RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra expects inflation to be in a good place, interest rates to remain low and Indian economy’s goldilocks period to last in 2026. How will the year shape up and will his other gardening work in 2025 bear fruit?
Rupee’s difficult journey to continue in 2026 amid mute capital inflows, absence of trade deal with US and unwinding of yen carry trades; no kneejerk reaction in rupee’s favour against dollar after pact with European Union.
RBI has no immediate necessity to cut interest rates; expectation is to keep repo rate unchanged amid risking further capital outflows and weakening of rupee.
“I think now we are opening up, the engine is opening up,” says HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan; foundations are in place to build deposits to fund loan growth.
Elevated profit to help keep aside floating provision for transitioning to ECL regime without putting pressure on balance sheet, says PNB CEO Ashok Chandra; bank to further reduce deposit rates to ease pressure on margins.
On loan side, IndusInd Bank needs to regain lost ground in vehicle and microfinance biz while pushing for growth in SME segment; CEO Rajiv Anand feels key to all this is to put foremost priority on deposit growth.
Bank of Baroda, SBI, Yes Bank and RBL Bank have approached CIC objecting to disclosure of list of defaulters and NPA, penalties and inspection reports; RBI terms records "liable to be disclosed" under RTI Act.
Widespread adoption of foreign currency denominated stablecoins can cause erosion of monetary control and weaken the transmission channels of domestic monetary policy, RBI said in its Financial Stability Report.
After four years of negative dip, public sector banks add workforce in FY25; small finance banks drive overall job growth in banking sector.
