&w=3840&q=100)
Outward remittances under RBI's LRS fall 4.4% to $2.3 billion in May 2025
According to the latest RBI bulletin, total remittances under the scheme stood at $2.3 billion in May 2025—4.4 per cent less than $2.4 billion in May 2024.
The LRS scheme was introduced in 2004, allowing all resident individuals to remit up to $250,000 per financial year for any permissible current or capital account transaction, or a combination of both, free of charge. Initially, the scheme had a limit of $25,000, which was gradually revised.
On the other hand, remittances for the purchase of immovable property rose by 92.21 per cent Y-o-Y to $41.69 million, while deposits inched up by 3.15 per cent Y-o-Y to $54.65 million. Remittances for investment in equity/debt increased 6.15 per cent Y-o-Y to $104.9 million from $98.86 million.
Meanwhile, remittances for medical treatment slipped 12.27 per cent Y-o-Y to $6.72 million, while funds for maintenance of close relatives inched up by 0.54 per cent Y-o-Y to $322.54 million. The remittances under the 'gifts' segment dropped 14.2 per cent Y-o-Y to $233.3 million.
In the April–May FY26 period, India's outward remittances under LRS were down 1.87 per cent to $4.79 billion, compared to $4.88 billion in the year-ago period.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
9 minutes ago
- Time of India
'Steady as she goes': How the economy looks and feels
India's economy is performing well as it enters the second quarter of fiscal year 2026. Domestic supply and demand are strong. Inflation is within the target range. The monsoon season is progressing as expected. The Finance Ministry expresses cautious optimism. India's macroeconomic fundamentals are resilient despite global challenges. Experts project GDP growth between 6.2 and 6.5 percent. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads India's economy enters the second quarter of FY26 on a relatively firm footing, as the first quarter of FY26 presents a picture of resilient domestic supply and demand fundamentals with inflation remaining within the target range and monsoon progress on track, said a Finance Ministry report on economy has the look and feel of 'steady as she goes' as far as FY26 is concerned, the Finance Ministry's Monthly Economic Review for June said, even though it pointed out downside risks."The Indian economy in mid-2025 presents a picture of cautious optimism," the review said. "Despite global headwinds marked by trade tensions, geopolitical volatility, and external uncertainties, India's macroeconomic fundamentals have remained resilient. Aided by robust domestic demand, fiscal prudence and monetary support, India appears poised to continue as one of the fastest-growing major economies, with various forecasters, including S&P, ICRA , and the RBI's Survey of Professional Forecasters, projecting GDP growth rates for FY26 in the range of 6.2 per cent and 6.5 per cent."In the review for the previous month of May, the ministry had said India's broader economic health is in a "relative goldilocks situation", with no major imbalances in the macro aggregates, a subdued inflation rate, and a growth-supportive monetary policy stance. These could be "nervous but exciting times" for the Indian economy, it said. Geopolitical shifts may present India with opportunities that appeared remote earlier. But it's "up to us to be flexible enough to ride the tide".The Finance Ministry report indicates room for further rate cuts for the RBI. "Core inflation remains subdued, and overall inflation is comfortably below the RBI's 4 per cent target, affording room for the easing cycle to be sustained," it said."The Reserve Bank of India has projected headline inflation at 3.4 per cent for the Q2 of FY26, while in Q1, actual inflation came below the Q1 target of the RBI. It appears likely that the full fiscal year inflation rate would undershoot the central bank's expectation of 3.7 per cent. Also, global crude oil prices are expected to remain subdued, following a larger-than-anticipated production hike by OPEC and its allies, who raised output by 548,000 barrels per day in August, on top of the production increases announced for the previous months," the monthly review February, the RBI has lowered the repo rate by 100 basis points, or a percentage point, to 5.5%. It has also announced lowering cash reserve ratio by 100 bps in a phased manner beginning September 2025, which is estimated to release Rs 2.5 lakh crore in the banking system. When the central bank's six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting from August 4 to 6, it is expected to deliberate on the policy repo rate using two key data points: the June quarter GDP projections and the latest retail inflation are divided on the trajectory of interest rate cuts, ET has reported today. While some cite six-year low inflation as grounds for another rate cut in the upcoming August policy, the majority advocate for maintaining the status quo. Those calling for a pause argue that it is prudent to wait and assess inflation trends in the coming quarter and monitor developments around the US trade deal. ET reported that economists shared these perspectives with the Reserve Bank of India governor Sanjay Malhotra, deputy governor Poonam Gupta and her team during customary pre-policy consultative meetings held last week.A global slowdown could further dampen demand for Indian exports and continued uncertainty on US tariffs may weigh on the country's trade performance in coming quarters, the finance ministry review said. India's goods exports fell to $35.14 billion in June, down 9% from May, and remained nearly flat from a year earlier. The figure was the lowest since November's $32.11 billion, according to LSEG monthly review has also underlined slow credit growth and private investment as risks to growth. "Despite monetary easing and a strong bank balance sheet, credit growth has slowed, reflecting cautious borrower sentiment and possibly risk-averse lender behaviour," it said. However, the trend can also be explained by a growing preference for bond markets, particularly commercial papers among corporates due to lower borrowing costs, it added."Despite the broadly positive outlook, downside risks remain," the review said. "While geopolitical tensions have not elevated further, the global slowdown, particularly in the US (which shrank by 0.5 per cent in Q1 2025), could dampen further demand for Indian exports. Continued uncertainty on the US tariff front may weigh on India's trade performance in the coming quarters. Slow credit growth and private investment appetite may restrict acceleration in economic momentum. Further, given the deflationary trend in the wholesale price index, one has to observe economic momentum in nominal quantities. Measured in constant prices, economic activity may appear healthier than it is."
