{
  "id": 16592259,
  "title": "FCNR(B) Scheme 'Strong Insurance Policy' For India: Uday Kotak",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/fcnr-b-scheme-strong-insurance-policy-for-india-uday-kotak",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-26T11:01:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/fcnrb-scheme-strong-insurance-policy-for-india-uday-kotak"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Uday Kotak, founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank and Non-Executive Director, has hailed India's Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank), or FCNR(B), deposit scheme as a robust insurance policy against global economic and geopolitical uncertainties. At a recent media summit, Kotak commended the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for leveraging foreign currency deposits amidst international instability, particularly the conflicts in West Asia and Russia-Ukraine.\n\nAccording to Kotak, the scheme has provided India with a buffer of three to five years to fortify its macroeconomic and financial foundations. However, he cautioned that these deposits will eventually mature, resulting in substantial repayment obligations. Kotak estimates that India would need to repay over $130 billion in principal, with interest pushing the total obligation to around $160-170 billion.\n\nKotak's advice to policymakers was to strategize rather than panic over immediate repayment pressures. He also praised the RBI for winding up the scheme ahead of a significant rise in US bond yields in September, urging India to secure fixed-rate dollar funding before these rates surpassed 5%. Kotak calculated that borrowing post the yield surge could have incurred at least a 100 basis point increase.\n\nHighlighting the interest rate differential between US government bonds and Indian government securities, after adjusting for currency hedging costs, Kotak pointed out that the US 10-year Treasury yield stood at approximately 5%. However, hedging dollar exposure into rupees resulted in a yearly cost of around 3.5%. This translated into a hedged return of approximately 8.5% on US bonds, as opposed to roughly 7.4% for India's 10-year government securities. Kotak contended that this differential favored foreign currency investments and called for attention from financial market participants and policymakers.\n\nFurthermore, Kotak noted that rising global interest rates, spurred by geopolitical tensions and inflation, had also contributed to the increase in India's 10-year government bond yield by approximately 75-80 basis points.",
  "summary": "Kotak Mahindra Bank founder and Non-Executive Director Uday Kotak has described India's Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank), or FCNR(B), deposit scheme as a \"strong insurance policy\" against global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Speaking at a media summit, Kotak praised the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for mobilising foreign currency deposits amid international…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}