RBI directs all agency banks to be open for public on Sunday, March 31

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed all agency banks to remain open on Sunday i.e. March 31, 2024, to facilitate a large volume of transactions for the fiscal year 2023-24.

In a press communication, the central bank said: "The government of India has requested to keep all branches of the banks dealing with government receipts and payments open for transactions on March 31, 2024 (Sunday) to account for all the government transactions relating to receipts and payments in the FY 2023-24 itself."

Accordingly, agency banks have been advised to keep all their branches dealing with government business open on March 31, 2024 (Sunday), says the apex bank.

Banks will also be asked to give due publicity about the availability of the above banking services on this day.

Public-sector banks (PSBs) including Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and Indian Overseas Bank, among others come under the RBI's agency banks. Private lenders listed as agency banks are DCB Bank Ltd, City Union Bank Ltd, Axis Bank Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, Federal Bank Ltd, and ICICI Bank Ltd, among others.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its March bulletin, has said India's real GDP growth, which was at a six-quarter high in Q3:2023-24, powered by strong momentum, robust indirect taxes, and lower subsidies, will continue in the coming quarters.

The central bank has attributed the high visibility of structural demand and healthier corporate and bank balance sheets as the galvanising forces for growth going forward. "The Indian economy is experiencing a conducive macroeconomic configuration that can be its launching pad for a step-up in its growth trajectory."

Defying all estimates, India’s economy grew to a six-quarter high at 8.4% in Q3 FY24 and exhibited over 8% growth in the preceding two quarters.

The global economy, on the other hand, is losing steam, with growth slowing in some of the most resilient economies and high-frequency indicators pointing to further levelling in the period ahead, according to the RBI’s State of the Economy report.

It says over the period 2021-24, India's growth has averaged above 8%; and the underlying fundamentals indicate this can be sustained and even built upon.

Inflation, says the RBI, is on the ebb; the steady decline in core inflation would have taken down headline inflation towards the target of 4% even sooner and faster but for the repetitive incidence of short amplitude food price pressures. Notably, India's retail inflation, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), cooled to a four-month low at 5.09% in February 2024 vs 5.10% in January 2024.