Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a meeting with heads of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) on Friday, urged them to leverage the Reserve Bank of India’s recent 50 basis points rate cut to accelerate lending towards the productive sectors of the economy. Sources reported that the Finance Minister asked PSBs to maintain the profitability momentum in FY26 , building on their strong performance last year. The cumulative net profit of 12 PSBs surged to Rs 1.78 lakh crore in FY25 , marking a 26% rise compared to the previous fiscal. In absolute terms, this meant a profit increase of about Rs 37,100 crore . Sitharaman also emphasised the importance of financial inclusion, directing banks to onboard more customers under government schemes to ensure broader credit outreach. On June 6 , the RBI’s monetary policy committee, led by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, cut the benchmark repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5% . The minister highlighted that PSBs sh...
1 February 2025 Analysts have recommended that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should inject up to ₹1 trillion (~US$11.5 billion) into the banking system by the end of March 2025 to address an ongoing liquidity deficit. As of February 20 , the banking system faced a shortage of about ₹1.7 trillion , despite prior liquidity injections via bond purchases and dollar–rupee swaps. The RBI has taken several steps, including long-term repo operations, interest rate reductions, bond purchases worth ₹1.39 trillion, and ₹440 billion via currency swaps. However, persistent system-level deficiency signals a need for further intervention. Analysts suggest that the RBI may expand its open market operations (OMO) , increase non-resident Indian (NRI) deposit inflows, and roll over maturing repos. The central bank may also consider revising its policy framework , including daily fixed funding windows or adopting the Secured Overnight Rupee Rate (SORR) as its ope...