RBI to publish Financial Inclusion Index

By siliconindia  |  Wednesday, 07 April 2021, 02:52:41 PM IST

RBI to publish Financial Inclusion Index

To measure the extent of financial inclusion in the country, the Reserve Bank of India will construct and periodically publish a "Financial Inclusion Index" (FI Index).

The FI Index would be based on multiple parameters and shall reflect the broadening and deepening of financial inclusion in the country, a statement on regulatory and developmental policies of RBI said.

To begin with, the FI Index will be published annually in July for the financial year ending previous March.

"Financial Inclusion has been a thrust area for the government, the Reserve Bank and other regulators, with significant progress made over the years. To measure the extent of financial inclusion in the country, the Reserve Bank proposes to construct and publish a Financial Inclusion Index (FI Index) based on multiple parameters,"RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in a virtual address after the Monetary Policy Committee's bi-monthly meeting.

Now Banks allowed to hold Rs 2L balance per customer

In a major boost to operations of the Payments Banks, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday doubled the limit of maximum balance that an individual customer can hold with them.

Accordingly, Payments Banks can now hold a maximum balance of Rs 2 lakh per individual customers at the end of the day.

The Guidelines for Licensing of Payments Banks issued on November 27, 2014 allowed such banks to hold a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh per individual customer earlier.

RBI in its statement on developmental and regulatory policies said that the changes have been made based on a review of performance of payments banks and with a view to encourage their efforts for financial inclusion and to expand their ability to cater to the needs of their customers, including MSMEs, small traders and merchants.

A circular proposing the changes will be issued by RBI separately.

 

Source: IANS

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