BHOPAL: A two-day UGC sponsored national seminar on Impact of multinationals on trade and commerce was inaugurated by P R Ravi Mohan, Regional Director RBI, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh at the Bhopal School of Social Sciences on Tuesday. Dr S.K Khatik, dean of Barkatullah university, was the key speaker on the first day of the seminar..........
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Two-day seminar at Bhopal School of Social Sciences
RBI eases way for plastic money
......The banking sector regulator on Tuesday accorded a general permission to banks for the issue of co-branded debit card and prepaid card, which till now had to be cleared by the RBI.......

Read - HT
RBIQ in Pune
Reserve Bank of India (RBI), CAB, Pune conducted an Inter-School Quiz (RBIQ) on October 31, 2012 from 09.00 am to 12.30 pm at MES Auditorium, Maharashtra Education Society, Bal Shikshan Mandir Campus, 131, Mayur Colony, Near HDFC Bank, Kothrud, Pune-411038. The Quiz was conducted with a view to create awareness and interest about the history and role of RBI, other banking and financial institutions, economics, current affairs, personalities and events that have contributed to the growth and progress of India over the years.
2.
RBIQ was informative and educational and helped build a connect
between RBI and the young student community to achieve dissemination of
financial literacy.
3.
The Quiz was conducted by popular quizmaster Mr Ryan Shaw. This
Quiz was for students studying in IX, X, XI & XII standards of schools
located in Pune City. 51 schools participated from across the city. The
following school team emerged as winner team from Pune Centre and will
participate in Zonal Final round of RBIQ:
Winning
team name: Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1, Lohegaon,
Pune
Student
Name: 1. Ankit Kumar, Class XI
2. Avinash Parte, Class XI
Inaugural
Address was given by Shri B S Awari, District Education
Officer
Prizes to
the winning teams were given by Lieutenant Colonel Shashikant Jadhav, Commanding
Officer, 3 Mah Armd Sqn NCC Pune.
RBI acted wisely
Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) acted wisely by not cutting repo- rate. Repo- rate cut is advantageous for general public only if RBI ensures that banks pass on benefit to loan- takers, which is not the case in present ' free' economy where banks are at liberty to swallow benefits of repo- rate cut by not lowering interest- rates for old loan- takers. RBI should devise and revive policy of having uniform interest rates decided by RBI itself both for deposits and loans for all banks. Banks can compete through better service rather than through interest- rates. RBI can devise different types of interest- rates for different types of loans and deposits at least for public- sector banks. Presently different public- sector banks have different rates of interest even for deposits which keeps senior citizens confused which have only source of income as interest- earning from bank deposits. There are huge bargains in case of loan takers by banks. Such bargains can and should be stopped by formulating same rates of interest on loans which may be different for different types of loans both for existing and new loans. Presently banks lure new loan- takers through lower rates of interests, while old customers have to pay higher rates of interests. Free economy must not mean that people may be taken for ride by multinational banks which are acting just like ' East India Company' to make Indian citizens their financial slaves.
- Madhu Agrawal Delhi (FPJ)
Why are global PE firms bullish on corporate lending in India
.....According to an RBI-appointed committee headed by former Deputy Governor Usha Thorat, India has about 12,500 NBFCs. More than 70 per cent of NBFC assets are with those the RBI classifies as systemically important - NBFCs that do not take deposits and have more than Rs 100 crore capital. The number of such NBFCs jumped from 151 in March 2006 to 295 in March 2010, and their assets more than doubled to Rs 5.67 trillion from Rs 2.51 trillion. In its report submitted in August 2011, the panel says borrowing by NBFCs from banks has risen in the last few years. "That means transferring the risk to NBFCs, which have the freedom to lend to any sector," it says.
‘Interests’ of the growth brigade
.....In an interview to this paper, D Subbarao, when asked if the status quo on interest rates would not hurt the common man, simply and correctly identified low and stable inflation as a better condition for the common man. Interest rates do not affect the “common man” as much as inflation as any housewife will tell you. But it’s also clear that the RBI has to do something for growth, and there lies the problem.......
Tough stand
According to reports, RBI Governor Subbarao has not agreed for interest rate cut despite " prodding" by PC disappointing the industry. Well, it is the prerogative of the RBI also not to go by PC's views, just as it was earlier the prerogative of PC not to have gone by Subbarao's [as Finance secretary] recommendation on 2G pricing and stuck to his own views.
- V N Ramachandran Vadodara (FPJ)
Cut and thrust
To say that Finance Minister P. Chidambaram made a combative statement after RBI Governor D. Subbarao refused to cut rates on Tuesday will be to miss the wood for the trees. India’s economy is at a stage where the slide in growth is as compelling a concern as inflation..........
Read - Indian Express
Read - Indian Express
10 reasons why Chidu’s petulance is uncalled for
Granted, there can be two views on whether the Reserve Bank Governor should have cut repo rates or not. Finance Minister P Chidambaram is free to hold his view, and so is D Subbarao. What is entirely regrettable is the finance minister’s petulant statement that growth is as big a challenge as inflation, and “if the government has to walk alone to face the challenge of growth, then we will walk alone.”.......
