March 31, 2023, marks the last year of the current financial year which started on April 1, 2022. FY23 introduced a slew of financial announcements which had a direct impact on the pockets of individuals. Before we bid adieu to the financial year 2022-23, here’s a recap of 5 major events that affected the wallets of almost every person.
1 – RBI Repo Rate Hiked By 2.5%
The Covid-19 pandemic coupled with the Russia-Ukraine war spiked inflationary pressure, forcing the central banks across the world to hike their key lending rates. In FY23, the Reserve Bank of India has hiked the repo rate several times. It has increased by 2.5 per cent between May 2022 and February 2023.
2 – FD Rates Hiked By 2-2.5%
In view of the country’s central bank increasing the key lending rates, banks also pass on the hike to their customers by increasing the interest rates on Fixed Deposits (FD). Between May 2022 and February 2023, the RBI raised the repo rate by 2.5 per cent and the overall FD rates have also gone up by 2 to 2.5 per cent during this period.
3- Gold Breaches Rs 60,000/10g Mark!
For the first time ever, gold prices on March 20 zoomed to their lifetime high, breaching the Rs 60,000-mark on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). The rise in the price of the yellow metal came as a result of the American banking crisis. The uptrend in gold price was in contrast to the sell-off in the equity markets owing to the banking crisis seen because of the fallout of the Credit Suisse.
4- Nifty Made A Record High
Despite a global gloom amid the fear of inflation, India’s blue-chip Nifty 50 stock index had touched a record high on November 28 last year. This was just hours after the benchmark Sensex also hit an all-time high, boosted by oil marketing companies as crude prices slid on demand concerns due to protests in China over Covid-19 curbs.
5 – Banking Crisis In America
Anyone following business news and stock markets closely would have heard of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in the US. Earlier this month on March 8, the California-based lender sold $21 billion worth of securities from its portfolio at a loss of $1.8 billion for the first quarter. Just two days later on March 10, shares of the lender halted trade after a massive sell-off in the pre-market and was closed by California banking regulators.
