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Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued directions on rupee interest rate derivatives. What is Interest Rate Derivative (IRD)? Interest Rate Derivative (IRD) means a financial derivative contract whose value is derived from one or more Rupee interest rates, prices of Rupee interest rate instruments, or Rupee interest rate indices. To which transactions shall the directions be applicable? The directions shall be applicable to Rupee IRD transactions undertaken in the over-the-counter (OTC) market and on recognised stock exchanges in India. Forward Contracts in Government Securities shall be undertaken in the OTC market in terms of the Reserve Bank of India (Forward Contracts in Government Securities) Directions, 2025, dated February 21, 2025. Who are eligible participants in IRD markets? Resident Non-resident, through its central treasury or its group entity, where applicable. What are the directions on trading of IRDs on recognised stock exchanges? A recognised stock exchange is per...

National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) 2025-30

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has published National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) 2025-30. Financial Inclusion The Committee on Financial Inclusion (Chairman: Dr C Rangarajan, RBI, 2008) defined financial inclusion as “the process of ensuring access to financial services, timely and adequate credit for vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups at an affordable cost”. The Committee on Medium-Term Path to Financial Inclusion (Chairman: Shri Deepak Mohanty, RBI, 2015) viewed financial inclusion as, “convenient access to a basket of basic formal financial products and services that should include savings, remittance, credit, government-supported insurance and pension products to small and marginal farmers and low income households at reasonable cost with adequate protection progressively supplemented by social cash transfers, besides increasing the access of small and marginal enterprises to formal finance with a greater reliance on technology to cut costs an...

RBI’s Monetary Policy (December 05, 2025): In A Nutshell

The bi-monthly monetary policy of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was announced on December 05, 2025. Here are some of the highlights of the monetary policy announcement. Rates Change Rate Policy repo rate Reduced by 25 bps 5.25% Standing deposit facility (SDF) rate 5.00% Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate 5.50% Bank rate 5.50% Monetary policy stance Monetary policy stance unchanged as ‘neutral’. Domestic Economy Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth accelerated to 8.2% in Q2, buoyed by strong spending during the festive season which was further facilitated by the rationalisation of the goods and services tax (GST) rates. Real GDP growth for 2025-26 is projected at 7.3%. For the first time since the adoption of flexible inflation targeting (FIT), average headline inflation for a quarter at 1.7% in Q2, breached the lower tolerance threshold (2%) of the inflation target (4%). It dipped further to an all-time low of 0.3% in October 2025. The underlying inflation pressu...

Export of Goods & Services

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has updated the regulations on export of goods and services. What are the regulations on declaration of exports? In case of exports taking place through Customs manual ports, every exporter of goods or software in physical form or through any other form, either directly or indirectly, to any place outside India, other than Nepal and Bhutan, shall furnish to the specified authority, a declaration containing the amount representing – Full export value of the goods or software; or If the full export value is not ascertainable at the time of export, the value which the exporter, having regard to the prevailing market conditions expects to receive on the sale of the goods or the software in overseas market. Realization of export proceeds in respect of export of goods / software from third party should be duly declared by the exporter. Form EDF should be completed in duplicate for export from non-Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) ports. Form SOFTEX should be compl...

Directions on Trade Relief Measures

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued directions on trade relief measures in respect to credit facilities extended by regulated entities. To whom shall the directions be applicable? The directions shall be applicable to the following Regulated Entities (REs) – Commercial Banks Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks, State Co-operative Banks and Central Co-operative Banks Non-Banking Financial Companies (including Housing Finance Companies) All-India Financial Institutions Credit Information Companies What are the eligibility criteria for the trade relief? RE shall satisfy itself that the borrower’s business is impacted by trade disruptions caused by global headwinds. For the purpose of considering relief, a borrower shall be deemed to be eligible upon fulfilment of all of the following conditions – The borrower is engaged in exports relating to any of the sectors specified in the directions. The borrower had an outstanding export credit facility from a RE as of August 31, 2025. The accoun...