KOLKATA, SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL 34 NO. 226, 24 PAGES, `12 (NORTH EAST STATES `13 & ANDAMAN `20) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E READ TO LEAD SENSEX: 81,463.13 ▼ 721.04 NIFTY: 24,837.00 ▼ 225.10 NIKKEI 225: 41,456.23 ▼ 370.11 HANG SENG: 25,388.35 ▼ 278.83 `/$: 86.52 ▼ 0.11 `/€: 101.53 ▲ 0.02 BRENT: $68.92 ▼ $0.26 GOLD: `98,044 ▼ `398 RBI GOVERNOR, DFS SECRETARY LEAD THE DISCUSSIONS AT THE FE MODERN BFSI SUMMIT Bar is higher for further Nagaraju asks banks to raise capital,lend more easing, says Malhotra FE BUREAU Mumbai, July 25 ● The battle against inflation is won,but the war continues: RBI guv The governor said the transmission of the 50 bp rate cut by the MPC in February and April AHEAD OFTHE monetary pol- has already happened within icy committee (MPC) meeting twomonths(byJune).“Whatever scheduledforAugust6,Reserve wedidstandsvalidated,interms Bank of India (RBI) Governor of much faster transmission. Sanjay Malhotra on Friday said Comingtothe factthatwhether we have anything left after the“barforfurthereasing having done all this, it (of rates) is now would depend on what higher”, even though the requirement is. We a neutral monetary believe that we have policy stance means enough ammunition in “we have the flexibilourarmoury,” he added. ity of moving up or According to Malhodown,or pause”. ON PAGE 6 tra, the central bank’s While the MPC has lowered the benchmark repur- primary objective is to mainchase rate by 100 basis points tain price stability, which is sinceFebruary,“itdoesnotmean “not inconsistent” with the a reversal of the easing policy, objective of growth. He also therestillcanbeacut”,headded. stronglydefendedthe‘surprise’ SpeakingtoFinancialExpress 100 bps cash reserve ratio Editor Shyamal Majumdar at (CRR) cut by saying that it the FE Modern BFSI Summit in should not be looked at from Mumbai,Malhotra further said the perspective of liquidity that“thebattleagainstinflation management only, but it also reducescostsofintermediation iswon,but thewarcontinues”. The central bank forecasts sothatbenefitsarepassedonto inflation for the current fiscal at the savers and borrowers. 3.7%,thoughanalystsexpectthe projectionstobewaybelowthat. Continued on Page 7 FE BUREAU Mumbai, July 25 & M NAGARAJU BANKS NEEDTO furtherstep up lending to meet the economy’s demanding growth requirements,and should not hesitate to explore multiple avenues to raise the capital needed, financial services secretary M Nagaraju said on Friday. He assured all necessary policy support to the lenders, and hinted at relaxations in the foreign direct investment (FDI) rules. Speaking to Financial Express Deputy Managing EditorShobhanaSubramanian attheFEModernBFSISummit here, Nagaraju said: “We also actually need to look at reviewing the current FDI rules in the banking sector to enable Indian banks to raise more capital...more patient capital.” The FDI in private banks is currently capped at 74%, whereas the limit is 20%forpublic SANJAY MALHOTRA RBI Governor RBI is setting up a review cell to revisit regulations after every 5-7 years and keep them contemporary FINANCIAL SERVICES SECRETARY We actually need to look at reviewing the current FDI rules in the banking sector to enable Indian banks to raise more capital...more patient capital Q&A ON PAGE 7 sectorbanks(PSBs); anysingle entity cannot hold more than 15% in any Indian bank unless exemption is granted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). “Ifforeigncapitalcomesat a cheaper rate, I think we should welcome (it). Currently,it is 15% (single entity cap),and if it can be more,the banks will be able to expand credit,that’s thegoal,”theDFS secretary said. He stressed the need to havesustainedhighgrowthin credit flows to the needy sectors of the economy, including MSMEs. As of June 27, 2025, credit offtake was up 9.5% on year, lagging deposit growth of 10.1%. Continued on Page 7 »INSIDE« PAREKH CALLS FOR MORE FOCUS ON MIDDLE-CLASS HOUSING PAGE 7 AIF INDUSTRY NEEDS MORE INVESTMENTS IN DEEPTECH, SAY EXPERTS PAGE 7 EXPRESS PHOTOS: AMIT CHAKRAVARTY 2 8 7 . 2 Commerce & industry minister Piyush Goyal Confident of deal with US byAugust 1, says Goyal FE BUREAU New Delhi, July 25 HOURS AFTER INDIA and the UK signed a free trade pact which both sides believe could deepen their economic »INSIDE« engagement, GOVTTO commerce REACT IF UK CARBON TAX minister Piyush Goyal HURTS P2 said he was A 50:50 optimistic CHANCE OF about reachEU DEAL: ing an interim TRUMP P10 trade deal with the US ahead of an August 1 deadline to avert the threatened reciprocal tariffs of 26%. “I’m always confident,” Goyal said in an interview to Bloomberg TV in London. Continued on Page 10 9 Kolkata
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