George Mathew
Articles By George Mathew
Insurers beat slowdown, post healthy premium growth in first half
The economy may be slowing down but the insurance segment, both life and non-life, has recorded a substantial growth rate in premiums, at least till the six-month period ended September 30 of 2019-20.
PMC bank fraud case: Several red flags fluttered right under RBI’s nose
The PMC scam went undetected for around 11 years despite the RBI requiring all regulated entities — including cooperative banks — to submit details of transactions and accounts to it since February 2016.
Economic slowdown: Fund flows to commercial sector down 88%, says RBI data
Hit by falling credit offtake from banks owing to weak demand, risk aversion.
Slashing growth estimate, RBI cuts key rate by 25 bps to nine-year low
The benchmark Sensex slumped by 434 points to 37,673.31, reacting to RBI’s bigger-than-expected 80 basis points cut in the GDP growth forecast.
Vehicle ‘Own Damage’ cover declines as auto sales plummet
The OD premium collection of insurers declined by 2.3 per cent to Rs 10,480 crore in August 2019 from Rs 10,724 crore in the same period of last year, according to the data available from the General Insurance Council.
Behind PMC Bank collapse: Its close links with HDIL promoters
The bank’s cosy relationship with realty firm HDIL goes much beyond this. PMC Bank virtually acted as the in-house banker of the company even when company was facing insolvency proceedings in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
RBI Officers Society has Rs 105 crore fixed deposits in PMC Bank
Pensioners could also be ruing their fate as the Maharashtra govt had permitted PMC Bank “to open saving bank account of pensioners” of the state government.
Explained: Why RBI has put restrictions on PMC bank, what happens now
Panic-stricken customers rushed to bank’s branches across the state and were unable to withdraw more than Rs 1,000. They had not been aware that the bank, which was under the supervisory glare of the RBI, was being milked by real estate players led by HDIL with the connivance of bank officials.
Nine states report decline in agriculture credit outstandings
According to the RBI figures, the agri credit outstanding of Uttar Pradesh — the largest populated state — declined to Rs 91,628 crore in the year-ended March 2019 from Rs 97,707 crore in the previous year.
Regulator’s nod: Health insurance premium can now be paid every month or quarter
The IRDAI has allowed health insurers to effect a decrease in minimum and/ or increase in maximum premiums, and maximum entry age. Typically, the maximum age limit of health insurance policies filed is up to 65 years.
Ashwani Bhatia: ‘Slowdown is a temporary event, govt measures will help in reviving growth’
The measures announced by the government will revive the economy, says Ashwani Bhatia.
‘India a world leader in fintech adoption because of support from both govt and regulators’
The UK government is investing nearly two billion pounds as part of its National Cyber Security Strategy, to make the United Kingdom the safest place in the world to live and do business.
Bond market frets amid concerns over higher borrowing, yields soar
On Thursday, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das hinted that there could be more reduction in the policy rate in the near future, in the wake of lower inflation and the deepening slowdown in the economy.
Many big firms, IT companies may not benefit much from corporate tax cut
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday announced a new corporate tax rate of 22 per cent without exemptions and said the effective tax rate including surcharge and cess would now stand at 25.17 per cent.
RBI may eventually bring NBFCs, HFCs under benchmark rate system
As the NBFC sector is yet to adopt even the MCLR (marginal cost of funds based lending rate) system, the RBI is understood to be thinking of taking measures to slowly “graduate” the sector to some level before introducing the benchmark rate system in the sector.
Financial exclusion: 40.9 per cent of small, marginal farmers not covered by banks
Despite so many initiatives and schemes aimed at financial inclusion, only 40.90 per cent of SMF could be covered by the scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), the report submitted by the RBI panel has said.
Surcharge rollback fails to pay off as FPI outflows from stocks continue
After pulling out around Rs 30,000 crore in July and August, FPIs have withdrawn Rs 4,200 crore from stock markets in September so far.
Ratings of three PSU insurers downgraded
These companies — two of them reported an erosion in their capital and reserves — may require around Rs 5,000 crore recapitalisation to meet the regulatory standards, experts said.
Deceleration in economy: Cyclical downswing, not a deep structural slowdown, says RBI
India’s real GDP growth which clocked an average of 7.7 per cent during 2014-18 and 8 per cent in the first quarter of 2018-19, began to shed momentum through the rest of 2018-19.
2018-19: RBI income shoots up by 146.59% to Rs 193,036 crore
The year ended with an overall surplus of Rs 175,987 crore as against Rs 50,000 crore in the previous year, representing an increase of 251.97 per cent, the RBI said in its Annual Report.