Rupee Heading for All Time Low; Food Inflation set to Worsen
Rupee posted its worst weekly loss in 11 months, breaching the 76/$ level despite heavy dollar selling by Banks on behalf of RBI, though it slowed down the pace of its depreciation. Weakening of Rupee during the week was 1.15%. Business Standard pegs the dollar at 77/$, all time low, if the crude oil prices are any indication. Continuing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine along with sustained demand is expected to keep global crude prices in the range of $95 to $125 per barrel in the short term. India will witness bouts of oil price hikes starting next week, post the state elections. Some estimates put the minimum increase at Rs.10 per litre and the case of LPG prices is no different. No solace on the price front and the inflation scene. And the news from the war-front is not comforting either as there is no indication of an amiable end, anytime soon, belying the expectations.
As per a SBI report, Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) has prevented 1.35 million MSME loan accounts from going under and stopped 14% of outstanding loans from turning bad. However, extension of the scheme till March 2023, as announced by the Finance Minister, could lead to a fresh round of pain for financial institutions as most borderline medium and small enterprises that have been offered the loan support continue to struggle. Still not out of the woods.
Gross NPAs of NBFCs are going to Fall, Going Forward
RBI postponement of timeline for adhering to new NPA norms (Revised IRAC Guidelines), greater economic activities and increased traction in collections are likely to act as tailwinds as opined by CRISIL. Some good news?
Uber has a two-way rating system where the riders and the drivers can rate each other out of a maximum score of 5 on the basis of their behaviour and overall experience. A rider’s rating is an average of the ratings received from drivers in the last 500 trips. Interestingly, the drivers have consistently cited slamming of doors as a reason for a poor rating of a rider. Jaipur riders are found to be the best by the Uber drivers while riders from the north-east of Guwahati rated the lowest. So, next time you take the support from Uber, behave yourself. Lest, you face the ignominy of temporary cooling off periods or in the worst case, getting barred from the taxi service.
