India received $87 billion in remittances in 2021; US is the top source

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India received $87 billion in remittances in 2021, and the United States was the biggest source, accounting for over 20 per cent of these funds, the World Bank said in its latest report on Wednesday.

“Flows to India (the world’s largest recipient of remittances) are expected to reach $87 billion, a gain of 4.6 per cent — with the severity of Covid-19 caseloads and deaths during the second quarter (well above the global average) playing a prominent role in drawing altruistic flows (including for the purchase of oxygen tanks) to the country,” the World Bank report stated.

Growth in reminttances

India is followed by China, Mexico, the Philippines, and Egypt, the report said. In India, remittances are projected to grow three per cent in 2022 to $89.6 billion, reflecting a drop in overall migrant stock, as a large proportion of returnees from the Arab countries await return, it said.

Remittances to low and middle income countries are projected to have grown a strong 7.3 per cent to reach $589 billion in 2021, the bank said.

This return to growth is more robust than earlier estimates and follows the resilience of flows in 2020 when remittances declined by only 1.7 per cent despite a severe global recession due to Covid-19, according to estimates from the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief.

“Remittance flows from migrants have greatly complemented government cash transfer programs to support families suffering economic hardships during the Covid-19 crisis. Facilitating the flow of remittances to provide relief to strained household budgets should be a key component of government policies to support a global recovery from the pandemic,” said Michal Rutkowski, World Bank Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs.

India had received over $83 billion in remittances in 2020.

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Fintech records $4.6 b of investments in the first three quarters of 2021

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In the first three quarters of 2021, investments worth $4.6 billion were recorded in India’s fintech space, compared to $1.6 billion in 2020.

According to a PwC India report titled, ‘Start-up Perspectives – Q3CY21’, investments worth $2.4 billion for 53 closed deals were recorded in Q3CY21 alone across various stages of investment. Going forward, analysts expect exits in the fintech sector to increase, both in terms of IPOs and acquisitions.

“M&A activity is likely to grow considerably as corporates look to expand their capabilities and offerings and fintechs look to scale up. Cross-border activity is also likely to be robust as fintechs look to become global or regional leaders,” noted Amit Nawka, Mohit Chopra, Vinisha Lulla Sujay, Kushal Jain and Raghav Aggarwal, analysts with PwC India, in the firm’s latest report.

The analysts also predicted that there could be more ‘Big Tech’ partnerships in fintech space as a critical means of expanding service offerings and leveraging their vast incumbent customer base. Recently, Amazon has invested in wealth management start-up, Smallcase, and Google has entered into a partnership with Equitas Small Finance Bank for fixed deposit offerings.

Top investments

Top fintech investments ($100+ million rounds) of Q3CY21 include Pine Labs’ $600 million, BharatPe’s $370 million, OfBusiness’s $207 and $160 million, Digit Insurance’s $217 million, Khatabook’s $100 million, and consumer internet group Prosus’s payment arm PayU’s acquisition of the Indian payment gateway service provider BillDesk for $4.7 billion.

Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Softbank, Falcon Edge, IIFL VC and 3one4 Capital were some of the active investors in late-/growth-stage investments ($30+ million rounds), and Blume Ventures, Elevation Capital and Matrix Partners India were most prominent in early-stage (<$30 million rounds) fintech deal activity.

Overall, the Indian start-up ecosystem reported an investment totalling $10.9 billion across 347 deals in Q3 of CY21. This is the first-time investments in a quarter have crossed the $10 billion mark.

Further, 89 per cent of funding activity in CY21 (value terms) was driven by growth- and late-stage companies. However, these represented 39 per cent of the total deal activity (count terms). In the first three quarters of CY 21, 29 Indian start-ups attained unicorn status, majorly across the SaaS, fintech and edtech sectors.

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SBI Q1 results: Standalone y-o-y net profit up 55% at ₹6,504 crore

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State Bank of India (SBI) reported a 55 per cent jump in standalone year-on-year (y-o-y) net profit at ₹6,504 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2021, on the back of healthy growth in other income and decline in loan loss provisions. This is the highest quarterly net profit posted by the bank.

India’s largest bank had reported a net profit of ₹4,189 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Net interest income (difference between interest earned and interest expended) increased by about 4 per cent y-o-y at ₹27,638 crore (₹26,642 crore in the year-ago period).

Loan loss provisions down

Total non-interest income, including fee income, profit/loss on sale of investments, forex income and miscellaneous income, rose about 48 per cent y-o-y at ₹11,803 crore (₹7,957 crore).

Now, another tool for SBI to resolve stress

Loan loss provisions were 47 per cent lower at ₹5,030 crore (₹9,420 crore).

Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) increased by ₹7,870 crore during the reporting quarter to stand at ₹1,34,259 crore as at June-end 2021.

GNPA position improved to 5.32 per cent of gross advances against 5.44 per cent in the year ago quarter. However, GNPAs increased by 34 basis points over the preceding (Q4FY21) quarter.

Profits of India Inc improved markedly in FY21: SBI Ecowrap

Net NPA position too improved to 1.77 per cent of net advances against 1.86 per cent. However, NNPAs increased by 27 basis points over the preceding quarter.

SBI reported a 45 per cent y-o-y increase in consolidated net profit at ₹7,539 crore (₹5,203 crore).

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