Chidambaram vs Subbarao: How conflicts between govt and RBI could lead to better policy-making

....Such conflicts are not new in India. In fact, in 1956, one such face-off between the governor of the RBI Benegal Rama Rau and finance minister TT Krishnamachari led to the exit of the central bank chief. For a good part of the past few decades, such disagreements between monetary and fiscal policy managers were voiced in private........

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Subbarao: Reforms Influence, Don't Dictate, RBI Action

MEXICO CITY -- The Reserve Bank of India takes the economic impact of government policies into account in its decisions, but its actions aren't dependent on any specific reforms, the central bank's governor said Monday. In an interview on the sidelines of meetings of finance officials from the Group of 20 leading economies, Duvvuri Subbarao said the RBI would reassess monetary conditions at December's meeting, but noted that it had given guidance for easing in the first quarter of the next calendar year.......

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Coin mela held at Koyambedu market

.....V.R. Soundararajan, a wholesale merchant, said many traders source coins from agents who provide them in bulk for a commission. “Banks do not provide coins on a daily basis. So, we depend on these agents. We have asked RBI to conduct such camps once every three months and also install an ATM in the market,” he said. Sudhansu Mohan Parida, Deputy General Manager, Department of Banking Supervision, RBI, said four such camps would be held this week at commercial hubs in T. Nagar, Purasawalkam, Tambaram and Washermenpet. The camps would be held in tie-up with banks to meet the shortage of coins.

Read - The Hindu

Jack and Jill school celebrates annual day

Jack and Jill Foundation School celebrated its 14th annual day on November 4 at Subhash school of Excellence. The theme of this year's programme was 'early man.' The toddlers of the school came dressed as primitive men. There were interesting sports events like chimpanzee race, log race, cart race, stone race etc. along with the theme, the evolution of man was depicted beautifully by showing various landmarks like farming, discovery of fire and invention of wheel. Dr Nirbhay Shrivastava, dean gandhi medical college (GMC) was the chief guest while P R Ravi Mohan, Regional Director Reserve Bank of India MP and CG was the guest of honour...........

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RBI light on fiscal policy

......P.K. Jena, Regional Director, RBI, Patna, said: "It's crucial for everybody to understand the monetary policy as it affects, directly or indirectly, each and every individual in the country.".....

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NABARD expo gives a glimpse into rural Maharashtra

......Gramsampada is an exhibition-cum-sale of products, which are made by women of self-help groups (SHGs) and rural entrepreneurs in Maharashtra. NABARD has been organising this expo for the last 5 years to support SHGs under its various promotional schemes. The exhibition was inaugurated on Monday at the NABARD office, Shivajinagar, by Chief General Manager of NABARD, M.V.Ashok and General Manager, P.M.Ghole......

Read - DNA

Banks unwilling to cut rates unless policy rate reduced

Indian banks are not ready to cut their loan or deposit rates even after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) pared the cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the portion of deposits that commercial banks need to keep with the central bank, releasing Rs.17,500 crore for the banks to lend to companies and consumers. Bankers said the 25 basis points (bps) cut in CRR is too little to move loan rates, and only a repo rate cut by RBI will give them enough room to reduce borrowing costs for customers.........

Read - Mint

Muthoot Finance looking to enter white label ATM space

With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightening the rules for gold loan companies, Muthoot Finance has decided to diversify into the white label ATMs (WLAs) business. The non-banking finance company, which is engaged in the business of financing against the security of gold ornaments, wants to leverage its network of 3,853 branches spread across 21 States and four Union Territories to set up WLAs. The company’s board is of the view that setting up WLAs across all branches and in other business centres across the country would benefit Muthoot’s customers.......

Read - HBL

Commercial paper route of funding dries up for India Inc

.....Reserve Bank of India data shows commercial bank dues in CP as on October 19 was Rs 37,130 crore, compared with Rs 22,447 crore a year before. However, with the number of downgrades rising in the past 18 months, this amount is expected to fall. .....

