Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 4 and 5 June 2021

Topic: RBI

1. RBI decides to open ‘On-tap Liquidity Window’ aggregating ₹15,000 crore.

• RBI has decided to open ‘On-tap Liquidity Window’ aggregating ₹15,000 crore till March 31, 2022.
• This ‘On-tap Liquidity Window’ is for sectors such as hotels and restaurants, tourism, and aviation ancillary services.
• The ‘On-tap Liquidity Window’ is also for other services, including private bus operators, car repair services, car rentals, event/conference organisers, spa clinics and beauty parlours/salons.
• Banks can tap the liquidity window to obtain funds to provide fresh lending support to these contact-intensive services.
• Banks can get the funds with tenors of up to three years at the repo rate (4%).
• RBI has also provided a special liquidity facility of ₹16,000 crore to SIDBI to support funding needs of MSMEs.

Topic: RBI

2. RBI expands coverage of borrowers under Resolution Framework 2.0.

• RBI has expanded coverage of borrowers under Resolution Framework 2.0 by increasing threshold limit of maximum aggregate exposure from ₹25 crore to ₹50 crore.
• Threshold limit of maximum aggregate exposure has been increased from ₹25 crore to ₹50 crore for MSMEs, non-MSME small businesses and loans to individuals for business purposes.
• Only maximum aggregate exposure has been increased. All other conditions will remain same.
• Resolution Framework 2.0 was announced by RBI in May 2021 for the resolution of Covid-19 related stress of individuals and small businesses.

Topic: Agriculture

3. Rubber Board likely to start field trials first ever genetically modified (GM) rubber this month in Assam.

• Rubber Board is likely to start field trials first ever genetically modified (GM) rubber this month in Assam.
• Genetically modified (GM) rubber is tolerant to drought and temperature extremes. Successful completion of field trials may take 10-15 years.
• Rubber Board is a statutory body. It comes under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Its head office is located at Kottayam, Kerala.

Topic: Committees/Commissions/Taskforces

4. Expert group on fixation of minimum wages and national floor wages set up by government.

• Expert group on fixation of minimum wages and national floor wages has been set up by government.
• Director of Institute of Economic Growth Professor Ajit Mishra will chair the Expert Group.
• Prof Tarika Chakraborty, Dr Anushree Sinha, Ms Vibha Bhalla and Dr H. Srinivas are members of the Expert Group.
• Expert group will have a term of three years. It will provide technical inputs and recommendations.
• To arrive at the wage rates, the group will look into the international best practices on wages and evolve a scientific criteria and methodology for wage fixation.
• Institute of Economic Growth:
  • It is an autonomous body and civil service training institute.
  • It was founded in 1952 by renowned economist K. R. V. Rao. It is located in New Delhi.
  • Ajit Mishra is its director and Tarun Das is its chairman.

Topic: Reports and Indices

5. NITI Aayog launched 3rd edition of SDG India Index.

• Government think tank Niti Aayog launched the third edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index.
• In 2018, this index was launched to measure the progress made by States and Union Territories towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Now, it is used as a primary tool for monitoring progress on the SDGs in the country.
• NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Rajiv Kumar also launched the report titled, SDG India Index and Dashboard 2020–21: Partnerships in the Decade of Action.
• SDG India Index 2020–21:
  • The SDG India Index 2020–21 has been developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the United Nations. It is based on 16 Goals and 115 indicators.
  • Under SDG India Index States and Union Territories are classified as given below:
    • Aspirant: 0–49
    • Performer: 50–64
    • Front-Runner: 65–99
    • Achiever: 100

(Source: PIB)

• Finding of SDG India Index 2020–21:
  • In 2020-21, the overall SDG score is 66. It has improved by 6 points from 2019.
  • The score has improved in Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and Goal 7(Affordable and Clean Energy).
  • Kerala, Himachal Pradesh/Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana are top five performer states.
  • Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Meghalaya are in the last five positions.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: RBI

6. MPC lowers India’s real GDP forecast for FY22 from 10.5% to 9.5%.

• Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has lowered India’s real GDP forecast for FY22 from 10.5% to 9.5%.
• RBI’s projection of real GDP growth for different quarters of 2021-22 are given in next table.

• RBI has kept its Q1 projection for CPI inflation the same. But it increased the projection of CPI Inflation in the second, third and fourth quarter of FY22.
• RBI has projected retail inflation at 5.1% during 2021-22. Earlier, it was projected at 5%.
• MPC has kept the key policy rate unchanged. It kept repo rate unchanged at 4 % and reverse repo rate at 3.35%.
• MPC has also voted unanimously to maintain an accommodative stance.  The repo rate has remained unchanged since May 2020.

Topic: Miscellaneous

7. Centre decides to change deadline for achieving the 20% target for ethanol blending with fuel.

• Centre has decided to change the deadline for achieving the 20% target for ethanol blending with fuel by 2 years to 2023.
• Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that oil marketing companies (OMCs) will sell Ethanol Blended Petrol” with a percentage of ethanol up to 20%, with effect from April 1, 2023.
• The deadline for 20% ethanol blending target was earlier advanced from 2030 to 2025.
• India’s ethanol production capacity is currently around 425 crore litres. Only 325 crore litres is available for fuel blending.
• With 325 crore litres, OMCs have achieved 8.5% blending this year. Government aims to achieve 10% blending target in ethanol next year (November to October).

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