Banking wrap: RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya resigns; June FSR released

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Viral Acharya delivered a shocker earlier this week confirming reports that he had resigned from his post at the central bank, six months before the his term was supposed to end.  Acharya cited personal reasons for his exit.

Meanwhile, the RBI released its bi-yearly Financial Stability Report (FSR) on June 27. While the Indian financial system is stable and bad loans in the banking sector are expected to decline, RBI called for greater vigilance for the shadow banking sector and the need to safeguard domestic markets against recent global geopolitical developments.

RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya resigns 6 months ahead of term end

Acharya quit six months before the scheduled end of his term to return to New York University Stern School of Business (NYU Stern) in August as CV Starr Professor of Economics.

"A few weeks ago, Dr Acharya submitted a letter to the RBI informing that due to unavoidable personal circumstances, he is unable to continue his term as a Deputy Governor of the RBI beyond July 23, 2019," the RBI said.

"Consequential action arising from his letter is under consideration of the Competent Authority," the central bank added, without elaborating on whether it had accepted Acharya's request to resign.

Acharya told Moneycontrol that he decided to leave six months early due to 'unavoidable personal reasons'. He commented: “For now I am sticking to my school teacher's advice: When your work speaks for itself, do not interrupt.”

Also read: Viral Acharya: An outspoken advocate of central bank independence, NPA clean-up, low inflation

In his two-and-a-half-year stint at the RBI, Acharya voiced his opinion on critical matters and stood his ground when it came to central bank independence. The 45-year-old, was the youngest deputy governor to serve RBI when he joined in January 2017.

RBI Financial Stability Report: Failure of large HFCs, NBFCs pose contagion risks similar to those of big banks

The central bank, in its assessment report on the ongoing crisis in the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs), said large entities in the sector need greater surveillance as their failure could lead to systemic losses similar to those of big banks.

“Solvency contagion losses to the banking system due to idiosyncratic HFC/NBFC failure show that the failure of largest of these can cause losses comparable to those caused by the big banks, underscoring the need for greater surveillance over large HFCs/NBFCs,” the central bank said in the Financial Stability Report released on June 27.

Foreign fund inflows, weaker dollar push India’s forex reserves to record high

Foreign fund inflows and weakening US dollar have led to a rise in India’s foreign exchange reserves that touched a record high of $426.42 billion in the week ended June 21.

Data released by the RBI showed the country’s foreign exchange reserves grew by $4.22 billion from $422.20 billion in the previous week. The reserves had last touched record of $426.08 billion on April 13, 2018.

Got a complaint against bank or NBFC? Let RBI know

RBI has launched a single window for customer complaints relating to banks and NBFCs through an online portal. Customers can file a complaint and track its status with the help of the website.

The complaints will be directed to the appropriate office of the Ombudsman or regional office of the RBI. Customers can also file an appeal against the decision of the Ombudsmen if need be.