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BANKERS TO HEAD TO PUNE ON NOV 24-25 FOR INDIAN BANKS’ ASSOCIATION MEET

Most bankers are likely to head to Pune by November end, not just to enjoy the Pune winter, but also to network with their peers. The flagship event of Indian Banks’ Association ‘Bancon’ is schedule to be held in Pune, and is hosted by Bank of Maharashtra. According to bankers, the event is schedule on November 24 and 25. Finance minister P Chidambaram has agreed to give the inaugural speech and RBI governor D Subbarao is likely to give the valedictory speech. 

ET

India's growth could be back at 8.5-9% in 2 years: Kaushik Basu

"..........yes its a difficult period, but two years later India should be back again what it was attempting to be, which is 8.5-9.0 per cent growth. I really feel that this is possible,"........

Read - Business Today

Policy easing possible as early as January: Subbarao

...........The RBI has one more meeting scheduled for 2012, in December, when Subbarao said easing was “highly improbable”. He said the bank would next review the policy at meetings on 29 January and in mid-March, noting that the bank’s first-quarter easing guidance was based on forecasts for growth and inflation. “If the growth and inflation trajectories play out as we expected, we would act according to our guidance,” he said in an interview, when asked about the likely timing of any new move by the RBI. “We would assess the situation in January and try and act according to our guidance. Should the situation be different, then we will have to defer until March.”..........

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Will this be the crack in the door in banks vs retail investors?

.......There is enough smoke to signal that banks need to rethink what they do with their depositors’ trust. Unfortunately, the banking regulator has taken a see-no-evil approach. I met a now-retired Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor last week and it seems that the RBI view remains the same: not our problem. It is a cynical short-term view and it should be no surprise to the government that households’ financial assets have fallen and the share of real estate and gold has gone up. Senior bankers themselves have a solution they give offline: slap large punitive penalties on banks found mis-selling, make the top management responsible for mis-selling and introduce clawback of bonuses.......

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RBI’s Subbarao Polls Bankers on Policy & Rate Cut

RBI governor D Subbarao conducted an impromptu poll with bank chiefs soon after announcing half-yearly policy on how many of them expected a rate cut. Almost three-fourth of the bankers present raised their hands saying that they did not expect the RBI to cut rates. This could well be a politically correct response to an astutely framed question as the governor did not ask them whether or not they wanted a rate cut.

ET

RRBs asked to open at least 25% branches in unbanked areas

RBI Tuesday asked regional rural banks (RRBs) to open at least one-fourth of their proposed branches in unbanked parts of the country, a move aimed at increasing financial inclusion. The Reserve Bank said that there is a need to step up the opening of branches in unbanked rural centres in order to meet the objectives of increasing banking penetration and financial inclusion rapidly..........

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Former MLA for bailout package to NDCCB

.........Shinde expressed concern over RBI's reluctance to relax the norms for NDCCB, despite union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar taking up the issue with the Prime Minister. NDCCB plays a key role in agriculture finance. A 100 year old bank it has around 50,000 farmers as its members having pooled in deposits to the tune of Rs 1200 crore. The bank has disbursed farm loans to the tune of Rs 285 crore and 350 agricultural societies are linked to it, he said. De-licensing the bank may prove detrimental to the farmers' interest, said Shinde..........

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IOB seeks full-fledged bank status to its overseas offices

The Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), which is on an expansion and upgradation spree, has sought permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to upgrade its three representative offices in China,Vietnam and Dubai to a full-fledged bank status...........

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Mining stakeholders attend 'fruitful' meet with Sinha

PANAJI: Representatives of mining stakeholders who met the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Anand Sinha, returned with high hopes of getting a relaxation on the repayment of loans.........

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RBI 'bans' post-dated cheques for NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today asked non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to replace post-dated cheques issued to them by customers with new standardised cheques with improved security features..........

Read - Indian Express