Stubborn inflation signals administrative paralysis: Jalan

More than 20 years have gone by since India began its tryst with economic reforms. The nation is at a crossroad today with most crucial reforms stalled, slowdown in economy and stubborn inflation becoming a daily nightmare for administrators and the common man. One may attribute this mess to policy paralysis from the government’s end. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, former Governor Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Bimal Jalan said that it’s administrative inaction and not lack of policy reforms. “It is a kind of systemic failure wherein we have 100 programs for poor, but we still rank highest is poverty line, “he added.

Below is the verbatim transcript of his interview with Shereen Bhan.

Q: How worried are you? How hard is this going to impact us? Are we going to be pushed back several years on account of what we are seeing happen today?

A: As of now, one should consider the growth rate, etc. I don’t assign too much importance to 8.4%, or, 7.9% or 8.2%. These draw headlines and so on but it’s the creative energies of people generating this growth, and, I hope this will continue. However, the more important thing is in terms of public governance, say, delivery of services to the poor-we have 100 programs- and yet we rank the highest in the poverty level.

Q: What to your mind makes us most vulnerable today? And, I am not talking about the global economic environment which is increasingly volatile. I am talking about our domestic environment.

A: What makes us most vulnerable is the fact the government, per se, the government as a whole is not collective entity. The amount of voices that you hear from different centers of power is amazing. You should be asking this question systemically, this anti-defection law for example, that you can have 20 people holding the balance and if they belong to a large party they can’t defect. If they belong to a small party 3 fellows can defect and set up their own party.

Q: As the former RBI Governor what worries you the most today about where India is?

A: What worries me most about where India is, is not the growth rate, it is not the fact whether we have reforms or we don’t have reforms. What worries most about what is going on is one, governance, the administrative decisions and that we take them so late and of cousre inflation. Inflation is another issue. Why are we not able to tackle it? We are not able to tackle it because we earlier use to go back 8 months

Q: Are we going to have to learn with 6% or 7% inflation?

A: I you are going to live with 6% or 7% inflation that will be alright, then you will be living with 6% or 7% but here we don’t know where we are going. So what is happening is that the inflationary expectations have become heightened, sorry to use this sort of a language. What has happened is, that if anybody who has liquidity he would buy more.

Q: Who has failed the most in our battle against inflation?

A: I don’t want to point a finger, but what is want to say is it’s a collective effort. It’s a collective effort and collectively we have failed. You go back six months ago or eight months ago and you would recall in your programs how many times people said it would come down on its own. The great personalities, everybody said it will come down, come down in December, come down in September that is last December, last September. Now they are saying we must do something, but what is to be done nobody is quite clear.

Q: Is it India’s number one problem?

A: In economic sphere, yes.

Q: It is India’s number one problem?

A: Yes because we have been talking about it for 12 months or 18 months and if nothing happens then that means credibility of the system and the authority of the system collapses. 

Operation inflation

This refers to J Mehra’s article “We are paying the price for panic” (July 20). The piece gave a quick review of what is wrong with the policy approach to inflation and the tools that are being applied to tame it. With regard to food inflation, a long-term solution may have to look at improving and increasing production by ensuring remunerative farm gate prices, estimating in advance the state-wise requirement for consumption and increasing local production. About a year ago, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) governor, D Subbarao, had stressed on the need for synchronising monetary and fiscal policies. He also mentioned that in a poor country like India, RBI has many responsibilities and it could not focus only on inflation. This implied that the governor expected supportive measures from those in charge of the fiscal policy. The statement should have also been seen as an indirect admission of the limitations of the central bank’s policies in an environment influenced by external compulsions. If the governor is forced to go ahead with continuous rate hikes, it only shows the helplessness of a central bank that is not getting the necessary policy support from the Centre. The problem gets compounded when experts working for different organisations and agencies take the debate to various categories of inflation, the methods of calculating inflation and how inflation (the consumer price index or wholesale price index inflation, for instance) affects different sectors and income-groups. All this confusion then gets reflected in policy formulation.

M G Warrier, Mumbai (BS)

For inclusive banking

The key stated goal of the RBI in considering granting new private sector banking licences is promoting financial inclusion as well as increasing competition. While this is a positive step for the sector as a whole as it reduces barriers to entry, it is important to understand the reasons for lack of financial inclusion to assess how this measure should be implemented in conjunction with other measures to further the cause of financial inclusion............

