No elbow room to provide stimulus - S.S.Tarapore

.......Loss of monetary control and a weak fiscal resolution would imply a resurgence of inflation. Forty years ago, the then Governor, S. Jagannathan, speaking at the Bankers' Club in Chennai, said “while planning their resource position, banks should not count upon recourse to the Reserve Bank as an easily available resource”. Today, bank accommodation from the RBI has become a chronic addiction. If not treated early, this would eventually require a cold turkey approach, which would be disruptive to the financial system.

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Good economics is good politics

.... The forthcoming Budget comes at a critical juncture for the economy. Growth has slowed down perceptibly. Investors' sentiment is at its weakest since 2004. The global economic situation is fragile. This will hurt our external demand prospects at a time when the current account deficit threatens to cross the dangerous mark of 3 per cent of GDP. Interest rates remain high and the RBI does not seem to be in the mood to relent as long as inflationary pressures remain, fuelled primarily by a profligate fiscal policy and supply side constraints that are becoming entrenched as investment in new capacities is simply not forthcoming. Therefore, the first and most important task for the coming Budget must be to work with monetary policy to eliminate inflationary pressures, thereby allowing interest rates to come down......  

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Till debt do us part

.......As of today, the government sets a borrowing target that it then asks RBI to fill in. An independent DMO will not have the backstop of a monetary authority and will therefore find it necessary to engage with the government to moderate its borrowing. This will act as a hard budget constraint providing the fiscal discipline, which the government sorely needs........

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RBI can’t control WPI

...... In the case of agriculture, where inflation has been the highest, government policy of spending on subsidies instead of investment has ensured productivity has hardly risen. In other words, while RBI can at best affect outcomes marginally, and that too after the event, all the real levers lie with the government........

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RBI Salaries and Perks

This is a video describing the prevailing RBI Salaries and Perks for Entry level officers i.e. Grade B and Grade A. This video is compiled from RBI notices. Complete article @ http://gurpreetseehra.hubpages.com/hub/RBI-SALARIES-BENEFITS

Should We Believe CEOs Who Say NPAs are Not Alarming

… But the matter of real concern is that most of banks are facing liquidity crisis , borrowing money in lacs of crores from RBI and where scope of lending is very much reduced due to inaction of government on needs of corporate sector , it is unavoidable that in near future quantum of bad assets will grow at faster rate whereas lending at lower rate which will result in rise in Gross NPA to total Advances Ratio.....

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Aadhaar card has little relevance while investing, buying policies.......

“Not all banking services can be provided on the basis of Aadhaar though RBI has agreed to it. As of now, we are allowing only no-frills services on it and that, too, to those who cannot provide any other valid document.” Agrees a foreign banker, adding more clarity is required........
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Raw deal for depositors

I refer to the news item "Public sector banks in no mood to hike savings account rates” (Business Line, March 7). Bankers are only taking undue advantage of the multitude of Savings Bank depositors who have no one to represent them. Be it retail shareholders or retail depositors, they are always left in the lurch. India has a lot of personal savings, but isn't getting the desired attention. I recall the remarks of M. R. Pai, ex-president of All India Depositors Association, who said, “The greatest asset in a bank's balance sheet is the ignorance of depositors.” Banks are keen to keep their Net Interest Margin 3 per cent plus. They won't look at retail borrowers or retail depositors, but lend large amounts to corporates at base rates, and write off large amounts. If credit sanctions and monitoring of large values are done with due diligence, it will give room to take care of retailers — both borrowers and depositors.

- L. Rangarajan (HBL

Banks increasing service charges

.... Early last year, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the savings bank rate to four per cent, bankers had made it clear they would raise service charges to help make up for the high rates. Then, came the savings rate deregulation in October 2011. Now, if a bank is free to fix the interest rates it wants to pay you on savings deposits, it is also free to decide on charges to adjust the pinch on its pocket.......

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India ‘needs sustained effort to check deficit'

.......India's fiscal deficit exceeded the full-year target in the ten months through January, adding pressure for steps to restrain the gap in next week's budget. The Reserve Bank of India has signalled that efforts to curb the shortfall will boost its scope to cut interest rates as economic growth slows..........

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Fiscal consolidation will be in focus

.......Further, with the RBI clearly signalling the need for concrete steps towards fiscal consolidation before embarking on the path of monetary easing, plausible measures from the central government in this regard would be keenly watched out for.......

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Financial Inclusion - Drive to Diverse Business Models

.... Despite augmented thrust by the government and RBI on Branch expansion since 1969 i.e. Banks Nationalization, still the fruits of the banking not reached to substantial population, especially the underprivileged sections of the society,…..

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Karnataka Bank to open 20 financial inclusion branches

......Financial inclusion branches will be opened in the villages, where the population is above 2,000. The branch will take care of the entire requirement of the village such as credit disbursement and opening of accounts.........

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Tips for facing bank clerical post interviews

.... “Candidates these days are even trained on how to enter the room, how to greet, how to sit and how to say bye at the end of interview. Very few candidates are frank and speak from the heart. They give the standard, well-rehearsed answers.” ........

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Govt panel moots more powers, sops to asset reconstruction cos

.....The panel, headed by Alok Nigam, has recommended that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should empower ARCs to convert debt acquired by them in usual course of business from banks and FIs into equity of the defaulting company by way of a new contract........

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Those glittering assets

..... Clearly, the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) need to focus intensely on how to bring at least part of these glittering assets into more productive use. The RBI should enable a liquid paper gold market, through instruments like gold savings accounts (GSAs), gold deposits and gold securities, so that investors could continue to maintain gold savings but without needing to hold all of them in terms of physical bullion.......

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Administration needs 2 more months to start work

 ….. The authority has proposed four multi-level parking lots at each corner of the sector, away from the plaza, where vehicles can be parked, but only one of the four, near RBI building, has been planned so far…….

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Near victory for Indians abroad for filing online RTI applications

After several years of persistent campaign by RTI activist Commodore Lokesh Batra and several RTI activists abroad, the RBI, early this week, has given a “no objection” to the government for the sale of electronic postal orders through credit/debit cards for paying RTI fees. Now the Department of Posts has to quickly find a technology solution...........

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Rare coins see rise in popularity, value

........ Indian coins exported before independence are sold in foreign markets, according to Todywalla, and they tend to raise more money than those sold at home because of their rarity value. But increasingly, Indian coins are finding their way home to collectors from the country.......

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