Best of the Week | Repo rate Rewind: RBI's wild ride through trees, breast images and bail | Mint

The repo rate is the magic magic wand of the Reserve Bank of India – a powerful tool that affects everything from your loan EMI to how expensive your groceries are. Let us break it down: “Repo rate” stands for the repurchase of the option rate – the interest that commercial banks pay RBI if they borrow funds, usually overnight, and hand over the government’s bonds as collateral. The lower the rate, the cheaper it is for banks to borrow for their operations, mainly lending. And just like that, RBI controls how much money lies around in the system. When RBI feels that the economy should boost, it lowers the repo rate. This makes it easier (and cheaper) for banks to borrow money, which means more cash in circulation, more spending and ideally growing higher growth. But when inflation begins to act, RBI tends to rise the rate to place the brakes on excess liquidity. The Repo rate on April 9 gave RBI a relief by reducing the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.00%. This came after a similar cut on February 7, which was two back-to-back rate reductions. RBI had a walk through India’s repo rate history. This rate was determined for the first time on February 8, 2023, but it was after a climb in 2022, when RBI, which was stabbed by post-pandemic inflation-rose the rate of 4.00% in April 2022 to 6.25% by December. One step to another. And during the Covid storm? The repo rate was placed in a deep freezing point – beaten to 4.00% in May 2020 and left there until early 2022. It was to keep the economic engine going when the world stopped. Pre-Kovid, RBI has already hampered the rate of 6.50% in 2018 to 5.15% at the end of 2019, trying to revive a sluggish economy. But as you go back, 2008 was the mother of all nails. During the global financial crisis, the repo rate rose to 9.00% in July 2008, the highest in recent history. The economy is struggling with runaway inflation, and RBI does not play. From the early 2000s to 2007, the rate moved in a softer wave – between 6.00% to 7.75%, reflecting a more stable economic phase. To the best of Mint’s work of this week. Startups get a breathing in a move that can ease the initial sector of India, and the center is considering adjusting the proposed digital competition Bill, possibly increasing the bar on financial thresholds and cutting the list of digital services it targets. Why? So that small and middle -sized startups do not become entangled in red tape that is intended for technical titans such as Amazon, Google and Meta. The bill, unveiled a year ago, threw a wide net that covers nine digital segments and firms with large user base or sales. But after feedback from the startups, the government thinks: Don’t treat Nykaa like Netflix. The law is still aimed at keeping digital gatekeepers in check with stricter compliance rules – such as not favoring their own products or abusing data. Read more. From Gatt to Gatling Guns On April 2, Trump didn’t just clap rates – he rewrote the rule book on world trade. In a 48 -minute speech, he barked decades of accurate diplomacy that started with Gatt in 1947 and peaked at the birth of the WTO in 1995. Now? A 10%universal rate on all imports, with much higher duties for countries enjoying trade surplus with the US – India has 26%, China a cruel 54%. Even penguin -populated islands were not spared. Trump calls it ‘Liberation Day’; Critics call it economic vandalism. While Trump dreams of reviving American manufacturing glory, experts warn: History says otherwise. Rates rarely bring back work – they often send prices rise and economies are rising. Read more. ‘Black Monday’ felt like Déjà Vu of the Pandemic Crash Days. Global Jitters over US President Donald Trump’s tariff war have erased £ 14 billion in Indian investors wealth. Dalal Street bleeds red – some 50 and Sensex sat 3%, their worst since June 2024. No corner of the market was spared. Small caps and mid-caps fell by 4%, and 645 shares hit 52 weeks lows. Fear has gripped investors hard – the India Vix ‘Fear Gauge’ has risen more than 65%! Other Asian markets had a similar, or worse, Lot: Hang Seng crashed 13%, Taiwan fell by 10%and Japan fell by 8%. The chaos caused memories of Black Monday in 1987. Kotak Mahindra AMC’s Nilesh Shah calls it ‘Covid -back flashes’, although India’s fall was less dramatic than that of the US. Read more. Shipbuilding gets an elevator India is sailing to become a global shipbuilding force, which works with maritime power poles from South Korea and Japan. Cochin Shipyard is in talks with Hyundai Heavy for a modern facility in Kochi, while Mitsui and Hanwha investigate joint ventures near major ports. With Asia’s top shipping wetters that are overbook, India seizes the moment to fill the global demand gaps. “We are close to signing an agreement,” said CMD Madhu Nair of Cochin Shipyard and an indication of big skirts and even bigger ambitions. The upcoming shipyard, backed by the