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Now, more customers willing to shop for banking products, McKinsey survey

Indian banking customers are now willing to shop around for products and services, says a survey on personal financial services by McKinsey. .......

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Credit growth dips rate increase may hurt more

With RBI expected to raise rates further, banks are not sure if they can pass on the rise, and this would further impact loan demand...........

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No time to pause - Mint Road and North Block have promises to keep

To pause or not to pause? That is the question the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) faces in the run-up to next week’s monetary policy statement. While professional opinion is sharply divided, and not just between the traditional monetary policy sceptics and loyalists but also across a wider spectrum of professional opinion, business opinion is united in its opposition to a rate increase at this time. Business persons in the manufacturing and services sectors, including the financial and banking sector, are urging a pause on the grounds that further hike in interest rates would have a debilitating impact on an already slowing growth rate. While the government’s macroeconomic authorities still hope to see fiscal 2011-12 deliver a growth rate of eight to 8.5 per cent, many others see growth slipping well below eight per cent. In itself, this slowdown is not serious enough to set alarm bells ringing, but it would strengthen the opinion that nothing should be done that may further slow the economy’s growth rate. On its part, the RBI laid out all its cards on the table through its mid-quarter policy statement in June when it stated that “the monetary policy stance remains firmly anti-inflationary, recognising that, in the current circumstances, some short-run deceleration in growth may be unavoidable in bringing inflation under control”. Of course, the RBI hedged its position by adding a caveat towards the end of the statement: “The extent of policy action needs to balance the adverse movements in inflation with recent global developments and their likely impact on the domestic growth trajectory.” Between then and now, global economic developments have become more worrisome. Brinkmanship in policy in major developed market economies on both sides of the Atlantic has pushed the global economy back to the precipice. Should India’s policy makers do anything that may further dampen the animal spirits of domestic enterprise at a time when the global economy offers no signs of hope? At home, the monsoon has so far been near normal but not exactly reassuring. Is it better to wait for another six weeks to figure out how the monsoon is likely to impact growth and inflation? These questions are bound to engage the attention of India’s central bankers as they sit this week to figure out what is to be done next week. On balance, however, it would seem that the market expects a 25-basis point (bp) increase in policy rates next week. It is most unlikely that the RBI would want to go against such market expectations and press pause at a time when concerns about inflation are as acute as those about a slowdown in growth. If the RBI has to err, it would prefer to err on the side of caution than bravado. A cautious approach at this time would mean staying with at least a 25-bp hike. A 50-bp hike would be tough action, and some have recommended it. But the overall mood of policy makers in Mumbai and New Delhi suggests they may shy away from such tough action. So, expect a 25-bp hike. It is obvious that monetary policy alone can no longer rein in inflation in India. The fiscal authorities at the Centre and in states must rein in fiscal and budgetary deficits. The supply side needs easing through administrative and policy reform. This will help revive the animal spirits of enterprise. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has promised to play his part — and he must.

