Late on Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India barred banks from offering rupee non-deliverable forwards to resident and non-resident clients. It further said that companies cannot rebook cancelled forward contracts.

The series of measures from the central bank comes ‌at a time ⁠when the ⁠rupee has hit a string of all-time lows on worries over the spillovers from the Iran war. The currency fell 4.24% in March, marking its worst monthly drop in six years.

Earlier this week, the RBI put a limit of $100 million on net open rupee positions of banks. However, that failed to offer relief to the currency with banks exiting positions by offering them to corporates, Reuters reported.

The RBI’s latest step now targets this surge in corporate arbitrage.

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By forcing banks to cut their ⁠positions, the central ‌bank opened up arbitrage between the onshore and NDF market which corporates exploited, putting renewed pressure on the rupee and diluting the impact of the initial measures, ⁠three bankers said.
One banker said corporate arbitrage flows at his bank alone were estimated at $750 million-$800 million. He and the other bankers requested anonymity, citing restrictions on speaking to the media. The rupee, after the RBI’s crackdown on banks, had rallied past 93 in the interbank market on Monday but slid quickly beyond 95 to an all-time low.

The RBI did not respond to an email requesting comment.

ACTION ON SPECULATIVE ACTIVITY
Additionally, the central bank barred banks from rebooking any foreign exchange derivative contract on behalf of clients, whether deliverable or non-deliverable, ‌which has been cancelled after April 1.

Up until now, a corporate would book a forward contract to hedge its dollar exposure. If the exchange rate later moved in its favour, it could cancel the ⁠contract and book a profit. Since the underlying exposure still remained, it was then allowed to enter into a new forward contract again, effectively repeating the cycle.

“All of this basically cuts speculation,” said Dhiraj Nim, FX strategist and economist at ANZ Bank. However, the fundamental is that if oil prices stay where they are, “your current account stress remains and capital flows remain scanty”, he added.

“It does not reverse the rupee’s course but it does make the central bank’s objective of curbing excess volatility easier.”

The central bank further prohibited banks from undertaking FX derivative contracts with related parties.

Amazon and Delta Air Lines are partnering to significantly upgrade the in-flight Wi-Fi experience for customers.

The companies announced on Tuesday that Amazon Leo, the company’s high-speed satellite internet service, will be offered onboard Delta flights starting in 2028.

“It’ll be multiple times faster than anything we have today. And it’ll be at a very cost-effective rate,” Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in an exclusive joint interview airing Tuesday on “The Claman Countdown.”

“And that’s just the Wi-Fi. When you think about then what Amazon as an enterprise and Delta as an enterprise are about in terms of the customer experience and what we can then do on board together, it’s gonna blow people away.”

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Passengers will be able to use Amazon Leo Wi-Fi in 2028. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the new Wi-Fi system will be a “game-changing” experience and Bastian said the pricing will be “substantially less.”

“It is going to enable us to provide substantially better experience for customers in terms of speeds 2, 3, 4 times what they’re used to on Delta today,” Bastian said.

“We’re gonna invest whatever’s required to build an amazing low earth orbit satellite constellation that has incredible performance at low cost,” Jassy said.

Amazon Leo uses low-earth orbit satellites to provide high-speed internet service to rural and remote locations, a technology Bastian said is key to maintaining Delta’s competitive edge.

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“We’ve been the leader in free, fast Wi-Fi in our industry, not just in the U.S., by the way, around the world,” Bastian told FOX Business.

“We have already 1,200 planes, virtually our entire fleet, already equipped with free, fast Wi‑Fi, more than probably many of the other airlines put together have today. But we need to stay the leader. And the technology is moving fast.”

The airline’s free Wi-Fi is available for any customer who signs up for Delta’s SkyMiles loyalty program, which is free to join. Passengers who are not members need to purchase a Wi-Fi pass.

Delta Air Lines is teaming up with Amazon’s high-speed satellite Wi-Fi program, Amazon Leo, to enhance the passenger experience. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

Bastian said his “supreme confidence” in Delta’s relationship with Amazon was a significant factor in how the partnership came about.

“We already are significant partners, we carry Amazon employees around the world,” the Delta CEO said.

Delta already employs Amazon technology, including Amazon Web Services (AWS).

