Biz Updates: RBI may postpone the decision to cut interest rates till April, claims Yes Bank report

New Delhi| The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may postpone the start of its rate cut cycle to April 2025 as the Federal Reserve moves towards a more aggressive monetary stance. This has been said in a report of Yes Bank. “Given the rupee’s weakness and volatility in financial markets, we see the start of the rate cut cycle being postponed to April 2025”, the report said.

The report notes that the Fed Reserve recently reduced its policy rate by 25 basis points (bps). In further guidance, however, the Fed has cut the projected rate cut for 2025 to just 50 bps, compared to the earlier expected 100 bps cut in interest rates.

Fed Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has indicated that the decision to cut rates in December was strongly objected to, suggesting that monetary policy remains restrictive, coming close to a neutral stance.

The report says that this decision of the Fed will have an impact on the global financial markets. The report said the Fed Watch tool is projecting no cut in interest rates until January 2025, a sign of a slowing of monetary easing.

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) on Friday handed over to the Navy the first stealth frigate (reconnaissance warship) Nilgiri of Project 17-A class and the fourth stealth destroyer (destroyer warship) Surat of Project 15-B class.

According to the statement issued by the Navy, now these warships will be put through necessary sea trials, after which they will soon be included in the Navy. After commissioning, they will be named INS Nilgiri and INS Surat. According to the statement, the Navy’s Warship Design Bureau has designed them. It is built by MDL and supervised by Mumbai’s warship surveillance team. MDL said Project17-A’s First of Class (FOC) warship Nilgiris is equipped with state-of-the-art advanced technology and is one of the world’s most luxurious warships in this class. The Nilgiris is equipped with state-of-the-art stealth features (specialty in dodging radar) and state-of-the-art weapons and sensors. It is capable of destroying enemy submarines, warships, anti-ship missiles and fighter aircraft. It can be operated independently without any support vessels.

According to the statement, Surat is the fourth destroyer warship of Project15-B. It is a powerful platform, capable of carrying out a variety of tasks and missions during maritime warfare. It is armed with supersonic BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles and Barak-8 medium-range surface-to-air missiles. It has been equipped with indigenously developed anti-submarine weapons and sensors. This includes the Sonar Hamsa NG, heavy-weight torpedo tube launchers, and ASW rocket launchers.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved the US$800 million Amaravati Integrated Urban Development Program for the construction of Amaravati, the greenfield capital city of Andhra Pradesh. The World Bank gave this information on Friday. The Board of Executive Directors of the Bretton Woods Institute approved the loan for program funds at its Washington meeting on Thursday.

According to the World Bank, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors yesterday approved the USD 800 million Amravati Integrated Urban Development Programme. It aims to establish Amaravati city as a well-managed, climate-resilient development hub in Andhra Pradesh that generates employment and improves the lives of its current and future residents, especially the most vulnerable. The Government of India had requested this loan to develop Amaravati as an economic hub and the capital of Andhra Pradesh. The World Bank stated that the last maturity of the loan is 29 years. This also includes a grace period of six years. The Government of India has decided to take the loan amount in Japanese Yen. Auguste Tano Koume, World Bank Country Director for India, said the urban population is expected to double to 95 crore (950 million) by 2050 and India aims to build sustainable cities as growth centers. In this context, Amravati gives a great opportunity to develop this urban transformation as a model.

RBI has imposed a fine of Rs 27.30 lakh on IndusInd Bank for violation of interest rates rules on deposits. The central bank had conducted inspections until March 31, 2023. In this he found the bank’s fault. After this a show cause notice was sent. After this it was decided to impose fine on IndusInd Bank.

RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh on Mannapuram for violation of rules related to Know Your Customer i.e. KYC. Mannapuram was investigated by March 31, 2023. The central bank found a flaw in this investigation. The company failed to verify the PAN cards of the customers after which a fine has been imposed on it.