BS

NO TIME TO SLACKEN POLICY RATE – Ajit Ranade

Imagine the following scenario: The central bank has been trying valiantly to control inflation. It is using every trick in its books to tame the monster. Apart from frequent interest rate hikes, it makes hawkish sounds, curtails credit, and also urges the central government to cut wasteful spending, and rein in the fiscal deficit. It wants to safeguard its integrity and autonomy, especially from the government. It says that in the conduct of prudent monetary policy, undue pressure from the government or the industry is unhealthy and unwelcome. Critics and inflation hawks say that the central bank should be more bold, nay audacious. But the central bank is losing the inflation battle, thanks largely to fiscal undoing. So, what else is the governor supposed to do? Resign in protest? That’s exactly what happened in neighbouring Pakistan. The central bank governor Shahid Kardar resigned this week, saying that the bank was being impeded from discharging its mandate. The days of hyphenating with our notorious neighbour are long gone, but the similarity of the predicament of our central banks is inescapable. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is under pressure not just from industry and the bankers’ lobby, but also from the government to pause its rate hikes, as if RBI alone is to be blamed for the visible industrial slowdown. Despite 10 rate hikes so far, the headline inflation is stuck close to double digits, and will go up further in the coming months. The onslaught of global liquidity is not helping either. Inflation is broad-based, no longer confined to food, or attributable only to international commodity prices. Rising core inflation suggests demand pressure, which must be subdued in the short run. A growth moderation of about 1 percentage point would be a small price to pay if it gets inflation quickly below the artificial and unacceptable “new normal” of 7%. Else wage and price expectations will chase each other into an upward spiral, making it even harder to “unspiral” back later. RBI’s own surveys are pointing to a spiral in the making. India’s headline inflation is among the top three in the emerging markets globally. Hence, real rates are near zero or negative, and these alone certainly don’t dampen investment enthusiasm. In fact, borrowers should be drooling, since inflation will eat away some of their cost of borrowing.  It is true that investment spending has slowed, but that is not because of hardening interest rates alone. Sagas of scams have played a role, export optimism is dented by nervousness in euro zone and weak US data, and slowing consumer finance is affecting real estate and automobiles. But credit is still rising at 20% and consumer spending growth is still respectable. If, however, high inflation persists, as RBI has warned, it will hurt growth much more in the longer run.  This is the wrong time to slacken policy stance, since such a signal damages credibility of RBI’s commitment to low inflation. In any case, the inflation battle cannot be won without close coordination and alignment of fiscal and monetary policy. The fiscal authorities are showing no signs of restraint, so RBI’s hawkish determination needs to redouble. The International Monetary Fund too has advised in its recent World Economic Outlook, that policy tightening ought to continue. It also calls for rebuilding fiscal room. Our fiscal spenders need to wake up, but thankfully unlike Pakistan, the RBI governor doesn’t need to contemplate resignation to make his point. 

Ajit Ranade is chief economist, Aditya Birla Group. These are his personal views

Not given up on reforms: Pranab

FM pegs 2011-12 growth at 8.6 per cent, expects inflation to fall to 6-7 per cent by end of the financial year. As the UPA government draws flak on "policy paralysis", finance minister Pranab Mukherjee says this ignores much of the ruling coalition’s work. He stresses efforts to address various issues, carrying forward reforms, addressing issues like black money, creating a conducive environment for investment and engaging with civil society members on their concerns. Interacting with economic journalists, he said a review of the nine per cent growth projections made in the Economic Survey for 2011-12 could only be made after the first quarter GDP figures are out by August 30. The background note given by his ministry pegged the growth at 8.6 per cent, slightly higher than the 8.5 per cent achieved during 2010-11. He said though food inflation is high, it was substantially down at over eight per cent in June this year from over 20 per cent in February 2010. By the end of 2011-12, he believed overall inflation would decline to a six-seven per cent range from 9.44 per cent in June. Mukherjee interacted with journalists on a wide array of subjects, in the wake of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with senior journalists last month to address the impression that he was “ in hiding”. Excerpts from the FM’s observations on various issues:

ON CHARGES OF POLICY PARALYSIS:

“There is a sort of cynicism that we are getting. You are talking of perception of policy paralysis. One shall have to keep in mind that we are not living in an isolated world. We are part of a global development. Therefore, when you look at the recovery process of America, there is renewed weakness as reflected in their retail sales and housing and labour markets. Similarly, the Chinese manufacturing industry expanded in June at the slowest pace in four months. The purchasing managers index dropped to 57 from 61.9. You are all fully aware of slowdown in Europe. Only France and Germany (are growing); the recovery of others are not strong enough. In that context, one should look at our performance. “It is taking long to take a call on entry of more players in the banking space. But I will not call it a policy paralysis. RBI (the Reserve Bank) will issue final guidelines and then licences would be issued.

ON BLACK MONEY

“I cannot make comments on the judgement of a court (Supreme Court). Only the court can make comments. So, we have filed an interim application. Let us see what is the outcome. So much talk has been made on black money. There is no denial that there has been a problem... With about 87 countries, we have initiated negotiations on a double taxation avoidance agreement, tax information exchange agreements. With 57 countries, negotiations have been completed; they are in progress with 29 others. “We signed an agreement with Switzerland in 2010. Their legislature should clear it by September-October.

ON GROWTH

“It (review of growth, pegged at nine per cent in the Economic Survey for this financial year) will always happen during the middle of the year. There is uncertainty in the global economy. There is instability in the global economic recovery process. Therefore, we cannot be insulated from the adverse impact of that uncertainty, to a certain extent. “But you don’t gain anything by saying that there would be no growth, there would be slowdown in the growth without being backed by a trend in at least the first quarter. Exports are growing high, despite uncertainty in Europe. Diversification of exports has taken place. We shall have to analyse these things on the basis of hard facts. It would be possible to do after obtaining the first quarter figures and looking at the trend.

