We investigate how the relation between gold prices and the U.S. Dollar has been affected by the recent turmoil in financial markets. We use spot prices of gold and spot bilateral exchange rates against the Euro and the British Pound to study the pattern of volatility spillovers. We estimate the bivariate structural GARCH models proposed by Spargoli e Zagaglia (2008) to gauge the causal relations between volatility changes in the two assets. We also apply the tests for change of co-dependence of Cappiello, Gerard and Manganelli (2005). We document the ability of gold to generate stable comovements with the Dollar exchange rate that have survived the recent phases of market disruption. Our findings also show that exogenous increases in market uncertainty have tended to produce reactions of gold prices that are more stable than those of the U.S. Dollar.

Gold and the U.S. Dollar: Tales from the Turmoil

This study employs the momentum threshold error-correction model with generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity to investigate asymmetric cointegration and causal relationships between West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil and gold prices in the futures market. The paper examines data from May 1, 1994 to November 20, 2008. The empirical results show that an asymmetric long-run adjustment exists between gold and oil. Furthermore, the causality relationship shows that West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil plays a dominant role. The findings should prove valuable to individual investors and financial institutions who can use the findings here to gold prices based on oil prices.

The Asymmetric Long-Run Relationship between Crude Oil and Gold Futures

The aim of this paper is to examine whether Islamic finance could be an alternative to the traditional financial system and could guarantee stability in times of crisis. To this end, 78 Islamic banks in 12 countries have been studied over the 2004 to 2013 period. A series of bank-specific and other country-specific indicators are combined to explain the soundness of Islamic banking in terms of profitability as measured by ROA and ROE, and risk divided into credit risk measured by IMLGL and EQL, and insolvency risk measured by Z-SCORE. The aim is to estimate five regressions using dynamic panel data econometrics (GMM system). The results indicate that bank size and capital are the main factors responsible for increasing profitability and stability of Islamic banks and reducing their credit risk. However, the ratios forming the variable liquidity and asset quality often lead to inconclusive results. It is also found that macroeconomic variables, except inflation, are able to improve Islamic banks’ stability. This is not the case for credit risk where the ratio is still unfavorable. The conclusion is that there are no major differences between IBs and CBs in terms of their profitability and risk features.

Risk and profitability of Islamic banks: A religious deception or an alternative solution?

Financial Technology and Its Impact on Poverty in India

- The paper aims to examine the impact of financial literacy on financial inclusion and rural development in India. We take secondary data from 29 states and two union territories in India for three fiscal years, i.e., 2018 to 2020. The present study uses panel data analysis (PDA) to test the hypothesis. As per result, financial literacy positively impacts financial inclusion and rural development. The present study suggests that the banks and government should pay more attention to expanding financial literacy. It is an essential part of financial inclusion. Both are important for socio-economic development. It increases impressive economic growth and alleviates poverty, which can be accomplished by investing in infrastructure that improves banking services.

Study of Financial Literacy and Its Impact on Rural Development in India: Evidence Using Panel Data Analysis

Banks are facing varied issues worldwide. The existing set of performance measures of banks lack a cohesive and concerted approach for adequate fulfilment of the purpose. This study proposes a holi...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/09722629211034417

Banks in India: A Balancing Act Between Profitability, Regulation and NPA:

Financial technology is a powerful tool in financial infrastructure, used to strengthen and smooth the delivery of financial services into the broader space. Financial technology involves software, applications, and other technologies designed to improve and automate traditional forms of financial services for businesses established in different areas. The authors aimed to explore the impact of financial technology on the digital literacy rate in India, by utilizing the poverty score as a moderating variable. The panel data analysis (PDA) has been employed in the current study. Data from 29 states and two union territories (UTs) of India were considered for three financial years, i.e., 2017–2018 to 2019–2020. The study’s findings reveal that Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs), both in terms of numbers and amount, are positively associated with the literacy rate. However, ATMs are negatively significant in association with literacy rate. Furthermore, the study’s empirical results show that KCCs and ATMs positively impact literacy when interacting with poverty scores. The study’s findings bring noteworthy implications for the government and other officials to understand the situation at the ground level of Indian states and UTs while forming new rules and policies for society’s betterment, particularly in finance and digital literacy. Additionally, the findings imply that ordinary people living in urban and rural areas of India should take advantage of financial technology and get motivated towards digital literacy.

