Decimating Reserve Bank of India

It was in March 2012 that the Economist, London, showered praise on Reserve Bank of India ( RBI), " Judging by the numbers, RBI is among the world's best central banks. Its record on banking, growth and inflation is decent enough". The journal also gave credit to RBI for escaping Asian currency crisis of 1997 and the more recent global financial crisis of 2008. The Economist emphasised: " Relative to most Indian state bodies, the RBI has more brains, muscle and integrity. It is about the only institution in the country you never hear accused of graft". RBI has thus made us proud and one would have thought that the Government of India would make every effort to further strengthen the institution. Alas! This does not seem to be so. On the other hand, there are efforts to cut it down to its size and to decimate it. Perhaps rulers like sycophancy and nobody accuses RBI of being docile. In fact it is its independent thinking which has raised its stature to its present heights.........

.....Restricting RBI functions to monetary policy formulation and supervision of banks is neither logically sustainable nor practicable. It would serve no purpose except decimating RBI. The FSLRC would do well to revisit the whole range of issues involved........

Read - FPJ

In His Fight with Finmin, Subbarao Gets PM Support

.......The father of economic reforms, and a former central bank Governor, made no secret of where his sympathies lie in the duel between the finance ministry and the central bank over the direction of interest rates amid stubbornly high prices. Industry bodies have also been urging the RBI to cut rates to boost economic growth, which is likely to slide to 6% for the year ending March 31, 2013, compared with over 8% in 2010-11.  “Central banks have to balance the compulsions of stimulating growth and controlling inflation,” Singh told titans of the corporate world assembled at The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence.  “Both are important. But we must recognise that lower inflation is good both for growth and for making growth more socially inclusive,” said Singh. “The Reserve Bank of India has sought to support a revival of growth by reducing the CRR successively over two quarters.”.........

Read - ET

India's central bank chief: a hawk flying solo against inflation

Indian central bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao's standoff with a finance ministry that wants interest rates reduced sooner rather than later may prove the defining moment of his tenure. But while he wins plaudits for asserting the Reserve Bank of India's autonomy, Subbarao's policy draws mixed reviews...........

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RBI staff take up cudgels against councillor

BHUBANESWAR: Residents of RBI residential staff quarters in Nayapalli are at loggerheads with the local councillor over plantation drive on the roadside. The RBI staff even said though they have got permission from the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to plant saplings along the boundary of their colony, the councillor did not allow them to do so. According to residents of RBI colony, people have been dumping garbage and...........

Read - TOI

APSMFC in need of drastic overhaul

....The minorities welfare secretary has complained to RBI, seeking investigation and action against Vijaya Bank branches in connection with the fraud, and demanding recouping of defrauded amount to APSMFC. The secretary has also constituted two teams with audit officers drawn from various departments for auditing the accounts of the corporation and its district offices. The services of a chartered accountant have also been engaged for auditing the accounts of the corporation for the last four years......

Read - TOI

RBI for standard definition of infrastructure

NEW DELHI, NOV 10: 

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon come out with a standard definition of infrastructure. Archana Mangalagiri, General Manager, RBI, said this at the India infrastructure Investment Forum here................

Read - HBL

North Sikkim gets SBI Financial Literacy Centre

Sikkim Express

Demand for Ambedkar’s image on currency notes

Members of Dalit Liberation Movement of India (DLM), led by its national convenor, Dalit Pandian staged a demonstration in front of the Head Post Office here on Saturday placing a demand to the Union government to print images of B.R. Ambedkar on currency notes......

Read - The Hindu

RBI pumps in more coins

Traders may not have to bicker with busy shoppers for loose change this festive season. On Saturday, Reserve Bank of India, Chennai region, pumped in coins worth nearly Rs. 30 lakh into busy trade hubs across the city. This is intended to meet the heavy demand ahead of Deepavali.......

Read - The Hindu

India's bane is policy paralysis, says Jalan

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Bimal Jalan has said India's major problem is that the government does not seem to be interested in governance. While releasing a book by late Dr DK Rangnekar, titled The Politics of Poverty,......