ON INFLATION:

“There is no doubt that high inflation is continuing. But it is equally true that food inflation has come down from 22 per cent to a little over eight per cent, which is also not acceptable. Therefore, whenever I comment, I say that we should take it in a little larger canvas. You have to keep in mind two reasons. To tackle the problem of the impact of the global financial crisis, we had also to go for huge fiscal expansion. “During that period, RBI cooperated by adjusting rates. This has an impact on the demand side of the money. Almost three per cent of GDP was injected as a fiscal stimulus package — Rs 1,86,000 crore. That not only caused huge fiscal deficit, it also spurred the demand side. “On the agriculture side, at some point of time sugar prices were high, then they moderated. Pulses prices were very high last year; this year, pulses’ production increased substantially. Last year, there was 15 million tonnes less kharif production and that also had a delayed impact. These reasons are to be addressed. My assessment is at the end of the year, by March, overall inflation should be anywhere between six and seven per cent, but in between, there would be some fluctuations. By the end of the monsoon, moderation will begin.

ON REFORMS

“There is an impression that I have given up… But the series of major enactments that we have … MMDR (Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, Food Security Bill, which we have given more or less a final shape. But, there is a process. We cannot overstep the process. In the last budget session, we had the banking amendment bill, insurance amendment bill; all these are in different stages of consideration. “Legislations have their own time. The basic fact is that the ruling party does not have a clear absolute majority. In running a coalition government, partners will have to agree with the proposals or the reforms agenda. If they do not agree, if they are not made agreeable, legislative support will not be available. It is as simple as that. The ground reality is also to be admitted, when we sit in the government, we take one position; when we sit in the opposition, we take a different position. This sometimes causes problems. PFRDA (the pensions bill structure, now held up) was conceived during the NDA government. On GST (goods and services tax, also stymied), the BJP manifesto had even indicated the rate, 12 per cent.

ON DISINVESTMENT & FISCAL DEFICIT

“I am confident I will be able to get this Rs 40,000 crore (budgeted provision for divestment proceeds). However, I do not roll out a list of the companies, because I do not want to create a situation where the market will be flat. Reining in the fiscal deficit (to 4.6 per cent) is difficult, but the target will be met.

ON EXTENSION TO RBI GOVERNOR

“We have not decided yet. He (D Subbarao) is a good man.

ON LAND ACQUISITION BILL

“So far as this bill is concerned, this is in the final stage. Perhaps it may be introduced in this (monsoon) session. On non-state actors’ taking active role because of governance deficit “Everyone has to play his assigned role. If we fail to do that, then some distortions start coming. Now, what is expected that legislators will legislate, they will debate, they will argue on policies. That is the normal expectation. But if we find that day after day, legislators, instead of doing their normal functioning, are obstructing or disrupting, then questions come to the mind of the common people.

ON GST

“Anyway, it is their (Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers) job, because it is their association. My role is to provide a helping hand. So, they are to decide. Sushil Modi (Bihar’s finance minister, a BJP member) has been chosen (the committee’s chairman). I hope his leadership will take the steps forward. And, (if) certain hurdles we are able to overcome. Unless there is a consensus, a two-third majority will not be possible (for) the Constitution amendment bill (to roll out GST). So, the timeframe is difficult to say. We’re trying to synchronise with the DTC (Direct Taxes Code, slated to be implemented from April 1, 2012), but that may be difficult

BS

Inflation to remain high till December, says Finance Ministry

The common man will get no respite from rising prices for another six months, with the government today saying that inflation, currently hovering above 9 per cent, will continue to remain high till December.......

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Over Rs 41 lakh fake currency seized in AP this year

