India federal finance ministry seeks relaxation in central bank's gold loan proposals
The department of financial services under the finance ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India to ensure that the needs of small gold loan borrowers are not "adversely impacted", a post on the ministry's verified handle on social media platform X said.
In April this year, the RBI had proposed tighter rules for monitoring and disbursement of gold loans, often used by low-income borrowers. The tighter rules came after such loans surged nearly 30% between September and February.
In its post, the finance ministry said small ticket borrowers below 200,000 rupees ($2,344.05) should be excluded from the tighter rules to ensure "timely and speedy disbursement of loans".
The ministry also proposed that the new rules not be implemented before January 1, 2026, to ensure the ground staff at lenders are adequately prepared.
The central bank had sought comments on its proposed rules by the middle of May. The final rules are yet to be issued.
On the day, Muthoot Finance (MUTT.NS), opens new tab rose 4.9% and Manappuram Finance (MNFL.NS), opens new tab traded 0.5% higher as of 10:34 a.m. IST. IIFL Finance (IIFL.NS), opens new tab was down 0.6%.
($1 = 85.3225 Indian rupees)
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