Articles by Rajeswari Sengupta

Growing non-performing assets is a recurrent problem in the Indian banking sector. Over the past two decades, there have been two such episodes when the banking sector was severely impaired by balance sheet problems. A comparative analysis of two banking crisis episodes— one in the late 1990s, and another that started in the aftermath of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and is yet to be resolved—is presented. Taking note of the macroeconomic and banking environment preceding these episodes, and the degree and nature of crises, policy responses undertaken are discussed. Policy lessons are explored with suggestions for measures to adapt to a future balance sheet-related crisis in the banking sector such that the impact on the real economy is minimal.

India has been subject to capricious capital flows since its integration with the global capital markets in the early 1990s. In a bid to balance diverse objectives, India, like many other emerging markets, has resorted to active management of various types of capital flows. This paper finds that while the calibrated liberalisation approach resulted in altering the composition of capital flows towards more stable flows, and has helped India to negotiate the "Trilemma," the use of sporadic capital account management measures in the face of surge or stop of capital flows has not been very effective in achieving their objectives of reducing external vulnerability or mitigating macro-prudential risks.