An eloquent policy that falls short
....Conclusion In the light of the above discussion it emerges that the RBI is in search for a monetary policy space through fiscal consolidation as a precondition. Going by the track record of the government, (particularly in a democracy with a deficit bias), prudent fiscal management is a misnomer. In this milieu, RBI has to create its own space to respond to growth. One way is to keep the rate constant, as it has been doing, but unfortunately this has not yielded the desired result. On the contrary this has resulted in a massive slowdown in growth and continued elevated inflation........
RBI does what a central bank should do
RBI does what a central bank should do. The RBI balanced its anti-inflationary stance against the need to support growth with its tactical policy easing through only a CRR cut of 25 bps. The RBI’s decision also takes into cognizance the growth-inflation dynamics as also the Government’s policy measures........
Read.......
Why India's Central Bank Resisted Pressure to Ease
......Gokarn says while he recognizes that the government is an important “stakeholder” in its monetary policy, the central bank will not lose sight of its prime objective to keep inflation under control. “The government is obviously an important stakeholder in the policy, and the RBI is quite sensitive to it, but we cannot ignore the fact that inflation is still high, and is likely to go up over the next three months,” Gokarn told CNBC on Wednesday............
Has Subbarao lost the opportunity to be a statesman?
..... I believe a symbolic cut in the policy rate by RBI would have strengthened his arm and also boosted business sentiment (to be sure, again, it wouldn’t have changed the environment much). I am also convinced it wouldn’t have taken us any closer or any farther from economic ruin than we already are. I am, therefore, inclined to consider the lack of any substantive action by RBI on Tuesday as a lost opportunity........
Will we see a rate cut in January?
.... So, a cautious Subbarao doesn’t want to take any more chances. This time around, he is convinced that the ministry is serious about fiscal consolidation, but he wants to see the results before acting. That’s fine, but if he sees inflation as a greater evil than slowing growth, what was the need to cut CRR? More money in the system can stoke inflation. One explanation could be that RBI considers CRR a liquidity tool and not a monetary tool. Which is why it has continuously been slashing CRR and infusing money into the system on top of its bond buying programme, the so-called open market operations. It has also slashed banks’ statutory liquidity ratio, or the percentage of deposits banks have to invest in government securities, to ensure banks have more money to support credit growth..........
Can Chidambaram walk the talk on fiscal consolidation?
When the Reserve Bank of India did not read any thing substantial in the two-page statement on fiscal consolidation, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram thought it was time for silence. But the silence after announcement of much hyped five-year road map for fiscal consolidation can speak volumes. The reason is simple. Everybody wants to know, first, how credible this road map is, second, what is the action plan for this fiscal consolidation and third, does history support Chidambaram’s optimism?........
Reserve Bank stirs, but isn’t shaken
...........It needs much greater coordination between fiscal and monetary policy. Indeed, past RBI statements have almost thrown the gauntlet to North Block, promising reciprocal action, in case of progress on the fiscal deficit. The September reform announcements from Delhi should have been taken as an early signal of commitment to reverse the fiscal slide...........
Read - Mint
Not much help from RBI even in 2013?
....Given the central bank’s guidance for monetary policy stance, Morgan Stanley in its research report said “We believe that policy rates would be on hold until the end of 2012 with easing to begin from 1Q2013.” It believes that even as inflation starts to ease from Q12013, it may remain above the RBI’s (Reserve Bank of India) comfort zone for longer. Hence, it expects policy easing to be limited to about 50-75 (basis points) bps in 2013......
Read - Moneylife
Comment

M G WARRIER
Such quick predictions about future confirms the extent of external pressure on India to conform to certain prescriptions and the manner in which pressures build up. GOI’s helplessness in such situations found expression in transfer of stress to RBI. This time RBI managed to withstand the pressure and go by its perceptions. This was possible because Governor Dr Subbarao and Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn were in a position to defend their considered views. The way in which FM responded to the RBI’s stance sends out disturbing signals.
CRR unlikely to be tweaked further
The cash reserve ratio (CRR) cannot be presumed to be the preferred tool to address liquidity tightness in December, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao said on Wednesday........
By calling CRR a waste, SBI chief questions banking history
.....The, State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Pradip Chaudhuri said: “I still hold that CRR is a waste for the economy.” For anyone who understands the basics of banking, and presuming that the chief of the largest bank in the country does, this is a statement that should not have been made. Let’s try and understand why.......
Read......
No CRR cut impact
One wonders whether the cut in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by the Reserve Bank of India is going to make any material change in the existing credit situation. In the quarterly review of developments, the central bank stated that the current credit slowdown largely indicates tepid demand conditions and distinctively lower credit expansion by public sector and foreign banks, partly reflecting their risk-aversion. Are the tepid demand conditions due to high interest rates, in which case a reduction thereof would have helped? The agriculture and export sectors are protected from interest rate changes due to subventions provided to banks by government. It is the industrial and service sectors that are mainly affected by changes. The big companies have been able to tap the commercial paper market on a large scale recently due to a fall in interest rates, besides accessing bank credit. It is the small and medium industries that have problems of credit, if one goes by anecdotal evidence. The increase in liquidity through the injection of Rs 175 billion is not a big deal for them. There are no detailed data available on credit conditions in the service sector.
- A Seshan Mumbai (BS)
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