Read - Hindustan Times

BANCON 2012

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Risk management, a serious business

.....A very erudite speech on the topic “Managing currency and interest rate risks” was delivered by Harun R. Khan, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, at a seminar in Bombay recently. Pointing out how financial market risks affected the real economy, he said that the big increase in volatility had induced uncertainty which, in turn, had a negative impact on the real economy as well. Financial and non-financial companies, unable to anticipate their future, are adopting a more cautious approach to their business planning and employment policies.......

Read - The Hindu

Is Cash Reserve Ratio a national waste?

.....the system of CRR which gives no interest to banks on these deposits makes banks suffer financial loss. Let the CRR be an effective tool for monetary policy, but what is the harm in passing some of the earnings made by RBI on these CRR deposits? Else let us abolish this system. After all, there is no harm in regulator learning from regulated ones. While CRR may not be a national waste, it is indeed a drain on the resources of banks which is obtained from public........

Read - Moneylife

CPI’s Achuthan asks RBI for all files related to Bharti-Walmart

Bharati Enterprises’ Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Rajan Bharti Mittal’s recent statement that the company had given “everything required” to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on its retail joint venture with US-based Walmart, has irked the Communist Party of India (CPI). Contesting Mittal’s statement, M.P. Achuthan, a CPI Member of Parliament, has written to RBI Governor D. Subbarao demanding a copy of the documents filed by Bharti, Walmart and Cedar Support Services Ltd (a unit of Bharti’s) with the RBI..........

Read - HBL

RBI hails Gehlot Govt’s financial management

Jaipur: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has hailed the Rajasthan Government’s financial management and successful efforts for attaining goals targets of economy prescribed by the bank. A latest report the RBI has praised the steps and action taken by the state government under the leadership of Chief Minister-cum-Finance Minister Ashok Gehlot for overcoming the budgetary revenue deficit and restricting the fiscal deficit below the prescribed limits under the FRBM Act.........

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Who next?

.....But this is not being written just to sing Mr Chidambaram’s praises. If he is to win acceptability for the top job, he needs to demonstrate that he can establish working relations with people of different political persuasions — remember that he had run-ins with state governments when he was home minister. He has a history of being prickly when faced with criticism, and not very tolerant of dissent, as he demonstrated recently by being peevish when the Reserve Bank did not do what he wanted, on interest rates. He also tends to micro-manage.......

Read - BS

RBI did it

This refers to the editorial “Will RBI do its bit?” (FE, October 30). The dire, uncertain condition of the Indian economy has been perfectly mirrored in the RBI’s quarterly survey. This editorial and the front page story “SBI capex loan crash mirrors investment strike at India Inc” told us the facts. Inflation will likely remain on a sticky path. Fiscal cliff of the US might reduce the growth rate of the developing world, including India. It’s good the current government seems on a reform path. Let’s hope that further dose of economic reforms will accelerate our economic growth.

- Shishir Sindekar, BYK College of Commerce, Nashik (FE)

.....As the popular saying goes—“No pain, no gain”—understandably, the policy initiatives taken might not bring cheer in the short term but definitely has the potential to turn the economy around in the medium to long term. In a nutshell, it is a well-documented policy aimed at striking a right balance between growth and inflation and take the economy on a higher growth pedestal.......

Read - FE

The ride will not be easy

.....Regarding rates, my best guess is a repo rate cut of 50 basis points in the fourth quarter, and for gradual rate cuts to continue in FY14. However, there is a risk that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continues its hawkish stance, given inflation is unlikely to move below its target level anytime soon. Hence, it might choose to continue to focus on liquidity management through other tools. RBI chief D Subbarao did at least state last week that easing could be possible in January........

Read - BS

How banks got the count wrong

Financial inclusion is the new mantra in banking. Taking the poorest of the poor along the banking channels and providing means to a meaningful life is an ideal goal. But whether it could be achieved under the existing system is a moot question. If at all it is achievable, how soon can it be done? Officially Ernakulam will be the first district in the country to win the unique distinction of being the first to achieve ‘meaningful financial inclusion’. It will be declared at a function to be chaired by RBI Governor here on November 22......

Read - The Hindu

Trouble at the bank

.....The pressure on the SBI and other leading public sector banks, including the PNB and Canara Bank, is the result of the huge loans these banks have been nudged to make in the infrastructure sector in the past few years amid a sliding domestic and global economy. They have had little chance of selling these loans to long-term infra financiers who are still being set up. ......

