Moody&#39;s Investors Service on Wednesday affirmed India&#39;s sovereign ratings, citing economic and institutional reforms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but said the measures have yet to produce enough dividends to warrant an upgrade.

Moody&#39;s becomes the second ratings agency after Standard &amp; Poor&#39;s to decline an upgrade to India&#39;s ratings despite government lobbying. Moody&#39;s rates India at &quot;Baa3&quot;, the lowest investment-grade rating, but with a &quot;positive&quot; outlook.

The credit agency welcomed economic and institutional reforms introduced under Modi, saying they &quot;offer a reasonable expectation that India&#39;s growth will outperform that of its peers over the medium term.&quot;

However, Moody&#39;s said &quot;the reform effort to date has not yet achieved the conditions that would support an upgrade,&quot; saying the country still needed to accelerate private investment in order to reduce the government&#39;s debt burden.

Since taking office in May 2014, Modi has taken a slew of measures to control inflation, revive investments and boost economic growth.

He has revamped the country&#39;s monetary policy framework, giving the Reserve Bank of India an explicit mandate to target inflation. He is also on track to roll out a goods and services tax next April that will transform the $2 trillion economy into a single customs union.

While India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy, those initiatives have not yet succeeded in convincing cautious companies to commit to fresh capital spending. Nor have they materially improved public finances.

Earlier this month, S&amp;P affirmed India&#39;s sovereign ratings, but ruled out any upgrade this year or in 2017 because of weak public finances and low per capita income.

S&amp;P&#39;s decision had caused disappointment within the Modi administration, which criticised it for not reflecting its efforts to improve economic growth and public finances.

(Reuters)

Moody's said India's ratings has declined 'Baa3', the lowest investment-grade rating but has a positive 'outlook'

Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday affirmed India's sovereign ratings, citing economic and institutional reforms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but said the measures have yet to produce enough dividends to warrant an upgrade. Moody's becomes the second ratings agency after Standard & Poor's to decline an upgrade to India's ratings despite government lobbying. Moody's rates India at "Baa3", the lowest investment-grade rating, but with a "positive" outlook. The credit agency welcomed economic and institutional reforms introduced under Modi, saying they "offer a reasonable expectation that India's growth will outperform that of its peers over the medium term." However, Moody's said "the reform effort to date has not yet achieved the conditions that would support an upgrade," saying the country still needed to accelerate private investment in order to reduce the government's debt burden. Since taking office in May 2014, Modi has taken a slew of measures to control inflation, revive investments and boost economic growth. He has revamped the country's monetary policy framework, giving the Reserve Bank of India an explicit mandate to target inflation. He is also on track to roll out a goods and services tax next April that will transform the $2 trillion economy into a single customs union. While India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy, those initiatives have not yet succeeded in convincing cautious companies to commit to fresh capital spending. Nor have they materially improved public finances. Earlier this month, S&P affirmed India's sovereign ratings, but ruled out any upgrade this year or in 2017 because of weak public finances and low per capita income. S&P's decision had caused disappointment within the Modi administration, which criticised it for not reflecting its efforts to improve economic growth and public finances. (Reuters)

Moody's affirms India's rating, says reforms yet to produce results

With banks in several parts of the country closed today, the lines at ATMs only got longer.

People waited outside ATMs from early in the morning hoping to get their hands on some cash, but with little success since most of the machines had run out of cash.

Scuffles and heated exchanges were reported from ATMs and banks from many parts of the country.

Banks have been unable to deal with the heavy rush -- despite them staying open on the government&#39;s order over the weekend -- and that has led to the fraying of tempers.

To try and ease the situation, the finance ministry has said people can now change Rs 4,500 of their old currency for new notes every day instead of Rs 4,000, and people have been allowed to withdraw Rs 2,500 a day from ATMs instead of the earlier Rs 2,0000.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from PTI)

Scuffles and heated exchanges were reported from ATMs and banks from many parts of the country

With banks in several parts of the country closed today, the lines at ATMs only got longer. People waited outside ATMs from early in the morning hoping to get their hands on some cash, but with little success since most of the machines had run out of cash. Scuffles and heated exchanges were reported from ATMs and banks from many parts of the country. Banks have been unable to deal with the heavy rush -- despite them staying open on the government's order over the weekend -- and that has led to the fraying of tempers. To try and ease the situation, the finance ministry has said people can now change Rs 4,500 of their old currency for new notes every day instead of Rs 4,000, and people have been allowed to withdraw Rs 2,500 a day from ATMs instead of the earlier Rs 2,0000. (WION with inputs from PTI)

India: Banks closed today, queues get longer at ATMs

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with senior ministers past midnight today to review demonetisation and its impact.

