A red flag in Q1 numbers and RBI’s confused bond scheme

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Editor's note: This is the tenth edition of Street Smart, The Morning Context’s weekly newsletter on everything that impacts corporate India. Every Thursday, Street Smart will bring you an original, reported or analytical take on issues that have the potential to shake up the business ecosystem Advait here. If the Q1 results are anything to go by, it’s not been a good start for financial institutions. Numbers from HDFC Bank and Bajaj Finance, considered among the best in the industry, warn of a bloodbath ahead. As dreadful as that can be, I was also confused by the Reserve Bank of India’s recent directive to push retail investors to buy government securities and state government bonds. What is it really doing? Debt, dominoes and defaults In the last few days, two of India’s top lenders reported an increase in loan defaults for the first quarter of the current financial year, indicating that others in the industry are also facing a spate of defaults by borrowers.  HDFC Bank reported a marginal increase in its gross non-performing assets ratio, or GNPA, for the April to …