A personal loan is a quick and easy way of getting some money to tide over a cash crunch
In a widely expected move, the US Federal Reserve has decided to keep its interest rate target range unchanged at 4.25 to 4.5%.
Even as the economy undergoes what may be wrenching changes, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday is expected to signal it could cut its key interest rate twice this year - the same forecast it issued in December. Yet the reasons for those cuts may change dramatically, depending on how the economy fares. What were once seen as good news rate reductions in response to a steady decline in inflation back to the Fed's target of 2%, now could become bad news cuts that would be implemented to offset an economy struggling in the wake of widespread tariffs, rapid cuts in government spending, and a spike in economic uncertainty. At the end of last year, the Fed reduced its key interest rate three times to about 4.3% from 5.3%. The Fed had rapidly raised its rate to combat inflation, and as price growth headed lower, that allowed the central bank to reverse some of those rate hikes. In September, inflation dropped to a 3 1/2 year low of 2.4%. Yet inflation then marched higher for four straight .
Fed officials have signaled they may be on hold for some time amid uncertainty around President Donald Trump's economic policies, particularly on trade
This comes against the backdrop of ebbing stock markets and bond yields in the current financial year
Moderation in inflation to five-month low of 4.3 per cent in January has provided RBI more space to cut interest rate in policy meet, according to the monthly economic review by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). Earlier this month, RBI slashed policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent. The next monetary policy committee meeting is to be held in April. Even in the face of global headwinds, some of the high-frequency indicators of the Indian economy have turned more benign and the nascent turnaround is evident in indicators like Purchasing Managers' Index for manufacturing, GST collections and non-EV and EV sales, it said. PMI for manufacturing increased to 57.7 in January, signalling expansion, while PMI for services remained at an elevated level of 56.5. The economic think tank added that GST collections, gross and net, achieved robust double-digit growth of 12.3 per cent and 10.9 per cent, respectively in January 2025, as compared to subdued a .
The RBI expects the consumer price index-based inflation rate to average 4.2 per cent in 2025-26 - assuming a normal monsoon - compared to the projection of 4.8 per cent this financial year
First repo cut in 5 yrs, of 25 bps to 6.25%, set to ease home loan rates; MPC keeps 'neutral' stance
RBI Monetary Policy Highlights: RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced a 25 bps cut in the repo rate -- from 6.5% to 6.25%
The benchmark 10-year yield ended at 6.6562% compared with Wednesday's close of 6.6616%
Portfolio managers that are underweight on Indian bonds have started rebalancing their portfolios
The governor is chairing an almost entirely new six-member monetary policy committee
RBI Monetary Policy: With the Union Budget for FY-2026 behind us, the focus now shifts to the next big event on the horizon - the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) final meeting for FY-2025 on Feb 7
More important is customer service, like these days, digital banking, mobile banking, our internet banking, how these are synchronised
Fed officials say they largely believe the progress in lowering inflation will resume this year, but have now put rates on hold as they await data to confirm it
The Sensex ended the session at 76,330, a decline of 1,049 points or 1.4 per cent, while the Nifty closed at 23,086, down 346 points or 1.5 per cent
The RBI on Friday said it is mandatory for banks to offer fixed interest rate product in all equated installment based personal loan categories. The FAQs on 'Reset of Floating Interest Rate on Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI) based Personal Loans' (August 2023) also said the circular covers all equated installment based personal loans, irrespective of whether the interest rate is linked to an external benchmark or an internal benchmark. At the time of sanction of loans, annualised rate of interest/ annual percentage rate (APR), as applicable, should be disclosed in the Key Fact Statement (KFS) and the loan agreement, the FAQs said when and at what frequency should banks and other regulated entities (REs) communicate with the borrower. During the tenure of the loan, any increase in the EMI/tenor on account of the external benchmark rate should be communicated. The quarterly statements should be provided disclosing at the minimum, the principal and interest recovered till date, EMI
The RBI is one of the few central banks globally that is yet to cut interest rates despite repeated calls for easing amid a slowing economy
The minutes, to be released at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) on Wednesday, may help clarify how policymakers will approach further rate reductions
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