Read - Indian Express

Don't reject educational loan applications, RBI tells banks

".......... Banks are advised not to reject any educational loan application for reasons that the residence of the borrower does not fall under the bank's service area," RBI said in a notification today.......

Read - BS

Maharashtra state co-op bank back in black

MUMBAI: A year after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) dismissed the board of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) and appointed two state officials to run the bank citing high negative net worth, the apex bank has scripted a turnaround. The MSCB has wiped out its losses and has collected a net profit of nearly Rs 18 crore. A National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development audit of the bank's 2009-10 balance sheet had revealed that its net worth had turned negative by Rs 140 crore on account of money set aside or provided for bad loans......

Read - TOI

'Pre-payment penalty should be reasonable'

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday placed on its website the draft report of the ‘committee to assess the feasibility of introducing more long-term fixed interest rate loan products by banks’. The report has been placed for public comments. According to the recommendations, banks should charge Pre-payment penalty on fixed rate loan products to the extent of the amount due only, and not on the initial loan amount sanctioned as some banks are doing. It should also be reasonable. Moreover, the pre-payment penalty could be graded, based on the period after which the loan is repaid - like five years, 10 years and so on...........

Read - BS

Farming has no credit

...........When asked, a senior banker at a leading bank said, “Agriculture is an inconvenient necessity. Not only are bad loans in the sector high, but the amounts offered are very low.  Our risk is not adjusted well. Not to mention the ever-present risk of waivers.” But banks have to meet the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules on priority-sector lending. The RBI mandates banks to give at least 18 per cent of their total loans to agriculture. Failure to do so invites the RBI’s displeasure........

Read......

Provide home loans with lower EMI: RBI

Banks should look at the possibility of introducing home loans with lower EMIs and higher repayment period of up to 30 years, according to the Reserve Bank of India. The RBI draft report on home loans has suggested that banks should introduce and popularise long-term fixed rate home loan with a provision of re-fixing the interest rate after period of seven to 10 years. At present, banks give home loans with a maximum tenure of 20 years.........

Read - Mumbai Mirror

MP a better performing State: RBI Dy Guv

.....Chakrabarty further said he has been citing the example of Madhya Pradesh at various forums for the implementation of various developmental activities and rapid progress that the State is witnessing. Investments expected as a result of the Global Investors’ Summit present an opportunity for the banks to participate in the growth of the State. Financial Inclusion is very important for the development of the state. Amongst the thrust areas for the banks were Financial Inclusion, flow of credit to agriculture and MSE sectors, education loans and efficient management of NPAs, he added.......

Read - The Pioneer

SBI now has the largest overseas presence among Indian banks

State Bank of India has taken the leadership position in overseas presence with 52 offices as on March 2012, ahead of Bank of Baroda's 47. ..........

Read - ET

Chidambaram chairs fifth FSDC meeting

New Delhi, Nov 10 (IBNS) The Fifth Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was held here on Saturday under the Chairmanship of Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. The meeting was attended by Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor, RBI, U. K. Sinha, Chairman, SEBI, Yogesh Agarwal, Chairman, PFRDA, R.K.Nair, Member, IRDA, Dr. Arvind Mayaram, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, D. K. Mittal, Secretary, Department of Financial Services and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.....

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Monitor end-use of subsidised crop loans, banks told

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said banks have failed to ensure the end-use of funds disbursed as crop loans and some borrowers were diverting such loans for other purposes. RBI has asked banks to strictly monitor end-use of short-term crop loans under the interest subvention scheme and make sure these are not used for any other purpose. RBI cautioned banks that crop loans not meeting this criteria will not be considered as agricultural loans..........

Read - BS

Govt, banks yet to meet targets

.....Despite clear cut instructions of RBI to ensure cent per cent financial inclusion in all 24 districts, till date only seven districts, namely Dumka, Jamtara, Pakur, Godda, Lohardaga, Hazaribag and Ramgarh, have been declared cent percent financially included. As per another guideline of the RBI, banks have been asked to extend banking facility to hamlets with a population between 1,600-2,000 and as many as 875 villages have been identified under the scheme.......

