• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.75 per cent versus 4 per cent earlier.

• In the last meeting on March 27, the RBI had announced a massive 90 bps cut in reverse repo rate, the rate at which the RBI borrows money from banks by lending securities, to ensure surplus liquidity in the system.

• The central bank, however, kept all key rate, including repo rate, unchanged.

• ICICI bank has launched voice assistance-based banking services on its integrated artificial intelligence (AI) powered multi-channel chatbot iPal with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for its retail banking customers

• The service will enable customers to #BankWithTheirVoice and get answers to banking queries, check account balance & transactions, credit card due date and more.

• The customers to access this need to download the Alexa/Google Assistant and link their ICICI Bank account through a secure 2 factor authentication process.

• Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) inks partnership with Mastercard to issue virtual and physical debit cards.
• These cards enable its customers to perform secure online transactions, make payment in stores as well as withdraw cash from ATMs.
• The main objective of PPBL is to issue over 10 million digital debit cards in FY 2020-21.
• Paytm Payments Bank Ltd cases to have 5.7 crore account holders and 30 crore computerized wallets.
• Mastercard offers its fully-integrated global payment platform to Paytm Payments Bank to enable cardholders to have access to the safest way of making electronic payments.

• The World Bank has said that the remittances to India are likely to drop by 23 per cent from USD 83 billion last year to USD 64 billion this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in a global recession.

• As per the report, globally remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 per cent this year due to the economic crisis induced by the pandemic and shutdowns.

• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced the launch of second instalment of TLTRO -- TLTRO 2.0 -- for easing credit to NBFCs.

• The central bank will conduct targeted repo operations for an amount of ₹50,000 crore to begin with in tranches of appropriate sizes.

• The funds will have to be made in bonds, CP, NCD of NBFCs with 50% of it going to small and mid-sized NBFC within one month of availing the credit from RBI.

• It will be classified as HTM or held to maturity.

• The HDFC Bank has launched Safety Grid campaign which was conceptualized by Leo Burnett India to help people maintain social distancing as prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO) while waiting at shops during Lockdown.

• It has created physical makers on the ground using the outer grid of its logo at a distance of 1 meter from each outside the outlets like pharmacies, grocery stores, Automated teller machines (ATMs) among others.

• It has been implemented in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar at 1,750 essential services stores & will be implemented at over 4,000 essential services stores across the 8 cities

• Fitch Ratings slashed its FY21 growth forecast for India to 0.8% from 2% projected barely three weeks ago holding that the depth of the global recession appears to be more severe.

• The rating agency said economic collapse is being repeated globally and a notable feature of its latest update is sharp further downward revisions to GDP forecasts for emerging markets.

• The International Monetary Fund expects India to grow at 1.9% in 2020-21 while the World Bank has projected India’s growth at 1.5-4% during the same period.

● According to the amendment of Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU) scheme as notified by the ministry of Finance states that the coverage of lender’s loss in case of loan default is increased to 75% from earlier 50%.

● The aim of the amendment is to incentivise lending to micro businesses which bear the impact of coronavirus outbreak & the lockdown.

● Lenders can pay a fee for the portfolio of loans they want to cover under the guarantee, which enables them to lend easily while improving profitability

● The lender’s burden under the scheme has reduced from the first 5% of the amount in default to 3%.

● Fitch Solutions cut India's economic growth forecast for the financial year 2020-21 to 1.8 per cent/

● Because private consumption is likely to contract due to large-scale loss of income in the face of worsening domestic outbreak of COVID-19.

● For India, the real GDP growth rate for 2020-21 (April 2020 to March 2021) has been revised down to 1.8 per cent from 4.6 per cent, previously.

* Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa assured Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of $2.2 billion (about ₹ 16,500 crore) support to India in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

* ADB assistance for India will be further increased if needed. We will consider all financing options available with us to meet India’s needs, including emergency assistance, policy-based loans, and budget support to facilitate swift disbursement of ADB funds.