FINANCEOUTLOOKINDIAAUGUST, 20268REPORTRBI JUNE MEASURES DRAW $32 BN IN DOLLAR INFLOWS: RBI GOVERNORRUPAY CREDIT CARDS ON UPI SEE HIGH USAGE BUT WITH LOW PROFIT MARGINSINDIA'S FOREX RESERVES RISE $1.08 BN TO $676.24 BN: RBI DATAINDIA'S COMPOSITE PMI FALLS TO 54.3, LOWEST SINCE 2022NPCI JUNE UPI DATA: WHATSAPP OVERTAKES CRED WHILE PHONEPE RETAINS LEADSENSEX AND NIFTY FALL FOR 5TH DAY AS BRENT CRUDE OIL TOPS $100RBI's June measures to attract dollar inflows have brought in nearly $32 billion so far, and are expected to provide a boost to India's balance of payments, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in an interview. According to Sanjay Malhotra, the bulk of the nearly $32 billion raised through the measures has come through the Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank), or FCNR(B), deposit scheme. The scheme allows non-resident Indians (NRIs) and other eligible investors to hold foreign currency deposits with Indian banks, helping bring foreign currency into the banking system without immediately exposing depositors to fluctuations in the rupee. RuPay credit cards on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have cracked one of digital payments' trickiest challenges - turning credit cards into an everyday payment tool. But their use for mostly low-value transactions has presented a new challenge for banks and fintech companies: higher engagement without a clear path to profitability.RuPay credit cards linked to UPI account for nearly four in every 10 credit card transactions, but just about 8% of spending, according to a Bernstein estimate cited by Mint in October 2025. This sharp gap between transaction volume India's forex reserves rose by $1.08 billion to $676.237 billion for the week ended July 17, extending their upward trend, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).The latest increase follows a gain of $964 million in the previous reporting week, when the country's forex reserves climbed to $675.157 billion. The RBI's weekly statistical supplement showed that the country's forex reserves continued to strengthen after recovering from the declines witnessed earlier this year amid heightened global uncertainties. Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty staged a strong recovery from their intraday lows on Friday but failed to end in positive territory, as elevated brent crude oil prices, geopolitical tensions in West Asia, and earnings-led selling continued to weigh on investor sentiment.The BSE Sensex fell 331.62 points, or 0.43%, to close at 76,059.77, while the NSE Nifty50 declined 102.15 points, or 0.43%, to settle at 23,767.45, extending losses for the fifth consecutive session. For the week, the Sensex tumbled 2,091.68 points, or 2.68%, while the Nifty50 lost 566.85 points, or 2.33%. India's private sector activity slowed sharply in July. The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI fell to 54.3 in July from 57.1 in June, marking the slowest expansion in private sector activity since March 2022.The Services PMI also dropped to 53.1 in July from 57.4 in June, its weakest level in 53 months. Mean-while, manufacturing showed signs of resilience, with the Manufactur-ing Output Index improving to 57.0 from 56.3, even as the headline Manufacturing PMI slipped mar-ginally to 53.9 from 54.2. A read-ing above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 signals contraction. India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ecosystem saw a notable shift in June, with WhatsApp overtaking CRED in transaction volume for the first time, processing 150.48 million transactions compared with CRED's 141.78 million, according to NPCI June UPI Data.The crossover comes in the same month that CRED founder Kunal Shah stepped down from the fintech firm to take over as the global CEO of WhatsApp, with Miten Sampat named interim CEO of CRED following Shah's move. In May, CRED had processed 157 million UPI transactions, ahead of WhatsApp's more than 150 million transactions -- making June's role reversal notable given the leader-ship transition. and transaction value sits at the heart of the industry's dilemma - the product is clearly driving usage, but that usage isn't translating proportionally into revenue-generating spend.
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