

RBI central board reviews economic situation, global developments

The meeting comes in the backdrop of banking crisis in US triggered by the SVB collapse and the Fed's adoption of a softer tone on future rate hikes in its latest policy statement