The meeting at Prime Minister&#39;s residence was attended by Indian home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley, I&amp;B Minister Venkaiah Naidu, power, coal and mines minister Piyush Goyal and top officials of the Finance ministry.

The meeting came amid continuing chaos and growing public anger across the country over limited cash availability following the surprise demonetisation of two higher value currency notes by Modi.

There was little respite for cash-starved people queueing up outside banks and ATMs yesterday, with branches witnessing unprecedented rush since early morning and leading to arguments and scuffles.

Earlier in the evening, after a review by Finance ministry, the limit of old and now defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1000 rupee notes that can be exchanged for freshly minted Rs 2000 and new Rs 500 notes was increased from Rs 4000 to Rs 4500 per day.

Cash withdrawal limit at ATMs was hiked to Rs 2,500 from Rs 2,000 a day.

The weekly limit of Rs 20,000 for withdrawal from bank counters has been increased to Rs 24,000. The maximum limit of Rs 10,000 per day on such withdrawals has been removed, the ministry said in a statement.&nbsp;

(PTI)

Home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley and information minister Venkaiah Naidu were in attendance

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with senior ministers past midnight today to review demonetisation and its impact. The meeting at Prime Minister's residence was attended by Indian home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley, I&B Minister Venkaiah Naidu, power, coal and mines minister Piyush Goyal and top officials of the Finance ministry. The meeting came amid continuing chaos and growing public anger across the country over limited cash availability following the surprise demonetisation of two higher value currency notes by Modi. There was little respite for cash-starved people queueing up outside banks and ATMs yesterday, with branches witnessing unprecedented rush since early morning and leading to arguments and scuffles. Earlier in the evening, after a review by Finance ministry, the limit of old and now defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1000 rupee notes that can be exchanged for freshly minted Rs 2000 and new Rs 500 notes was increased from Rs 4000 to Rs 4500 per day. Cash withdrawal limit at ATMs was hiked to Rs 2,500 from Rs 2,000 a day. The weekly limit of Rs 20,000 for withdrawal from bank counters has been increased to Rs 24,000. The maximum limit of Rs 10,000 per day on such withdrawals has been removed, the ministry said in a statement. (PTI)

India: PM holds late-night meeting to review demonetisation, impact

With banks struggling to cope with rush to get alternative currency, the government has extended use of old defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for paying household utility bills, fuel, taxes and fees and purchases from co-operative stores till November 24.

While withdrawing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from the night of November 8-9, the government had allowed use of the old currency at government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds and petrol pumps for 72 hours.

This list was later expanded to include payments for metro rail tickets, highway and road toll, purchase of medicines on doctor prescription from the government and private pharmacies, LPG gas cylinders, railway catering, electricity and water bills and ASI monument entry tickets.

As banks struggled to give alternate currency, the deadline was extended by another 72 hours. That deadline was to end at midnight tonight, but has now been extended till November 24, official sources said.

Old currency can also be used for purchases at consumer co-operative stores like Kendriya Bhandar with valid ID proof as also for paying court fee.

But payments towards utility bills will be restricted to only individuals or households for arrears and/or current bills. No advance payments will be allowed. 
 
(PTI)

The deadline was to end on November 14 but has now been extended by the Indian government

With banks struggling to cope with rush to get alternative currency, the government has extended use of old defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for paying household utility bills, fuel, taxes and fees and purchases from co-operative stores till November 24. While withdrawing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from the night of November 8-9, the government had allowed use of the old currency at government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds and petrol pumps for 72 hours. This list was later expanded to include payments for metro rail tickets, highway and road toll, purchase of medicines on doctor prescription from the government and private pharmacies, LPG gas cylinders, railway catering, electricity and water bills and ASI monument entry tickets. As banks struggled to give alternate currency, the deadline was extended by another 72 hours. That deadline was to end at midnight tonight, but has now been extended till November 24, official sources said. Old currency can also be used for purchases at consumer co-operative stores like Kendriya Bhandar with valid ID proof as also for paying court fee. But payments towards utility bills will be restricted to only individuals or households for arrears and/or current bills. No advance payments will be allowed. (PTI)

Demonetisation: Deadline for old currency notes for utility payments extended till November 24

Indian government&#39;s plan to scrap&nbsp;the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes has left millions of citizens in the lurch,&nbsp;with people having to wait&nbsp;for hours in queues at bank branches and ouside ATMs.

