-The Hindu For effective cash relief in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the government must think beyond the Jan Dhan Yojana For some years now, the so-called JAM trinity (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) has been propounded as a dream cash-transfer infrastructure for India. The term “trinity” itself gives a sense of the faith and fervour this project sought to inspire (why not “trio”?). It was born in chapter 3 of the Economic Survey 2015,...

-The Indian Express The usage of cash and other cash-based services, however, dipped during the period, the data showed. New Delhi: The month of March, in which the national lockdown began, saw a sharp rise in digital financial transactions countrywide, according to data accessed by The Indian Express. According to the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, the total value of Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transactions — the biggest online payment...

-The Indian Express Like most other central banks in the world, the Reserve Bank of India, too, has tried to cut interest rates to boost the economy. New Delhi: The Indian economy’s slowdown during 2018 and 2019 is becoming much worse in 2020 with the spread of COVID-19 and the stalling of almost all economic activity. Like most other central banks in the world, the Reserve Bank of India, too, has tried...

Most reports and studies by official agencies, international think tanks and private entities indicate the cataclysmic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy and society. They anticipate that lockdowns imposed by various countries across the globe to reduce the exponential diffusion of COVID-19 (i.e. for flattening the curve by social distancing and quarantines) would adversely affect economic growth and disrupt supply chains in most sectors, on top of causing...

-The Indian Express The extended lockdown across the manufacturing and services sectors, the resultant job losses along with the wave of salary cuts are projected to start impacting the repayment capacity of retail borrowers. Mumbai/ New Delhi: The possibility of loan defaults spilling over from the corporate sector to the retail segment, a key growth area for lenders in recent years, has been flagged as a growing concern by bankers at a...