Hyderabad : With fake currency of face value of over Rs 41 lakh seized from different parts of Andhra Pradesh, including state capital, during this year so far, senior officials today resolved to coordinate in an effective manner to counter the menace. At a meeting of State Level Committee for detection/ seizures of counterfeit notes, senior officials of RBI, IB, Economic Offences Wing, NIA and Hyderabad City Police discussed recent trends of circulation of fake currency in Andhra Pradesh and other parts of the country and resolved to coordinate by way of sharing data strategically to deal with the menace of fake currency notes. The meeting was informed that there was increased circulation of fake currency in the form of high value currency of Rs 500 denomination in Hyderabad, West Godavari, East Godavari, Vijayawada city and Kadapa. Police seized counterfeit currency of face value of Rs 41,85,540 till May this year and arrested as many as 85 people including many locals who were previously indulged in printing fake currency notes in the state, a senior officer said. Strategies were worked out to counter fake currency menace in high prone areas like Hyderabad, Nalgonda, West Godavari, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam city and Guntur, he said. Most of the fake currency is manufactured in one place and distributed to various places through different persons.It is also noticed that some of the fake notes are high quality notes which are pumped into India from other agencies through Malda district of West Bengal by air, sea and train routes, and the measures to curb them were discussed, Director General (Law and Order) M Ratan said. The Committee also discussed various issues requiring coordination among various agencies relating to lodging of FIRs, investigation in cases and measures reviewed to curb the menace of circulation of forged notes, he added.

IBN Live

Go Easy on Policy Rate Hikes

Bankers reportedly want a pause in the relentless rate hikes initiated by the Reserve Bank of India in recent months, with the policy objective of indicating higher interest rates and dearer cost of funds so as to arrest rising prices. They seem to face decelerating demand for credit, after the central bank has revised its key policy rates for lending and accepting deposits from commercial banks, as many as seven times in the past year. It is true that the RBI’s policy rate for providing liquidity to the system remains below the wholesale price index. But it is also a fact that the continuing price spiral has much to do with supply shocks such as rising crude oil and commodity prices, and buoyant prices of superior foods due to bottlenecks preventing stepped up supply in the face of heightened demand. Given that inflation in manufactures and attendant economic activity is more subdued, the continuing rate hikes across the board can well be questioned, although all indications are that the RBI would in the next several months go slow in the sheer pace of tightening monetary policy. To tackle inflation what’s certainly required is renewed policy attention, but in tandem we ought also to keep tab of credit offtake and the related output gap in the system and take proactive action. Given the panoply of rigidities on the ground, a lower than warranted output gap in goods and services can well rev up the price spiral and defeat the policy purpose of bringing down the inflation rate. The point is that on the issue of monetary policy design, we do need to aim for a nuanced approach when it comes to inflation and growth. In parallel, the pressing policy need is to probe the nonmonetary factors fuelling inflation such as inadequate cold chains, warehousing, and logistics coming in the way of much increased supply and consequent easier prices of protein-rich food articles. The point remains that even as we belatedly attempt to shift policy attention away from cereals, in tandem we need to be wary of the ceaseless use of direct monetary policy tools in the attempt to bring down the overall trend in prices. There seems also the need to re-examine the very conduct of monetary policy here, and compare and contrast it with the trends in the other major economies. For an economy like ours undergoing structural change and developing increasingly sophisticated markets, it would make sense to rely more on indirect controls in shaping monetary and credit policies. The transmission of monetary policy can be made more effective with greater financial intermediation and the better channelling of saving and investment. Abroad, in the mature markets, the fact is that monetary policy making is quite different today — and so is monetary economics — than say two decades ago, the trend has been apparent for over a decade now and precludes the recent financial crisis. The demand for money is far less stressed both for policy purposes and in the formal discourse, given that apart from banks, thriving bond and equity markets, there’s now a huge corpus of funds available with mutual funds, pension funds and insurance companies in the high-income economies. The financial development abroad has its flip side in runaway credit availability and over consumption, and the 2007-09 financial crisis homegrown in the US was essentially due to misplaced bullishness on new-fangled products like mortgage-backed securities even in the face of falling house prices and rising payment default. Be that as it may, the thriving market for single-name securities like conventional bonds, equities etc in the mature markets, to differentiate from the dicey structured products like mortgage-backed securities, has lead to a complete rethink in monetary economics and policy. Key central banks abroad no longer, say, target money supply. For years now, the workhorse model of the IS-LM framework used by central banks for policy purposes has been overhauled. The aggregate demand curve or IS remains in use for policy purposes, which relates the current output level to expected future production. There’s also the aggregate supply curve relating to current inflation and expected future inflation in the standard two-equation models of recent vintage. But the LM curve denoting the equilibrium of money demand and supply, which was a much used analytical tool for decades has been well neigh dropped in policy-oriented discussions, due to the marked development of financial markets oversees. It has led to proffering of policy rules like the Taylor rule, and calls to equate the key central bank policy rate with the GDP growth rate, so as to cool supposed overheating. Note that afew years ago RBI did peg its repo rate, the rate at which it provides liquidity to banks, at 9%, when the GDP growth rate was 9% as well. But the overall environment is different now; in any case we need to boost institutional development, intermediation and financial markets and de-emphasise direct controls, both in the monetary policy setting and otherwise.