The Hindu
9 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Unclaimed deposits with banks stand at ₹67,003 crore
Unclaimed deposits with banks, including private lenders, stood at ₹67,003 crore at the end of June 2025, Parliament was informed on Monday (July 28, 2025). As of June 30, 2025, public sector banks were saddled with unclaimed deposits of ₹58,330.26 crore while private sector had ₹8,673.72 crore, as per the Reserve Bank of India. Of the public sector banks, SBI is leading the pack with unclaimed deposits of ₹19,329.92 crore, followed by Punjab National Bank ₹6,910.67 crore and Canara Bank ₹6,278.14 crore, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Among the private sector banks, ICICI Bank has the highest unclaimed deposits of ₹2,063.45 crore, followed by HDFC Bank ₹1,609.56 crore and Axis Bank ₹1,360.16 crore, he said. To enhance accessibility and simplify the search process for unclaimed deposits, RBI has launched the Centralised Web Portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits- Gateway to Access Information) for the public. 'As of July 1, 2025, 8,59,683 users registered and accessed the UDGAM portal. The said portal facilitates the registered users to search unclaimed deposits/amounts across multiple banks at one place in a centralised manner,' he said. With regard to utilisation of unclaimed fund, RBI has stated that as per the provisions of The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme (Scheme), 2014, there shall be a committee to administer and manage the fund in accordance with the scheme, the minister said. The fund shall be utilised for promotion of depositors' interest and for such other purposes which may be necessary for promotion of depositors' interest, as specified by RBI. Replying to another question, Mr. Chaudhary said the government has no plans to launch Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs) for respective Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) in order to integrate them into mainstream financial market. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued advisories warning users, holders, and traders of virtual currencies or crypto assets about the potential risks, including economic, financial, operational, legal, and security concerns, he said. Further, he said, 'RBI vide its circular dated May 31, 2021, has also advised its regulated entities to continue to carry out customer due diligence processes for transactions in VCs, in line with regulations governing standards for Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT), obligations under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, etc.' As on March 31, 2025, the total number of women enrolled as Bima Sakhi is 1,48,888 out of which nearly 15% i.e. 13,528 and 8,964 pertain to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh respectively, he said in reply to another question. Further, he said, all Bima Sakhi agents go through training within 3 months of their appointment as per the provisions of the scheme. As on March 31, 2025, he said, 60.13% of total premium collected by Bima Sakhis, is from rural areas. Further, at present nearly 25% of panchayats have minimum one Bima Sakhi agent, indicating their outreach in rural areas, he said. Bima Sakhi Yojana, being an initiative of LIC, is being promoted throughout the country by LIC's various branches and divisional offices, traditional and digital media and by pitching in public forums.
News18
32 minutes ago
- News18
RBI proposes easing business authorisation norms for urban cooperative banks
Mumbai, Jul 28 (PTI) The RBI on Monday proposed to replace the existing norms for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) with a harmonised eligibility criteria for certain business authorisations, permissions and approvals. The Reserve Bank has proposed that large UCBs (falling in Tier 3 and Tier 4 categories) which are in compliance with eligibility criteria for business authorisation (ECBA) and having a minimum assessed net worth (ANW) of Rs 50 crore may extend their area of operation beyond the state of registration, subject to prior approval of the Reserve Bank. The UCB would be permitted to extend its area of operation to a maximum of two states in a financial year, subject to the availability of adequate headroom capital required for opening at least five branches in each proposed state, said the draft Master Direction – Business Authorization for Co-operative Banks (Directions), 2025. A UCB may extend its area of operation to the whole of its district of registration without prior permission from the RBI, it said. 'A UCB in compliance with ECBA may extend its area of operation to a maximum of three districts of its choice within its state of registration (other than its district of registration), without prior permission from the Reserve Bank," said the draft on which the RBI has invited comments till August 25, 2025. The RBI has categorised UCBs in four tiers for regulatory purposes. UCBs with deposits of more than Rs 1,000 crore and up to Rs 10,000 crore fall in Tier 3 and those with deposits of more than Rs 10,000 in Tier 4. The draft also said a bank should determine its compliance with the ECBA every year based on the audited financial statements as of 31 March of the immediately preceding fiscal year and place it before its Board within 30 days from the date of adoption of the audit report. PTI NKD HVA view comments First Published: July 28, 2025, 18:30 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
