Page 8 - Banking Finance April 2025

RBI CORNER

Ajit Joshi Appointed as

Executive Director of RBI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) an-
nounced the appointment of Dr. Ajit
Ratnakar Joshi as Executive Director
(ED), effective March 3, 2025. Dr. Joshi
will oversee the Department of Statis-
tics and Information Management as Ò»©­
well as the Financial Stability Depart-
ment. Prior to his promotion, he
served as Principal Adviser in the De-
partment of Statistics and Information
Management.
With over three decades of experi- PM Modi Applauds RBI for Winning Global Digital
ence, Dr. Joshi has contributed exten-
sively in the areas of statistics, infor- Transformation Award
mation technology, and cyber risk Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
management. He has also been part of for being awarded the Digital Transformation Award 2025 by Central Bank-
the faculty at the Institute for Devel- ing, London. In a post on social media platform X, the Prime Minister de-
opment and Research in Banking Tech- scribed the recognition as a "commendable accomplishment" that highlights
nology, Hyderabad, and has partici- innovation and efficiency in governance.
pated in numerous national commit- RBI was awarded for its in-house developed systems-Pravaah and Sarthi-
tees and working groups on macroeco-
which have digitized internal and external processes, reducing reliance on
nomic statistics and policy formulation.
paper submissions. The RBI stated that the award affirms the success of its
digital initiatives. Modi noted that such innovations empower lives and en-
RBI to Inject Rs. 1.87 Lakh hance India's financial ecosystem.
Crore into Banking System

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has RBI Slaps Rs. 68 Lakh in The RBI clarified that these penalties
announced fresh liquidity measures to- Penalties on Banks and address regulatory shortcomings and
talling Rs. 1.87 lakh crore to ease po- do not affect the validity of existing
tential liquidity stress in the second half NBFC agreements with customers.
of March 2025. These include open The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has im- RBI Relaxes Risk Norms for
market operations (OMO) for purchas- posed monetary penalties totalling Rs.
ing government securities (G-Secs) and 68.1 lakh on two banks and a non-bank- NBFC and Microfinance
USD/INR Buy/Sell swaps. ing finance company (NBFC) for non-com- Lending

This move comes after the central pliance with regulatory norms. Nainital In a reversal of earlier measures, the
bank had earlier injected Rs. 2.80 lakh Bank Ltd was fined Rs. 61.4 lakh for vio- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has re-
crore into the financial system through lations related to 'Interest Rate on Ad- duced the risk weights on bank loans
similar measures between January 30 vances' and 'Customer Service in Banks'. to non-bank finance companies
and February 28, 2025. The RBI's de- Ujjivan Small Finance Bank faced a Rs. (NBFCs) and microfinance institutions.
cision aims to maintain sufficient liquid- 6.7 lakh penalty for non-compliance This change allows banks to hold less
ity and support credit flow amid pre- with lending restrictions. Additionally, capital against such exposures, thereby
vailing market conditions, ensuring sys- Shriram Finance was penalised Rs. 5.8 boosting their lending capacity. The
temic stability and smooth financial op- lakh for lapses in Know Your Customer move comes after a slowdown in credit
erations across the banking sector. (KYC) norms and credit data reporting. flow to NBFCs following the November

8 | 2025 | APRIL | BANKING FINANCE