Read -TOI

Post office discount is no golden deal

....Are we comparing apples with oranges? Is the gold sold by the post office and banks superior to that sold by retailers and hence can it command a higher price? The post office and banks advertise their trust value, and the high-quality and purity of the gold retailed by them. They stress upon the tamper-proof packaging and assayer certificate. But retailers maintain that the gold sold by them is also of similar high quality, with similar safeguards. In fact, retailers say that since the post office and banks only sell and do not buy back gold coins, many of these coins eventually find their way to retail stores, which in turn sell them. So, how can the purity and quality of the coins be any less, they ask......

Read - HBL

All public, select private banks in Delhi to collect tax payments

........"It is observed that the rush for remitting income-tax dues into the RBI has been far too heavy towards the end of March/June/September/December and it becomes difficult for the RBI to cope up with the pressure of receipts although additional counters to the maximum extent possible are provided for the purpose," RBI said in a press release today........

Read - ET

Redefine priority sector lending - K Kanagasabapathy

.....The Narasimham Committee of 1991, which went into the issue of directed credit, observed after drawing attention to the problem of low and declining profitability, that there was a need for gradual phasing out of the directed credit programme, and that the proportion should be fixed at 10 per cent of the aggregate credit to cover the really needy and poor. This recommendation was not heeded by the Reserve Bank or the government. A similar approach for redefining the sub-targets was made by the recent Nair committee, stressing the need for flow of credit to small and marginal farmers and micro enterprises. This also went unheeded.......

Read - HBL

My View on "Government gets it wrong on CRR"

I have read with interest the article of Shri Seshan. It is, as always, interesting. I have two observations. First, CRR is stated to be not a repressive tax but a fee for the licence to create money and hence there is, therefore, no question of paying interest on CRR balances. Accepting this argument,  the question is what should be the limit up to which cash can be impounded by the RBI with out any obligation to pay interest? Surely, it cannot be with out any ceiling. So long as it is confined to the statutory minimum which has to be a small percentage, non-payment of interest would be all right. Secondly, I would like to inform the readers of VITALINFO that the question of audit of RBI by the CAG was indeed suggested long long ago by a Member of Parliament ( if my memory serves me right, the MP belonged to CPM) and the then Finance Minister, Shri Y.B. Chavan, made out a strong case against this proposal and defended the RBI to the hilt.

- A. Chandramouliswaran

This refers to “Govt gets it wrong on CRR” (Business Line, November 8). The author has rightly pointed out that the government shouldn’t pressurise the RBI towards interest payment on CRR. Instead, the government, the RBI and banks should work towards reducing non-performing assets (NPAs) and other administrative charges, which constitute wastage. Reducing expenditure, wastage, is one way of earning profits. If the RBI takes interest on CRR, the ultimate financial burden is borne by the ordinary customers of banks. This is not a permanent solution. The process for lending of loans should be strengthened, while also being user-friendly. Automation of processes across banks, in public and private sector, will reduce corruption. Promoting greater awareness amongst bank customers, and the public at large, will enhance efficiency.

Vedula Krishna, Visakhapatnam (HBL)

This refers to ‘Govt gets it wrong on CRR’ (Business Line, November 8). The Reserve Bank of India acts as a bankers’ bank and ensures stability of the entire monetary system. All banks enjoy the benefit of credibility due to regulation enforced by the RBI. Hence, they must pay for it. One way to measure the benefit derived can be by way of deposits mobilised by them. Hence, it is quite logical that they must forego interest on CRR, which is based on their deposit figures.

S Kalyanasundaram, Chennai (HBL)

Protect the regulators: It is in the nation’s interest

.....The attempt by the finance ministry to act as a super regulator over all regulatory bodies in the financial sector is getting more and more exposed. This will destabilize the equilibrium which was deftly built up by eminent persons who headed the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the formative years of financial regulation in India (there were not many regulators in the financial sector, almost till the reform days) and consciously maintained by their successors till the recent past.......

Read - Moneylife

No fake notes in ATMs: Banking Ombudsman

Reserve Bank of India’s Banking Ombudsman (Andhra Pradesh) M. Sebastian has ruled out the possibility of fake currency notes sneaking into Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). “The screening process is so meticulous that the notes can be found anywhere outside, but certainly not in the banks’ ATMs,” he said replying to a query at an interactive session organised with bankers and customers,.....

