Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 13 and 14 February 2020

1. Srinath Narasimhan to be CEO of Tata Trusts

• Srinath Narasimhan will be CEO of Tata Trusts after April 1, 2020.
• Currently, he is Managing Director (MD) of Tata Teleservices Ltd and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd.
• Pramit Jhaveri has also been appointed as a trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.
• Earlier, Ramachandran Venkataraman has resigned as managing trustee of Tata Trusts on February 14, 2019. Tata Trusts owns 66% shares in Tata Sons.

2. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) keeps India's sovereign rating unchanged

• Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has kept India's sovereign rating unchanged at BBB- and outlook at stable.
• S&P has said that India's fiscal position is precarious and fiscal deficits are more than that targeted by the government.
• As per S&P, India's real GDP growth will gradually recover in the next two to three years.
• While BBB- is the unsolicited foreign and local currency long-term sovereign credit ratings, S&P has given A-3 unsolicited foreign and local currency short-term sovereign credit rating to India.
• Rating agencies issue two types of ratings. They are solicited and unsolicited ratings. Unsolicited ratings are issued by rating agencies on their own on the basis of public information.
• BBB- rating shows the adequate capacity of obligor to fulfill its financial commitments. But, the capacity may be weakened due to unfavorable economic conditions or changes in the situation.
• Stable outlook means that the rating agency is not expecting a change in rating.

3. Factory output declines and retail inflation increases

• As per data released by the National Statistical Organization, the Index of Industrial Production declined by 0.3 % in December and retail inflation increased to 7.59 % in January.
• Index of Industrial Production has shown 1.8 % growth in November, and retail inflation stood at 7.35% in December.
• Core inflation or inflation without food and fuel items was recorded at 4.16% in January. 
• In IIP, the manufacturing sector output declined by 1.2%; Electricity generation decreased by 0.1 % and the mining sector output increased by 5.4%.
• As per NSO estimates, economic growth in 2019-20 may reach the lowest levels in 11 years.

4. More than Rs 100 lakh crore non-food credit by banking system

• RBI data shows that more than Rs 100 lakh crore non-food credit was given by the banking system till January 31, 2020.
• On January 31, 2020, non-food credit growth declined to 7.08% from 7.14 %. Non-food credit growth was 14.43% last year.
• On January 31, 2020, Bank deposits increased by 9.91% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 133.24 lakh crore.
• On January 31, 2020, the Credit Deposit (CD) ratio stood at 75.23 %.
• Credit Deposit (CD) ratio is the ratio of bank deposits and credit given by banks.

5. MCA and new board at IL& FS proposes returning of payments to creditors of IL& FS

• Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and new board at IL& FS have suggested that payments to creditors of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) after October 15, 2018, should be taken back.
• On October 15, 2018, National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had banned payments to creditors of IL&FS. But, NCLAT has exempted 133 companies from the IL&FS group. NCLAT exempted only companies incorporated outside India.
• 348 subsidiaries of IL&FS were classified into three groups by the new board of IL&FS. They are green, amber and red. This classification was based on the capability of subsidiaries to service their debt obligations.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. Who among the following will become CEO of Tata Trusts after April 1, 2020?

1. Pramit Jhaveri
2. Srinath Narasimhan
3. Ramachandran Venkataraman
4. Aarthi Subramanian
5. Sudarshan Venkatraman

2. Which of the following is India's sovereign rating as per Standard and Poor’s (S&P)?

1. BB
2. BBB
3. BBB-
4. BBB+
5. BB-

3. As per data released by the National Statistical Organization, Index of Industrial Production declined in December by

1. 0.3 %
2. 1.2%
3. 0.1%
4. 1.8 %
5. 0.7%

4. As per RBI data, how much non-food credit was given by the banking system till  January 31, 2020?

1. Rs 50 lakh crore
2. Rs 60 lakh crore
3. Rs 80 lakh crore
4. Rs 90 lakh crore
5. Rs 100 lakh crore

5. New board of IL&FS has classified subsidiary companies of IL & FS into how many categories?

1. Two
2. Three
3. Four
4. Five
5. Six

Correct Answers:

1. B
2. C
3. A
4. E
5. B