The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will put in place a regulatory framework to allow a new kind of non-banking financial companies, said RBI governor Raghuram Rajan at a press conference in Chennai on Thursday.
Rajan said the central bank is working towards allowing NBFCs to act as account aggregators to enable the common man to see all his accounts across financial institutions in a common format.
The idea, which was first proposed by the government a while back in the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), will be given shape by the RBI so that individuals can access their pension funds, mutual funds, current and savings account from a single window.
RBI also proposed a roadmap for furthering the financial inclusion programme of the government. RBI deputy governor SS Mundra stated that RBI proposes to recommence the Financial Inclusion Advisory Committee (FIAC) to take the financial inclusion agenda forward.
"As an input to the FIAC, RBI will set up an internal group with the departments concerned to prepare a blue print for financial inclusion for the next five to 10 years, identifying ways to integrate resources available with all financial institutions in achieving the goals for financial inclusion," he added.
The meeting of the central board of RBI in Chennai also held discussions on the draft of annual report for 2014-15. The annual report of RBI gives an account of what was planned in the past year, what is achieved and what is not as well as what RBI proposes to do in the coming year.
Rajan, addressing a press conference, also said the Indian economy is recovering and is prepared for any contingency if there are untoward developments in Greece. “Our macro policies are good and we have enough buffers, including foreign exchange reserves to protect against any possible eventuality,” he said. Though he said markets should be prepared for an initial burst of volatility.
While the Reserve Bank has worked towards ensuring that the economy is on the path of recovery and that inflation doesn't notch up again, it has struggled in dealing with the bad debt problem and in ensuring that banks pass on the rate cut to consumers.