.....RBI Chief General Manager (customer service) Suma Verma highlighted sorting customers’ issues on a priority basis, even by employing the services of people with prowess in regional languages.......

Read - The Hindu

RBI launches financial literacy campaign

........M.K.Singh, Regional Director, RBI Chandigarh informed that to general interest and awareness amongst the people specially the young generation, a chain of events at 33 locations across the country has been held. He said that RBIQ provides an opportunity for recognizing and encouraging bright young students at a national platform........

Read - TOI

For the record

Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn, who is in charge of monetary policy, usually speaks at academic institutions and RBI puts out a schedule of events at which the Governor and Deputy Governors will participate in the forthcoming week. Of late, the schedule has started carrying a footnote that reads: “Dr Subir Gokarn’s speaking engagements in academic institutions are generally off-the-record.” This has raised eyebrows because earlier footnotes read: “...strictly off-the-record”. With Gokarn’s first term slated to end soon, it is worth wondering whether the difference between “generally” and “strictly” has any significance in terms of him getting an extension.

BS

Financial inclusion – not by banks alone

Financial inclusion is a key path to poverty alleviation. In defining financial inclusion, it is important to see it as a progression and a hierarchy of financial needs which begins with the most basic needs, such as a secure account for holding payment transaction funds and bill payment, and moves to more complex ones such as borrowing and insurance.........

Read - HBL

Changes In The Indian Banking Sector Pre And Post Reform Period

.....Since there is operational risk due to increasing globalisation, use of technology and growing complexity of operations, an explicit capital charge for the same is to be applied. To comply with the third pillar, RBI proposes frequent disclosure on information which enables market participants to take informed decisions. But even this should be done only after proper demarcation between core and supplementary disclosures. The three year transitional agreement is not sufficient for all banks.

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Banks to usher in cheque standardisation

....The RBI had issued a plan to ensure a time-bound migration to CTS-2010 standard cheque formats by all banks. As per the plan, banks had to arrange to issue only multi-city/payable at par CTS-2010 standard cheques not later than September 30, 2012, and also to make arrangements to withdraw the non-CTS-2010 standard cheques in circulation before December 31, 2012, by creating awareness among customers......

Read - The Hindu

Govt to push NIB, new banking licences

The Finance Ministry hopes that the National Investment Board and new banking licences will soon see the light. At the same time, it has reassured to keep the fiscal deficit within the revised target of 5.3 per cent. Economic Affairs Secretary, Arvind Mayaram, said that the proposal for setting up NIB is likely to be placed before the Cabinet within next 2-3 weeks..........

Read - HBL

New bank licences only after RBI Act amendment

The banking regulator has made it clear that it needs more power before it could invite new entrants

.....“As indicated in the draft guidelines, certain amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 are under consideration by the Government of India, including a few that are vital for finalisation and implementation of the policy for licensing new banks in the private sector. The final guidelines will be issued and the process of inviting applications for setting up new banks in the private sector will be initiated only after the Banking Regulation Act is amended,” ....

Read - BS

Fiscal consolidation - how real?

.....Before turning to evaluate the realism of the new road map, it is pertinent to highlight one little-remarked perspective on the trajectory of fiscal deficits in India. At least for the last decade, we have two different official series, one published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its various publications and the other by the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC). The numbers are pretty much the same except for the four years 2005/06 to 2008/09. In each of those four years, and especially in 2008/09, the fiscal deficit of the Centre, as well as the combined one (Centre and states), cited by the PMEAC is significantly higher than that shown by the RBI........

Read - BS

Living with volatility

..... Even more to the point, the RBI has found that many corporates run a serious exchange rate risk by not hedging their foreign exchange positions on the repayment of these loans. The reasons vary from unfamiliarity with hedging techniques — in which case banks need to strengthen their customer education programmes — to a dangerous tendency to speculate on foreign exchange rate movements. The RBI has tried to counter such practices by tightening the rules and directing banks to monitor uncovered foreign exchange exposures more closely.

