Status Quo On Key Rates, Fadnavis Reclaims CM Seat, Bitcoin At Historic Level—The Week That Was

Shaktikanta Das-led team makes the expected move—status quo on key rates, liquidity boost to revive economy. Devendra Fadnavis reclamies the chief minister seat in India's financial capital. In a phenomenal journey, the largest cryptocurrency—bitcoin—tops the $100,000 mark.

NDTV Profit, in its weekly news wrap every Friday, brings you the major events shaping businesses, industries, and global markets.

The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Decision kept the benchmark repo rate unchanged and also maintained its neutral stance. To ease potential liquidity stress, the cash reserve ratio has been cut by 50 basis points to 4%.

"Timing of actions is key," Das told reporters in the press conference after announcing status quo on key interests. Governor Das highlighted the recent slowdown in growth momentum, noting that the committee had taken it into consideration.

Reserve Bank of India has cut the real GDP growth for the ongoing fiscal year to 6.6% from 7.2% earlier. The Consumer Price Index inflation for FY25 is now expected to be 4.8%, up from the earlier projection of 4.5%.

The MPC remains committed to retaining the growth-inflation balance in the overall interest of the economy, Das said.

Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as chief minister of Maharashtra for the third time at a grand ceremony in Mumbai's Azad Maidan, attended by PM Narendra Modi and senior BJP and NDA leaders.

Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar took the oath of office of deputy CM. The Mahayuti secured a two-thirds majority in the Maharashtra assembly election last month.

The BJP leader, who currently serves as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state, held the post from 2014 to 2019 previously.

The Indian stock markets are in favour of a government that is stable, emphasises economic progress, and supports development, ace investor Vijay Kedia said. "Fadnavis has a clean image, a fine track record, and, I believe, he will help Maharashtra take the lead (among other states)," Kedia said while speaking to NDTV Profit.

The largest cryptocurrency—bitcoin—topped the landmark level of $100,000 on Thursday, in a surge driven after Donald Trump made his return to the White House. However, the cryptocurrency fell by almost 7% for a short while a day after the historic surge.

A price of $100,000 pushes the market cap of Bitcoin to just shy of $2 trillion and makes it a larger investment asset than all but a handful of public companies such as Nvidia Corp., Apple Inc., and Google parent Alphabet Inc.

It’s a market value even bigger than the government bond markets of nations like Spain and Brazil, and one approaching the market cap of the entire FTSE 100 Index of British stocks. 

Born in the aftermath of the global financial crisis 16 years ago, Bitcoin was launched in 2009 by pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto as a peer-to-peer network free of government control. Whether Nakamoto is a single person or a group has been the subject of much speculation throughout Bitcoin’s lifetime. 

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In a country where cricket is considered a religion, its biggest cash cow is now worth $12 billion.

The Indian Premier League's accumulative brand value has surged over 12% from last year's $10.7 billion, according to Brand Finance's annual IPL report. This has happened on the back of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's allocation of record sums to each franchise, which in turn was driven by a surge in broadcasting revenues and strong central sponsorships.

To know more about how much the franchises' are valued and the 'Thala Factor,' click the link below.