The situation worsened because many ATMs went dry on Friday, barely a few hours after the public was allowed to operate them.

That was because banks did not make feed enough cash to refill the machines.

State Bank of India (SBI) said 29,176 of about 50,000 of its ATMs functioned on Friday and the remaining would become operational on Saturday (today). Rituraj Sinha, President, Cash Logistics Association of India, said that shortage of cash with banks and technical glitches were the main reasons for ATMs not functioning optimally.

&quot;The main reason is huge withdrawal and cash availability was not that much. As of now, we have only collected Rs 100 notes from banks. No Rs 500 or Rs 2,000 notes were collected by us (his company SIS),&quot; he said.

The government has reportedly printed 1 billion Rs 2,000 notes and Rs 2 lakh crore (roughly 29.6 billion) worth of cash will come into circulation soon.

Sinha said that his company required Rs 95 crore (a little over $14 million) daily to manage around 2,500 ATMs in the National Capital Region (NCR) whereas they could collect hardly around Rs 10 crore ($1.48 million) on Friday.

The other reasons, he said, were evacuation of old high-denomination currency from ATMs could not be completed and a lot of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes extracted from machines were yet to be deposited with banks and exchanged with Rs 100 and new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes.

The current configuration of ATMs, which has four money cassettes or slots with three for Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and only one for Rs 100 notes, were also creating problems. Some machines did not have cassettes for Rs100 notes at all.

&quot;One cassette can hold 2,500-3,000 currency notes &ndash; that is Rs 2.5 lakh ($3,700) for Rs 100 notes in a single ATM. This is nothing for a city like Delhi. This amount can be dispensed very fast,&quot; said Sinha.

According to him, most banks were too busy handling customers and were unable to attend to the cash logistic firms.

Government placates irate citizens

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government issued statements on Friday to assure people that there was sufficient cash available with them and would be supplied to improve the liquidity situation.

&quot;There is enough cash with the RBI. Supply of cash to bank branches and ATMs are being stepped up gradually,&quot; said the government release.

In terms of volume, the share of old Rs 1,000 notes in circulation in the country was 7 per cent and 17.4 per cent for the old Rs 500 notes. Currency of Rs 100 denomination constitutes around 17.5 per cent of the total volumes. The total worth of currency in circulation was Rs 17 lakh crore.

(This report was first published in DNA)

Technical glitches and shortage of cash in ATMs left several people stranded as they struggled to pay for basic goods

Indian government's plan to scrap the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes has left millions of citizens in the lurch, with people having to wait for hours in queues at bank branches and ouside ATMs. The situation worsened because many ATMs went dry on Friday, barely a few hours after the public was allowed to operate them. That was because banks did not make feed enough cash to refill the machines. State Bank of India (SBI) said 29,176 of about 50,000 of its ATMs functioned on Friday and the remaining would become operational on Saturday (today). Rituraj Sinha, President, Cash Logistics Association of India, said that shortage of cash with banks and technical glitches were the main reasons for ATMs not functioning optimally. "The main reason is huge withdrawal and cash availability was not that much. As of now, we have only collected Rs 100 notes from banks. No Rs 500 or Rs 2,000 notes were collected by us (his company SIS)," he said. The government has reportedly printed 1 billion Rs 2,000 notes and Rs 2 lakh crore (roughly 29.6 billion) worth of cash will come into circulation soon. Sinha said that his company required Rs 95 crore (a little over $14 million) daily to manage around 2,500 ATMs in the National Capital Region (NCR) whereas they could collect hardly around Rs 10 crore ($1.48 million) on Friday. The other reasons, he said, were evacuation of old high-denomination currency from ATMs could not be completed and a lot of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes extracted from machines were yet to be deposited with banks and exchanged with Rs 100 and new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. The current configuration of ATMs, which has four money cassettes or slots with three for Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and only one for Rs 100 notes, were also creating problems. Some machines did not have cassettes for Rs100 notes at all. "One cassette can hold 2,500-3,000 currency notes – that is Rs 2.5 lakh ($3,700) for Rs 100 notes in a single ATM. This is nothing for a city like Delhi. This amount can be dispensed very fast," said Sinha. According to him, most banks were too busy handling customers and were unable to attend to the cash logistic firms. Government placates irate citizens Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government issued statements on Friday to assure people that there was sufficient cash available with them and would be supplied to improve the liquidity situation. "There is enough cash with the RBI. Supply of cash to bank branches and ATMs are being stepped up gradually," said the government release. In terms of volume, the share of old Rs 1,000 notes in circulation in the country was 7 per cent and 17.4 per cent for the old Rs 500 notes. Currency of Rs 100 denomination constitutes around 17.5 per cent of the total volumes. The total worth of currency in circulation was Rs 17 lakh crore. (This report was first published in DNA)