Read - The Hindu

Non-banking financial sector seeing consolidation

The Non-banking financial sector was seeing consolidation, with companies placed comfortably on the capital front, said a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report on banking in India, 2011-12. Currently, the sector comprises a heterogeneous group of institutions, which caters to a wide range of financial requirements. Major intermediaries include financial institutions, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and primary dealers.........

Read - BS

Playing the base rate game

Two years back when the Reserve Bank of India introduced the base rate as the benchmark for banks to calculate all lending rates, it was projected as the panacea for all ills. When compared to the Benchmark Prime Lending, the base rate promised transparency, faster transmission of any rate action by the central bank and uniformity for customers. But has the base rate served its purpose?...........

Read - BS

Wait for a cue from RBI to take a call on realty

.....We would wait for some clarity on the extent and pace of reduction in the interest rates from the RBI to take a stance on interest sensitive sectors like real estate. From the RBI's commentary, it is very clear that unless they see some real action in terms of curtailing subsidies by the government, they are not going to be goaded into cutting interest rates as aggressively as the government would want them to.......

Read - ET

It is very important for the RBI to focus on inflation: Gita Gopinath

........It is very important for the RBI to focus on inflation. It has had some success in bringing down inflation to 7.81 per cent. Without help from the fiscal side, inflation control should remain a priority of the RBI. Besides, a large part of the slowdown in growth in India is due to an uncertain policy environment and lack of implementation of reforms. To blame slowing growth predominantly on high interest rates would be wrong........

Read - BS

  

Public sector banks account for bulk of customer complaints

State-run banks accounted for nearly two-third of the customer complaints received during last financial year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today said in its report on trend and progress of banking in the country. "Public sector banks accounted for bulk of the complaints (70%) received during 2011-12. Within public sector banks, the State Bank group alone accounted for almost 38% of total complaints received," RBI said...........

Read.......

Banks need to reduce cost, pass benefit to customers, says RBI

Indian Banks will have to reduce costs by increasing their efficiency and pass on the benefits to lenders and depositors, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said in the Trends and Progress report for 2011-12. “The challenge before banks is to make the best use of technology and innovation to bring down intermediation costs while protecting their bottom lines. The challenge for Indian banks is to reduce costs and pass on the benefits to both depositors and lenders,” RBI said...........

Read - BS

Rising NPAs: Banks turn risk averse

Concerned with rising non-performing assets (NPAs), banks have turned risk averse, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) observed in its report “Trend and Progress of Banking in India in 2011-12”. The RBI report added the increasing risk aversion has resulted in banks looking for safer investment instruments, such as government securities, to park their funds......

Read - BS

Chakrabarty expresses concerns about shrinking credit to MSMEs

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty today said MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) play a major role in employment generation and economic growth and expressed concerns over declining credit to the sector in Madhya Pradesh. "The MSMEs play important role in employment generation and contribution to economic growth," he said addressing a seminar on 'Issues and Challenges in Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Financing' here..........

Read.......

Higher cap needs, fin inclusion challenge for banks: RBI

....The Reserve Bank committee headed by Deputy Governor K.C.Chakrabarty recommends setting up of supervisory colleges for banks especially like SBI and ICICI who have large foreign assets. That is currently under consideration with the Reserve Bank of India.........

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RBI asks banks to strenghten bad loan monitoring

I

ndian banks need to strengthen monitoring of bad loans and also raise capital for the implementation of Basel III guidelines, the RBI said in a report released on Thursday.......

Read.......

MobMe partners with Gemalto & Valimo for digital signatures

Trivandrum: Ushering in a new era in the digital revolution, MobME Wireless Solutions has bagged the technology rights to roll out mobile digital signatures that RBI has, in its guidelines, recommended as the preferred mode for secure logins and transactions. Over 900 million mobile phone subscribers in India can now use their handsets to put digital signatures, giving a stamp of legal sanctity to their transactions which are now done using only computers...........

Read........

Finance Minister P Chidambaram to meet heads of PSU banks on November 15

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P Chidambaram will meet heads of public sector banks on November 15 and review a host of issues, including their financial performance and credit flow to productive sector in the light of subdued economic activity. The broad agenda of the meeting include review of first half numbers, deteriorating asset quality, credit growth, official sources said. .........