https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/15/7/311/pdf?version=1657887644

Financial Technology and Its Impact on Digital Literacy in India: Using Poverty as a Moderating Variable

Crude oil, gold and interest rates are some of the key indicators of the health of domestic as well as global economy. The purpose of the study is to find the shock volatility and price volatility effects of gold and crude oil market on interest rates in India.,This study finds the mutual and directional association of the volatility of gold, crude oil and interest rates in India. The bi-variate GARCH models (Diagonal VEC GARCH and BEKK GARCH) are applied on the sample data of gold price, crude oil price and yield (interest rate) gathered from November 30, 2015 to November 16, 2020 (weekly basis) to investigate the volatility association including the volatility spillover effect in the three markets.,The main findings of the study focus on having a long-term conditional correlation between gold and interest rates, but there is no evidence of volatility spillover from gold and crude oil on the interest rates. The findings of the study are of great importance especially to the policymakers, as they state that the fluctuations in prices of gold and crude oil do not adversely impact the interest rates in India. Therefore, the fluctuations in prices of gold and crude may generally impact the economy, but it has nothing to do with interest rate in particular. This implies that domestic and foreign investments in the country will not be affected by gold and crude oil that are largely driven by interest rates in the country.,Gold and crude oil are two very important commodities that have their importance not only for domestic affairs but also for international business. They veritably influence the economy including forex exchange for any nation. In addition to this, the researchers believe the findings will provide insights to policymakers, stakeholders and investors.,Gold and crude oil undoubtedly influence the exchange rates but their impact on the interest rates in an economy is not definite and remains ambiguous owing to the mixed findings of the studies. The lack of studies related to the impact of gold and crude oil on the interest rates, despite them being essentials for the health of any economy is the main motivation of this study. This study is novel as it investigates the volatility impact of crude oil and gold on interest rates and contributes to the existing literature with its findings.

Volatility integration of gold and crude oil prices with the interest rates in India


Purpose
The disclosures in banks have become a matter of grave concern, especially post 2008 world financial crisis. The issue further gets exacerbated because disclosers in banks are part of the III pillar of BASEL-II floated in 1999, and despite that, banks face challenges in this regard. Ownership concentration (OC) is a point of discussion because it may affect banks’ corporate governance and transparency and disclosures (T&D) issues. This study aims to determine how OC affects the transparency in the banks.


Design/methodology/approach
A T&D index is built into the study covering all the relevant contemporary issues regarding disclosures in banks. The panel data specification is used to find out the association of components of the OC on the T&D practices in the banks. Bank data of 34 banks are gathered for four years for the study.


Findings
It is found that except for retail investors, other classes of OC are not concerned with the disclosures in the banks even though substantial financial and non-financial interests are at stake concerning them. The study’s findings suggest framing policies and regulations considering the accountability of promoters and institutional investors for ensuring disclosures in banks.


Research limitations/implications
A few proxies to measure T&D found in the literature have not been used in the study. Similarly, the definition of promoter’s class of investors can be improved.


Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study builds T&D for banks and examines their impact because of the ownership classes (as used by the current study). This study is unique in this aspect.


Jagjeevan Kanoujiya

Papers

Banks in India: A Balancing Act Between Profitability, Regulation and NPA:

Financial Technology and Its Impact on Digital Literacy in India: Using Poverty as a Moderating Variable

Volatility integration of gold and crude oil prices with the interest rates in India

Financial Technology and Its Impact on Poverty in India

Ownership concentration and its influence on transparency and disclosures of banks in India