ET

RBI flays banks in MP

After coming down heavily on bankers in the state level bankers committee meeting here Reserve Bank of India today said technology in banking system is new and it would take time for bankers to function properly. Bankers in the state have performed very poorly in certain sectors like financial inclusion, distribution of kisan credit cards and education loans besides other social schemes. Speaking to Business Standard, an RBI official said, “Bankers are assured of their salaries and they are lethargic in doing legitimate business. NBFCs, moneylenders and chit-fund are doing business because bankers have become vidharmi from their dharma (religion) of lending the money. Why bankers should fix a target of lending? Do they stop deposits if it is 100 per cent achieved? But it is not the only reason, technology is new for many bankers and it would take some time for the bankers to get used to the system, this scene is all over Madhya Pradesh and other states too.” Bankers have a very poor performance in certain sectors like financial inclusion, education loan and other social security schemes. On state government's complaint of low disbursement of education loans to deserving poor candidates, Chakrabarty warned the bankers that it was their collective responsibility to ensure quality education to deserving students. "If you ensure loans to deserving poor, only then the society will have a future. They must understand." A number of banks like Andhra Bank, Laxmi Vilas Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Karur Vysya Bank and South Indian Bank figured with zero per cent achievement in the performance parameters under agriculture credit, MSE credit, other priority sector credit and total priority sector credit. "I will put up the matter to the chairmen of the banks if they do not improve," said Chakrabarty. State principal secretary finance GP Singhal demanded immediate need to look into the decreasing performance of the bank in the education loan. As against the target of 150% during financial year 2010-11 the bankers achieved only 58% of the target in education loan.

BS

Neco's eco contribution to city

NAGPUR: A few years ago, the avenue between GPO square to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) square up to Shri Mohini Complex in west Nagpur area was called 'Palm Road' because there were several palm trees located on both sides of the road. Over time, the trees vanished but the name stuck. Now, the entire stretch will regain its lost glory of palm trees as the Neco group, one of the biggest industrial groups based in the city, has started plantation of various types of palm tress, especially royal palm, date palm, fish tale palm and champagne palm right on the dividers of GPO square to RBI square while another private agency Raisoni Group has planted similar trees on a stretch from RBI square to Shri Mohini Complex. Along with tree plantation drive, Neco group has also started developing landscapes on 14 main roads in west Nagpur, a senior NMC official said.  In a bid to make city look beautiful and create awareness about environment, Neco Group has recently installed a metallic bird figure of Oriental Honey Buzzard at GPO square. The bird has been declared 'Bird of Nagpur' during the bird race held in January 2011.  The stretches to be maintained by Neco Group are RBI square to Ladies Club square, Bole Petrol pump to High Court (East High Court road), both sides of Bole petrol pump to GPO square, Law College square to Japanese Garden (West High Court Road), RBI quarters square to MLA Hostel to Union Bank square, Ramgiri to Y-Point, Hingna Road to Ring Road junction, Hingna Road to Jaitala road, Road in front of collector's office, Law College square to Ravi Nagar (Amravati Road), Ram Nagar square and Maharajbagh square to St Ursula school (Tagore road). The company will maintain plantation and landscapings on dividers and traffic islands for next five years and against it will put up signboard indicating its contribution every 50 metres on these roads, the official added.

TOI

Asset reconstruction mirage

The Reserve Bank of India's disquiet over the performance or the lack of it of India's first asset reconstruction company ARCIL is only an official and hence more authentic criticism, as it were, of the seemingly impossible business of dealing in impaired financial assets — skeptics were acutely aware of the pitfalls inherent in the business, in fact of the futility of being in that business in the first place. ...

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Speak Asia continues with its ‘golmaal’ answers

....Disposing the petition filed by Speak Asia, the High Court said, "The bank (RBI) is legitimately entitled to protect the integrity of the financial set up, pending an investigation. Neither an investigation nor the directions issued by the Reserve Bank to facilitate it should be obstructed or curtailed. The bank has in our view acted within its statutory power to caution against remittances abroad in the case at hand." .......

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