24 July, 2025How Atal Pension Yojana is helping Indians save for retirement
Government of India’s contributory pension scheme, Atal Pension Yojana, encourages citizens to save for retirement. This study finds that APY not only provides a basic pension, but also promotes bro...
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Debasis Rooj Reshmi Sengupta 
11 July, 2025
- Articles
The State within India’s corporate bond market
The value of gross issuances in India’s corporate bond market has grown by 150% over the past decade. In this post, Harsh Vardhan contends that while the market has become bigger, reforms are needed...
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Harsh Vardhan
- 12 June, 2025
- Perspectives
Finance for small-firm growth: Towards flexibility and innovation
While microfinance contract innovations like repayment grace periods help small-firm owners, they can increase default rates for microfinance institutions. Based on field experiments in Pakistan and K...
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Muhammad Meki
- 09 April, 2025
- Articles
Strengthening risk-management capabilities in the financial sector
Non-banking financial companies are rapidly inundating the financial intermediation space. While this trend has enabled greater autonomy in operations and business diversification, it has also accentu...
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K. Srinivasa Rao
- 07 June, 2021
- Perspectives
Are moneylenders financial intermediaries?
A majority of borrowing in rural households in developing countries is from informal lenders. This article examines the relationship between these informal lenders and banks in rural India, from the e...
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Vaishnavi Surendra
- 24 March, 2021
- Articles
‘Bad bank’: A good idea in bad times
Commenting on the ‘bad bank’ proposal of the 2021-22 Union Budget, K Srinivasa Rao contends that the bad bank is a good idea in bad times – as a transitory solution with defined timelines – bu...
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K. Srinivasa Rao
- 12 March, 2021
- Perspectives
Budget 2021-22: Case for a ‘bad bank’
A key announcement in the 2021-22 Union Budget is the formation of a ‘bad bank’, to better manage the problem of non-performing assets in the financial services ecosystem. In this post, Ananth Na...
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Ananth Narayan
- 22 February, 2021
- Perspectives
Covid-19 crisis: How policy can revive lending appetite among banks
Amid the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the expected surge in non-performing assets and its potential impact on the fragile capital base of banks, is alarming. In this post, Srini...
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K. Srinivasa Rao
- 09 November, 2020
- Perspectives
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
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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
RBI’s costly experiments with the currency
During 2023-2024, the average annual volatility of the rupee-dollar exchange rate was 1.8% – the lowest in over two decades. In this post, Patnaik, Pandey and Sengupta explain why sudden and sharp l...
- Radhika Pandey Ila Patnaik Rajeswari Sengupta
- 21 February, 2025
- Perspectives