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How microfinance can help entrepreneurs escape the poverty trap

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I4I Panel Discussion: Financing development in India

I4I recently organised a panel discussion on ‘Financing Development in India’ with Prachi Mishra (Goldman Sachs), Andy Mukherjee (Bloomberg), and Ananth Narayan (SPJIMR). The discussion was modera...

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Approaches to regulation of cryptocurrencies

In June, Facebook announced its plan to create a global, private cryptocurrency, backed by a reserve of assets and held by a network of reputed companies. In the backdrop of changing dynamics of crypt...

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Can the microcredit model be improved?

Microcredit is frequently touted as an effective policy tool to fight global poverty. However, studies suggest that the long-term impact on recipients’ lives is limited. In this post, Mushfiq Mobara...

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Socially disadvantaged groups and microfinance in India

The benefits of microfinance are in the details. This column takes a look at lending by commercial banks in India to self-help groups – smaller, informal community-based groups – as a new and succ...

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The Indian banking system: A ticking time bomb

In response to RBI’s call to accelerate the recognition of stressed assets, publicly traded banks in India added nearly Rs. 1 trillion in bad loans in the quarter ending December 2015. In this arti...

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Recapitalising public sector banks by disinvesting in RBI: Right and wrong

The Economic Survey 2015-16 put forth the argument that the Government of India could reduce its capital in the RBI from its current large level and use it to increase its capital in public sector ban...

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Achieving financial inclusion: Going cashless

A World Bank survey reveals that while about half of all individuals in India had bank accounts in 2014, only 12% had made a cashless transaction in the past year. In this article, Bappaditya Mukhopa...

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How doorstep banking increased savings and income in Sri Lanka

Recent findings in development economics indicate that microloans are likely to perform best when accompanied by financial education, insurance, and savings products. This column presents evidence fro...

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Increasing economic divide within backward castes

While the high level of socioeconomic inequality between the forward and backward caste groups in India is well documented, there is little research on inequalities within the backward caste groups. T...

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Financial inclusion for the poor: Using RCTs for effective programme design

While the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana – the Indian government’s flagship financial inclusion scheme - is impressive in its mission, it does not seem to have achieved meaningful results so far....

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When higher volatility is good news

Conventional wisdom suggests that access to financial services such as banks and bond markets, providing savings and borrowing instruments, allows smoothing consumption over lifetime, irrespective of...

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Cash to cashless

The RBI is in discussion with the government on ways to reduce cash usage in the economy and to promote the use of cashless instruments. This column presents results from a study that estimates the e...

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JAM and the pursuit of nirvana

The Finance Ministry is proposing to roll all subsidies into a single, lump-sum cash transfer to households, on the back of the JAM (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile numbers) trinity. In this article,...

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Foreign currency borrowing by Indian firms: What do we know?

As foreign currency borrowing by Indian firms has been increasing, concerns have surfaced about rising associated risks. Hence, recent policy changes seeking to make the regulatory regime simpler and...

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Are banks responsive to credit demand shocks in rural India?

The output of Kharif crops is estimated to decrease by about 2% this year due to deficient monsoon rains in some Indian states. How responsive are commercial banks to a credit demand shock in rural I...

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Pronab Sen

IGC India

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Rajeswari Sengupta

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research

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Harsh Vardhan

Bain and Company

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Rishabh Mahendra

Copy Editor, I4I

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Shweta Gupta

University of Hyderabad

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Indian Statistical Institute

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ISI, Delhi Centre

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Most Popular Money & Finance Posts

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...

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Corporate debt market in India: Issues and challenges

While it is true that the Indian corporate debt market has transformed itself into a much more vibrant trading field for debt instruments from the elementary market that it was about a decade ago, th...

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Explainer: India’s payments banks

In August 2015, the RBI issued in-principle licences to 11 entities to establish payments banks in India – a unique format of banking which has not been used anywhere else in the world. Fully based ...

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