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RBI slaps Rs 5 lakh penalty on Solapur District Central Co-op Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed Rs 5 lakh penalty on the Solapur District Central Co-operative Bank. The penalty has been imposed on the bank for violating the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act (As Applicable to Co-operative Societies), as it had granted unsecured loans to companies in which the directors of the board had interest and not reporting the transactions in the relevant monthly statement after sanctioning the loans, the RBI said in a statement........

Read - HBL

IOB to recruit credit officers from campuses in State

....The process of recruiting 387 specialist officers, including 337 agricultural field officers, has already been launched. The bank has already recruited 1,500 probationary officers during the course of the year, Narendra said. On foreign operations, he said that IOB is awaiting RBI permission to upgrade its office in Dubai to a full-fledged branch.....

Read - HBL

Govt gets it wrong on CRR - A.Seshan

......During the time when I. G. Patel was Governor (December 1, 1977 to September 15, 1982) there was a reference from the Ministry forwarding a parliamentary question (if I remember well) suggesting that the Annual Report of the RBI might be submitted to Parliament instead of Government. At the instance of the Secretary’s Department, I examined the issue from the broader point of view of central bank autonomy, taking into account the position obtaining in other countries. I pointed out that even in the US, autonomy had been eroded in that the Chairman of the Fed had to appear before a Committee of the Congress to justify monetary policy. What was more interesting was that the US Fed had already come to be subjected to public audit with the exemption of its open market operations. The RBI should trace and study the relative note in its archives with the remarks of the Governor........

Read - HBL

Bankers of Kanpur form club

................ The club was inaugurated by Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India Kanpur K R Das on Tuesday on the RBI campus in the presence of senior functionaries of major commercial banks in the city.  Deputy General Manager RBI Kanpur Anup Kumar said the club had been formed to encourage, promote and foster a spirit of solidarity, service, brotherhood and co-operation amongst bankers and to devise ways and means for betterment of commercial banks in the city.

Read - TOI

Reversing car kills 79-year-old woman

......Police sources said the driver of the car was backing up when the vehicle hit Indira. An investigating officer said Indira was standing in front of her house in the RBI quarters in Poonamallee when the accident took place.  "She did not notice that Ramasubbu Reddy, a Deputy General Manager in RBI, Chennai, was reversing the car," .......

Read - TOI

RBI conducts expo on foreign exchange

Kakinada : Observing that there was a tremendous increase in the use of foreign exchange in the last two decades, Regional Director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) A.S. Rao on Friday underscored the need for having basic knowledge on banking services with regard to the foreign exchange among all sections of the society. The RBI conducted an ‘exhibition-cum-interface on foreign exchange’ at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada (JNTUK) here. Inaugurating the programme, Mr. Rao recalled that India faced severe shortage of foreign exchange in 1991, which was followed by the introduction of economic reforms...........

Read - The Hindu

RBI scheme yielding result in Agency

Reserve Bank of India Regional Director A.S. Rao has said that the financial inclusion scheme is yielding the desired results in the Agency after the lead bank (Andhra Bank) adopting Devarapalli village in Maredumilli mandal. Addressing a meeting at the village on Friday, Mr. Rao said that the bank achieved the target by advancing loans to 232 persons in the village and the literary percentage crossed 60 per cent........

Read - The Hindu

Women reach the top at state-owned banks

.....Women have relatively better representation in banking compared to the corporate sector. Part of the reason for this is the recruitment through competitive examinations, which gives women as much chance to get a job as men. India has not yet had a woman heading the central bank, although there have been three women Deputy Governors — Kishorie Udeshi, Shyamala Gopinath and Usha Thorat — all of who have now retired......

Read - TOI

RBI’s decision not to cut interest rates is unlikely to jolt the government

....By not cutting rates, what the RBI has done is to send out a very strong signal. However, it is unlikely that this will jolt the government into change. The result is that the economy is caught in the bind of high inflation and low growth for the year ahead as well........

Read - ET

Who will blink first?

.......Differences between the finance ministry and RBI on their diagnoses of economic challenges are not uncommon, but a public rebuke of monetary policy by the finance minister is unusual. Subbarao, though, plays down the perceived differences with Chidambaram. "We have shared goals. Both of us want high growth and low inflation." he told Business Today in an interview a day after the policy review. The public airing of differences perhaps works to RBI's advantage......

