India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $289 million during the week ended November 19.
The Reserve Bank of India’s forex reserves increased to $640.401 billion from $640.112 billion reported for the week ended November 12.
India’s forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, SDRs, and the country’s reserve position with the IMF.
On a weekly basis, FCAs, the largest component of the forex reserves, edged higher by $225 million to $575.712 billion
Similarly, the value of the country’s gold reserves gained by $152 million to $40.391 billion.
On the other hand, the SDR value dipped by $74 million to $19.110 billion, while the country’s reserve position with the IMF inched down $13 million to $5.188 billion.
RBI accepts 21 recommendations on ownership of private banksThe Reserve Bank of India has accepted 21 out of the 33 recommendations submitted by an internal working group on the ownership and corporate structure of India’s private sector banks.
The internal group was constituted by the central bank on June 12, 2020 to review the extant guidelines on ownership and corporate structure for Indian private sector banks.
“After examining the comments and suggestions received from the stakeholders and members of the public, it has been decided to accept 21 recommendations (some with partial modifications, where considered necessary). The remaining recommendations are under examination,” the RBI said.
Among the recommendations that were accepted by the central bank was that the cap on promoters’ stake in the long run of 15 years may be raised from the current levels of 15 per cent to 26 per cent of the paid-up voting equity share capital of the bank.
“This stipulation should be uniform for all types of promoters and would not mean that promoters, who have already diluted their holdings to below 26 per cent, will not be permitted to raise it to 26 per cent of the paid-up voting equity share capital of the bank,” the RBI said.
The working group had also recommended a monitoring mechanism that may be devised to ensure that control of promoting the entity or major shareholder of the bank, does not fall in the hands of persons who are not found to be fit and proper. This recommendation was also accepted by the RBI.