India's rupee demonetisation: ATMs run dry to worsen cash chaos

Queues outside banks grew longer as did confusion and chaos, with all cash vending machines still not functioning despite a two-day break for stocking up new currency notes.

People waited for hours to get the cash needed to meet their daily expenses as most prevalent higher denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 were declared invalid.

ATMs, which reopened two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of the two biggest currency notes, had people queueing up since early morning.

But not all of them were operating and the crowds at many of the machines grew increasingly agitated on learning that they were still inactive.

Bank officials said all ATMs should start functioning by tomorrow after old notes are removed and new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 ones stocked in them.

However, withdrawal from ATMs is limited to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per card in a day up to November 18, 2016. The limit will be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from November 19, 2016 onwards, bankers said.

State Bank of India, the nation&#39;s largest lender, said it could take 10 days for ATM services to settle down to normal.

There are nearly 2 lakh ATMs in the country. Many of them are configured to dispense only Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 notes and cannot dispense Rs 100 or Rs 2000 notes, so they have to be reconfigured too.

Yesterday, when banks opened after a day&#39;s break, millions rushed to deposit and swap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

Only a maximum of Rs 4,000 per person was being exchanged at banks and select post offices.

Banks opened additional counters to exchange notes as also allow withdrawal from bank accounts through cheque or withdrawal slips with a ceiling of Rs 10,000 in a day within an overall limit of Rs 20,000 in a week (including withdrawals from ATMs) for the first fortnight i.e. Up to November 24.

Interestingly, today is the last date for old notes to be accepted as payment for water and electricity bills, government penalties, and at state-run petrol pumps, government hospitals, metros and railway tickets.

After midnight tonight, even these utility payments would have to be done in either lower denomination currency or in new currency notes, which will add to the pressure on banks and ATMs. 
Banks will work on weekend and till at least 7 pm on these days to cater to the rush.&nbsp;

(PTI) 
&nbsp;

The crowds at many of the machines grew increasingly agitated

Queues outside banks grew longer as did confusion and chaos, with all cash vending machines still not functioning despite a two-day break for stocking up new currency notes. People waited for hours to get the cash needed to meet their daily expenses as most prevalent higher denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 were declared invalid. ATMs, which reopened two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of the two biggest currency notes, had people queueing up since early morning. But not all of them were operating and the crowds at many of the machines grew increasingly agitated on learning that they were still inactive. Bank officials said all ATMs should start functioning by tomorrow after old notes are removed and new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 ones stocked in them. However, withdrawal from ATMs is limited to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per card in a day up to November 18, 2016. The limit will be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from November 19, 2016 onwards, bankers said. State Bank of India, the nation's largest lender, said it could take 10 days for ATM services to settle down to normal. There are nearly 2 lakh ATMs in the country. Many of them are configured to dispense only Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 notes and cannot dispense Rs 100 or Rs 2000 notes, so they have to be reconfigured too. Yesterday, when banks opened after a day's break, millions rushed to deposit and swap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Only a maximum of Rs 4,000 per person was being exchanged at banks and select post offices. Banks opened additional counters to exchange notes as also allow withdrawal from bank accounts through cheque or withdrawal slips with a ceiling of Rs 10,000 in a day within an overall limit of Rs 20,000 in a week (including withdrawals from ATMs) for the first fortnight i.e. Up to November 24. Interestingly, today is the last date for old notes to be accepted as payment for water and electricity bills, government penalties, and at state-run petrol pumps, government hospitals, metros and railway tickets. After midnight tonight, even these utility payments would have to be done in either lower denomination currency or in new currency notes, which will add to the pressure on banks and ATMs. Banks will work on weekend and till at least 7 pm on these days to cater to the rush. (PTI)