“Andy and I have known each other for quite a while and our teams know each other well. And so, it naturally led to a conversation a few months ago… just thinking about what we could potentially do together.”

Major airlines, including Alaska and United, utilize Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite, which operates similarly to Amazon Leo’s, in granting internet service to rural areas.

Bastian said Delta’s newly improved Wi-Fi program in partnership with Amazon will be a fierce competitor to Musk’s program.

“I think these numbers are going to be very competitive against Starlink and the cost will be substantially less than what we’re paying today,” he told FOX Business anchor Liz Claman.

Bastian said in-flight video calling is in the cards but will have limitations when rolled out.

An interior view of a B737 MAX airplane seen at Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas. (Cooper Neill/AFP via Getty Images)

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“[Passengers] will have the ability to. We won’t allow the actual conversations to occur now. We’re not going to turn that on,” he said. “Well, people will be able to participate in online video conferences, but they won’t have the audio ability to speak.”

“They’ll be able to have a conversation and participate. There’s a lot of business tools that Andy mentioned that we’re gonna work together with Amazon as well to create in this fast-moving world of AI and business.”

Amazon Leo will begin to be installed in Delta aircraft in 2028 and the two companies are already exploring ways to bring additional offerings to the passenger experience.

“We have a lot of plans to leverage the capabilities that both of our companies offer respectively and make an incredible experience for Delta customers,” Jassy said.

Economic growth is likely to be slower and inflation higher than previously expected, according to the Nationwide report

House price growth picked up in March, but the conflict in the Middle East has clouded the economic outlook and could lead to housing market activity softening, according to a report. Annual UK house price growth picked up to 2.2% in March, from 1.0% in February, Nationwide Building Society said.

Property values increased by 0.9% month-on-month, taking the average house price in March to £277,186.

Robert Gardner, chief economist of the Swindon-headquartered lender, said the pick-up in growth suggested the market had regained momentum after a slowdown recorded around the turn of the year.

But he warned the sharp rise in global energy prices in response to developments in the Middle East represented a “significant shock” to the global economy, clouding the outlook.

“In the near term, UK economic growth is likely to be slower and inflation higher than previously expected, although ultimately the impact will depend on the duration of the shock as well as the policy response,” he said.

Mr Gardiner said the outlook for interest rates was “particularly uncertain” and was dependent on whether the demand or supply side of the economy was more adversely affected.

“Nevertheless, financial market expectations for the future path of (the Bank of England base rate) have shifted dramatically,” he said. “Towards the end of March, three interest rate increases were priced in over the next 12 months, compared to two rate cuts being anticipated before the strikes on Iran.

“This shift has resulted in a sharp rise in longer-term interest rates (swap rates) that underpin fixed-rate mortgage pricing. If sustained, this could reverse some of the improvement in housing affordability that has taken place in recent years.”

He also warned that consumer sentiment was “likely to be dented” by the uncertain outlook and that with the prospect of rising energy costs, housing market activity would likely soften.

Mortgage rates have jumped in recent weeks, with financial information website Moneyfacts reporting that hundreds of deals have been withdrawn, with products trickling back into the market but at higher rates.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “The impact from the Middle East conflict on the housing market is still in the post.

“The fact mortgage offers last for six months means the effect of higher borrowing costs will filter into the market this spring and summer, putting downwards pressure on prices and transaction volumes.”

Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners, said the price growth seen in March could “be the calm before the storm, if borrowing costs continue to climb in response to the latest geopolitical shock”.

She added: “Escalating tensions in the Middle East have upended inflation and interest rate expectations, something that could dampen demand if buyers find it harder to secure the mortgages they need.”

The average house prices in the first quarter of 2026, followed by the annual change, according to Nationwide Building Society:

Northern Ireland, £225,269, 9.5%

North West, £229,173, 3.3%

Scotland, £191,747, 3.0%

Wales, £215,411, 2.7%

North East, £170,378, 2.6%

London, £538,181, 1.7%

Yorkshire and the Humber, £214,866, 1.6%

Outer Metropolitan, £430,260, 1.0%

East Midlands, £236,016, 0.3%

South West, £305,701, 0.1%

West Midlands, £249,722, 0.0%

East Anglia, £273,237, minus 0.4%

Outer South East, £336,036, minus 0.7%