Heena Sharma Blog

Addressing the media for the second time since the Narendra Modi government imposed a national lockdown on March 25, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced a reduction in reverse repo rate by 25 basis points from 4 per cent earlier to 3.75 per cent now. The reduction in reverse repo rate is one of a slew of announcements made by the RBI governor today. This was his first address since the lockdown was extended till May 3 by the Prime Minister. "The mission is to minimise the epidemiological damage in the country due to coronavirus. I want to convey the RBI's resolve and the way forward," said the RBI governor. Read More

The S&P BSE Sensex is set to report its biggest quarterly fall in history of the stock market, with the benchmark index slipping 31 per cent during January-March 2020 quarter till Monday. The markets have entered a ‘bear phase’ on the back of panic triggered by the rampant spread of coronavirus ( COVID-19 ). Typically, a fall of 20 per cent or more from the peak level for a stock or an index is considered as a bear market territory for that traded unit. On the other hand, the Nifty 50, which declined 31.9 per cent, is likely to record its sharpest quarterly fall since June 1992 quarter when it fell 32.2 per cent during the quarter, while the Sensex had tanked 28.1 per cent during the same quarter. For the financial year 2019 - 2020 (FY20), the Nifty50 (down 28.8 per cent) and Sensex (down 26.5 per cent) recorded an over 25 per cent fall till Monday, March 30 – their worst performance in over a decade. Earlier in FY09, the S&P BSE Sensex had recorded 37.9 per cent fall,...

Expanding its financial services portfolio, Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi on Tuesday announced the Mi Credit – an app-based credit lending service with a limit of up to Rs 1 lakh on personal loans. Being an online marketplace for lenders, the app debuts with support from five non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and fintech firms — Aditya Birla Finance Limited, Money View, EarlySalary, Zestmoney and CreditVidya. Apart from lending services, the company also partnered with Experian to provide credit score report free of cost on the Mi Credit app. According to Xiaomi, the Mi Credit service is currently available in more than 10 states, covering around 1,500 pin codes, and the company aims to roll our services across all pin codes by the end of this financial year (March 2020). The Mi Credit app is now available on Google Play Store, Xiaomi app store and GetApps platform for Android smartphones. Besides, it will come preloaded on the company’s MIUI operating system-powered ...

With the chit fund sector now on a firm legal pedestal with the recent passage of the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the emerging fintech space surrounding chit finds is set to get a boost. At the heart of this growth is the quest for the gold mine of data hidden in sector, running into several million. Over the last couple of years, several fintech players are already in the business of data analytics in the chit fund sector, providing services like credit bureau checks and facilitating loans for chit fund subscribers and companies. Also, in the recent years, with banks and non-banking finance companies facing liquidity crunch, chit fund has become a booming business. According to T S Sivaramakrishnan, president, All India Chit Fund Association, and managing director of Balussery Benefit Chit Fund, the sector has been growing at about 10-15 per cent annually over the past few years. “ After demonetisation, we saw good growth in the value of chit funds. With banks, NBF...