Unsecured lending moves pre-emptive, for sustainability: RBI governor Das

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday (November 22) said the recent tightening of norms on unsecured lending is a pre-emptive and targeted move in the interest of sustainability.

Addressing the annual FIBAC event in Mumbai, he said the Reserve Bank of India excluded certain sections like loans for house and vehicle purchase and also the ones availed by small businesses due to the advantage on the growth front they have.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Indian Banks Association (IBA) are organising the event.

"We have also recently announced a few macroprudential measures in the overall interest of sustainability. These measures are pre-emptive in nature. They are calibrated and targeted," Das said.

He said he does not see new stress building up in the banking system currently but wanted lenders to continue with stress testing.

He said some non-bank finance companies-microfinance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) were reporting higher interest margins and asked them to use the flexibility in setting rates by the RBI "judiciously".

Meanwhile, even as the headline inflation is showing signs of cooling, Das said RBI was completely focused on price rise.

Indian rupee

The Indian rupee has exhibited "low volatility and orderly movements" despite the elevated US treasury yields, Das said in comments that come amid some depreciation in the local currency to newer lows.

He pitched for reforms in agricultural marketing and connected value chains for sustained high growth, durable price stability and mitigating price shocks.

(With agency inputs)