Read - Business Today

No turnaround without asset creation, say experts

......There was one important person who did not share the euphoria. RBI Governor D Subbarao, the man in charge ensuring price stability, growth and financial stability (including currency stability). The central bank has its ears closer to the ground and is any day a better judge than any of the other financial market participants, both public and private. A veteran central banker Subbarao has experienced many such ‘flash in the pan’ movements and knows its end results. Like a seasoned banker he has chosen his words well when he highlighted these concerns in his Second Quarter Monetary Policy statement where he said ‘Domestically, a revival in investment activity, which is key to stimulating growth, depends particularly on the recent policy announcements by the government being translated into effective actions.’ In other words what he is telling the government is announcements are fine, but you need to convert them into action......

Read - BS

'People are making too much of the finance minister's response'

.......I don't feel very lonely. I think people are making too much of the finance minister's response to our policy action. After all, we have shared goals. Both of us want high growth and low inflation. And there is a division of responsibilities. There is a point of view that we must walk together. But, you know, what is called walking together is understood differently. I think that will be resolved in the course of time................

Read - Business Today

India will stand out in Asian region if RBI cuts rates: Rajeev Malik, CLSA

... I continue to have a rather non-consensus view that much of the recent optimism on the rupee is still very much misplaced that we do think over the course of 2013 stronger dollar is going to play out and given the fact that RBI will be cutting interest rates, at least in our view the Indian rupee is actually going to go weaker. .........

Read - ET

RBI issues guidelines on liquidity managemen

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said banks should fix a lower limit for their IBL (inter-bank liability). “The IBL of a bank should not exceed 200 per cent of its net worth as on March 31 of the previous year. However, individual banks may, with the approval of their board of directors, fix a lower limit for their inter-bank liabilities, keeping in view their business model,” RBI said in its final guidelines on liquidity risk management..............

Read - BS

ONGC blanks RBI

New Delhi : Defending champion Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) warmed up with a 5-0 victory over Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a preliminary league match of the All-India Public Sector football tournament on Thursday.

Hindu

Gaming the rupee

.....The foreign exchange market could make 5-10 per cent and its gains would be relatively better protected if the RBI is in a stronger position to protect the rupee from contagion. This situation happened in early 2000s as is seen in the chart........

Read - Indian Express

Youth moving away from agriculture, says Heggade

....Campco president Konkodi Padmanabha said that according to the data provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on farm lending in the country, the share of nationalised banks stood at only 44 per cent and co-operative banks at 56 per cent. This called for introspection by the nationalised banks about their role as promoters of agriculture. The Union government should take steps to encourage banks to lend more to the farm sector......

Read - The Hindu

Outstandings on credit cards up 22 per cent on higher plastic money use

Credit card outstandings are rising again, the way one saw them build up in the pre-crisis days of 2007 and 2008. This time, however, both the card issuers and users appear more prudent. Hence, it may not yet be a sign of any build-up of stress in the system, but an indicator of increasing use of plastic...........

Read - ET

Don’t bank too much on banks

There is a well-known story concerning banks; it says a banker is a person who gives you his umbrella when it is bright and sunny and, at the first sign of rains, he rushes to take it back. In other words, although a bank is meant to provide finance and extend support to its customers, in reality, it may not be so.........

Read - Moneylife

"INSIGHT – The 2nd Annual XLRI Consulting Conference"

XLRI Jamshedpur's Consulting Committee (CRUX) is organizing "INSIGHT – The 2nd Annual XLRI Consulting Conference" with the theme "Success in Uncertain Times - The outlook of corporate, government, and academia". It boasts of an audience of around 150 people, split almost between some sharp and inquisitive minds from XLRI, IIMs, ISB, S P Jain, NMIMS, NITIE, Jamnalal Bajaj, IITB and senior experienced people from the industry and the government.

The list of some of the eminent speakers for the conference is as follows:
· Mr. Jagdish Capoor, Former Deputy-Governor, RBI; Former Chairman, HDFC Bank; Former Chairman, BSE Ltd.........

Read.........