India: Chaos, long queues at banks; many ATMs still inactive

Huge rush and long serpentine queues were witnessed on Thursday at banks in India, which opened today after a day&#39;s break, as people jostled to exchange their 500- and 1,000-rupee notes for lower denomination bills to be able to pay for their basic needs.

With ATMs also shutting down soon after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday night announced the&nbsp;withdrawal of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes from circulation in a bid to flush out black money, citizens queued at banks to get the limited quota of cash that they are initially entitled to.

Only a few ATMs were working and most of them will be back in operation only tomorrow after the tedious job of removing the now-defunct bank notes and replacing them with lower denomination bills and new hard-to-fake Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes is completed.

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&nbsp;

People complained of having to wait for a long time before they could replace old higher denomination notes or withdraw from their bank accounts using pay-in slips or cheques.

Besides banks, select post offices were also replacing old high denomination (OHD) currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 with new Rs 2,000 banknotes.

People seemed excited after getting new Rs 2,000 notes from banks and clicked pictures holding the new banknotes in their hands.

Some, however, complained of the restrictions placed on exchanging OHD and withdrawals from the banks. Many felt the government should have done all preparations, including stocking ATMs, before announcing the decision.

Only a maximum of Rs 4,000 per person in cash irrespective of the size of the&nbsp;tender was being given per person after submission of valid identity proof. Anything over and above this value was credited to bank account.

Banks set up additional counters to change cash as also allow withdrawal from bank accounts through cheque or withdrawal slips with a ceiling of Rs 10,000 in a day within an overall limit of Rs 20,000 in a week (including withdrawals from ATMs) up to November 24.

Once the ATMs are fully functional, withdraw up to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per card per day up to November 18, 2016 will be allowed. The limit will be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from November 19, 2016 onwards, bankers said.

Banks have been ordered to remain open on the weekend as well as function late till 9 PM for three days beginning today to deal with the huge rush.

(PTI)

People jostled to exchange their 500- and 1,000-rupee notes for lower denomination bills

Huge rush and long serpentine queues were witnessed on Thursday at banks in India, which opened today after a day's break, as people jostled to exchange their 500- and 1,000-rupee notes for lower denomination bills to be able to pay for their basic needs. With ATMs also shutting down soon after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday night announced the withdrawal of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes from circulation in a bid to flush out black money, citizens queued at banks to get the limited quota of cash that they are initially entitled to. Only a few ATMs were working and most of them will be back in operation only tomorrow after the tedious job of removing the now-defunct bank notes and replacing them with lower denomination bills and new hard-to-fake Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes is completed. People are initially allowed to exchange only a limited amount of currency × People complained of having to wait for a long time before they could replace old higher denomination notes or withdraw from their bank accounts using pay-in slips or cheques. Besides banks, select post offices were also replacing old high denomination (OHD) currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 with new Rs 2,000 banknotes. People seemed excited after getting new Rs 2,000 notes from banks and clicked pictures holding the new banknotes in their hands. Some, however, complained of the restrictions placed on exchanging OHD and withdrawals from the banks. Many felt the government should have done all preparations, including stocking ATMs, before announcing the decision. Only a maximum of Rs 4,000 per person in cash irrespective of the size of the tender was being given per person after submission of valid identity proof. Anything over and above this value was credited to bank account. Banks set up additional counters to change cash as also allow withdrawal from bank accounts through cheque or withdrawal slips with a ceiling of Rs 10,000 in a day within an overall limit of Rs 20,000 in a week (including withdrawals from ATMs) up to November 24. Once the ATMs are fully functional, withdraw up to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per card per day up to November 18, 2016 will be allowed. The limit will be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from November 19, 2016 onwards, bankers said. Banks have been ordered to remain open on the weekend as well as function late till 9 PM for three days beginning today to deal with the huge rush. (PTI)

India: Huge rush, serpentine queues seen at banks