31 March, 2023How do RBI’s actions (and words) affect financial markets?
Financial markets in developed countries are known to react substantially to monetary shocks, that is, surprise changes in policy rates announced by the central bank. Based on a narrative analysis of ...
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Aeimit Lakdawala Rajeswari Sengupta 
09 March, 2022
- Articles
A decade of credit collapse in India
The government and the Central Bank have undertaken various measures to protect the banking and finance sector from the adverse impact of the Covid-19 crisis. However, despite historically low interes...
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Harsh Vardhan
- 25 June, 2021
- Perspectives
Not exactly bad news: Fed tightening cycle’s implications for emerging markets
The conventional perception, that US Federal Reserve rate hikes necessarily imply capital outflows from emerging markets, is an incomplete assessment. This article disaggregates Fed hikes’ effects o...
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Gabriele Ciminelli John Rogers Wenbin Wu
- 15 June, 2022
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Lead Bank Scheme: Does organisational design matter?
The Lead Bank Scheme of the RBI involves a ‘lead bank’ in each district of India that coordinates financial services in the district, and a ‘convenor bank’ in each state that monitors these ac...
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Samarth Gupta
- 26 October, 2020
- Articles
Going beyond passive investing in the stock market
Investing in the stock market through passive funds is now becoming popular in India. This is, broadly speaking, a positive development. However, Gurbachan Singh contends that we need to go well beyon...
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Gurbachan Singh
- 09 September, 2020
- Perspectives
India’s insurance sector: Challenges and opportunities
While India’s insurance sector has been growing dynamically in recent years, its share in the global insurance market remains abysmally low. This article traces the journey of the Indian insurance s...
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Kuntala Bandyopadhyay Saon Ray Vasundhara Thakur
- 31 August, 2020
- Articles
Using contract price to identify ‘right’ clients for flexible microfinance
While repayment flexibility in microfinance helps mitigate the impact of negative income shocks on MSMEs, it might increase default due to borrowers’ time-inconsistent or excessively risky behaviour...
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Giorgia Barboni Arjun Malhotra
- 27 August, 2020
- Articles
Achieving the target of complete financial inclusion in India through fintech
A significant number of people in India remain outside the purview of the formal financial system. Use of financial echnologies can help address the gaps in financial inclusion left by the traditional...
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Arindam Sarkar Onkar Shivraj Swami
- 07 August, 2020
- Perspectives
Unearthing “zombies” in the Indian corporate sector
The secular rise of "zombie" borrowers – insolvent firms sustained by continued extension of credit by complicit banks – is a source of concern as these firms tie up productive workers and capital...
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Nirupama Kulkarni S. K. Ritadhi Siddharth Vij Katherine Waldock
- 04 August, 2020
- Articles
Effect of conflict on bank lending: Evidence from Indian border areas
Conflict can affect economic outcomes through the decisions of key individuals. This article studies the effect of repeated incidents of shellingacross the India-Pakistan border, on loan officers work...
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Mrinal Mishra Steven Ongena
- 28 July, 2020
- Articles
Productivity growth in Indian banking: Who gained?
Since the deregulation and privatisation reforms of the early 1990s, Indian banking has witnessed many significant changes. This article finds that the sector experienced steady productivity growth un...
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Rajeswari Sengupta Harsh Vardhan
- 07 July, 2020
- Articles
Covid-19 and debt moratorium conundrum: The case of microfinance
Given the extent of liquidity shock caused by Covid-19, the Reserve Bank of India enabled all lending institutions to provide their borrowers with a repayment moratorium on term loans until 31 Augus...
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Giorgia Barboni Misha Sharma
- 02 July, 2020
- Perspectives
Covid-19: Right opportunity to strengthen the Insolvency and Bankruptcy code
The government has recently exempted all Covid-related debts from the definition of default, and stalled the invocation of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016 for one year, to allow ailing ente...
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K. Srinivasa Rao
- 11 June, 2020
- Perspectives
How microfinance can help entrepreneurs escape the poverty trap
The idea of poverty traps being important for microenterprises is captured in the adage “it takes money to make money”. This article reports on a study following households in India exposed to dif...
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Abhijit Banerjee Emily Breza Esther Duflo Cynthia Kinnan
- 15 May, 2020
- Articles
Policymaking at a time of high risk-aversion
The key issues in the Indian financial sector in general, and banking in particular, are bearing risk and allocating capital. These are especially important now as India enters into a prolonged phase ...
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Rajeswari Sengupta Harsh Vardhan
- 06 April, 2020
- Perspectives
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India’s insurance sector: Challenges and opportunities
While India’s insurance sector has been growing dynamically in recent years, its share in the global insurance market remains abysmally low. This article traces the journey of the Indian insurance s...
- Kuntala Bandyopadhyay Saon Ray Vasundhara Thakur
- 31 August, 2020
- Articles
Financial inclusion in India: Progress and prospects
Financial inclusion is globally considered as a critical indicator of development and well-being of society. In this post, Srinivasa Rao traces the financial inclusion journey in India so far, and dis...
- K. Srinivasa Rao
- 11 July, 2018
- Perspectives
Thinking about financial sector reforms in India
A key element of the economy that needs to function well in order to facilitate India’s strong and sustained recovery from the pandemic is the financial system. In this post, Sengupta and Vardhan d...
- Rajeswari Sengupta Harsh Vardhan
- 15 November, 2021
- Perspectives