Cochin Port Trust, will roll out cargo and holding vessels with technical muscle and global scale. By 2047, India hopes to catch 69% of its own fleet with India-built ships. Read more. Within the rating fraud when Vishal wanted a cooler this summer, he didn’t look for Amazon – he sent a telegram group for an ‘agreement’. Sounds harmless, isn’t it? But here’s the turn: It’s not just forums for hunting hunting-It is secret hubs for fake five-star reviews. Vishal, Samrat and Ashutosh are part of an underground web where judges get freebies or steep discounts in exchange for glowing product ratings on Amazon and Flipkart. It is smooth, organized and misleading. Mediators in Massive Telegram and WhatsApp groups – some with thousands of members – coordinate the entire rocket. In a recent Cloudsek study, more than 12,000 false reviews were revealed in just ten months, which influenced £ 50 Lakh’s value purchases. Read more. RBI’s growth pivot RBI -Governor Sanjay Malhotra lowered the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6% and switched policy standing to ‘accommodating’. Translation? The central bank is ready to support everyone to support growth, even if global trading tensions and rates are threatening to delay things. While inflation looks tame, RBI has cut both growth and inflation forecasts for FY26 to 6.5% and 4%. The surprise was not the rate cut – it was the shift in attitude. Only three out of ten economists saw it. RBI is now clearly more concerned about growth than inflation, with Malhotra recognizing that global rates are shedding long shadows. And yes, the liquidity will remain surplus to help banks pass on the rate cut. Read more. Wipro’s tranquil Comeback -big wins do not easily come to Wipro, but CEO Srini Pallia is slowly but surely changing the narrative. In just 12 months, the IT giant has snapped up two major transactions – $ 650 million from the UK’s Phoenix group and an American $ 500 million contract – which increases the hope of a turnaround. Pallia, who entered the role in April 2024, is the eighth CEO of Wipro since 2000. But unlike his predecessor, he holds it old school, he leans on loyal internal leaders, prunes unnecessary costs and moves away from the head of the head. There is a quiet shift in progress: less luxurious excessive traveling and a laser focus on profitability. Discharge and margin-focused reforms have already begun to show results. However, analysts remain cautiously optimistic – Wipro’s false starts before. Read more. India’s trading moment India has received a rare 90-day break from US rates, and it doesn’t waste a second. With tension flaring between Washington and Beijing, New -Delhi considers it a golden window to include important trading transactions with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and more. Conversations with the US about a bilateral trade agreement move faster than expected, even if experts are to be careful. The break also pushes India to investigate Chinese imports from back door via Asean countries. For Indian manufacturers, it’s playing time. Worldwide buyers are turning from China, and India has the chance to prove its muscle for chain supply. But to truly pay in, Capeex and scale are not negotiable. Read more. UPI takes the lead role in India’s love affair with UPI just hit a new high! In 2024, UPI accounted for 65% of all digital payment volumes, according to a report by Phi Commerce. EMI options followed at 20%, while credit cards had 10%. Net banking and direct transfers? Only 5%! From grabbing coffee to paying education, UPI is now everyone’s visit-especially in retail, food and e-commerce. For greater expenses such as on cars or education, EMI and credit cards still dominate. Even the government is on board, and uses UPI and direct transfers for tax collection and subsidies, driving the inclusion of semi-urban and rural areas. And yes, digital payments are now also seasonal – August see a rush in education fees, March is heated for healthcare, and retail explodes during festive sales. Read more. Kohli’s brand Bet Virat Kohli exchange the Puma Pounce for a new sprint with agilitas! With its £ 110 Crore Agreement with the German giant now history, Wed Kohli wides to homemade ambition. The star cricketer will not only invest in Agilitas, founded by former Puma boss Abhishek Ganguly -but will also lead the complaint as a brand ambassador. The essence of this move? One8, Kohli’s own lifestyle label. Agilitas will help turn it into a global sportswear. The vision: an Indian brand competing with world names – thinking of sneakers, tea, tracks, all powered by Virat’s brand value. Puma wishes him well, but Kohli is now (and bat) in his own shoes. Read more. It’s all for this week! If you have any feedback, want to talk about food, or have something else to say about our journalism, write to me at [email protected] or reply to this email. You can also write to [email protected]. Best, Shravani Sinha, senior correspondent first published: 12 Apr 2025, 06:00 AM IST