Economic Update

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth decelerated to a seven-year low of 5% in the April-June quarter of fiscal 2020.

India’s core sector output came in at 2.1% in July from 0.2% in June, following a rise in cement production and slower contraction in the energy sector.

Debt Market Update

Systemic liquidity remained in surplus. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) August policy meeting minutes, which suggested that the central bank may ease monetary policy further in a bid to boost economic output, spurred more gilt buying.

Government bond prices ended higher. Bond prices gained, tracking an intermittent decline in crude oil prices and benchmark US Treasury yields.

Forex Update

The rupee ended off earlier lows. It was initially under pressure, tracking the weakness in Asian currencies amid concerns of escalation of US-China trade war.

The rupee also managed to recover losses on expectation that the Centre was planning a rollback in tax surcharge on FPIs, which was later announced by the finance minister.

Regulatory Update

The RBI relaxed the Gold Monetisation Scheme, allowing depositors to directly deposit their gold with either banks, refiners, or collection and purity-testing centres.

The Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI) eased the regulatory framework for FPIs, simplified KYC requirements for them and permitted them to carry out off- market transfer of securities.

All data mentioned above is as on 31st August, 2019

The above report is sourced from CRISIL Research, a division of CRISIL Limited (CRISIL) and Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund /Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of the Data / Report and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of Data / Report.

Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.