REGULATORY FAILURES

Governments in India have for long regulated many economic and other activities within the framework of the Constitution and the laws passed by the Central or state legislatures. Since no law can be so detailed that it covers all the complexities of implementation, rules and regulations are framed to enable governments to give flesh to the skeletons of overall policies. During the four decades or so when India was committed to a “socialistic pattern” of society, ministers and their bureaucrats developed regulations that controlled almost every aspect of economic activity. There was much abuse of these powers; favours were given to some, bribes smoothed the way for many, nepotism was common, financial and other support to political mentors was the price for some. This continues despite liberalization and the withdrawal of government from many areas of control. This is because decisions that could enable large profits were taken in an opaque manner. There was considerable discretion given to ministers and bureaucrats, easily subject to misuse.  Independent regulators were created to get over this difficulty. The first regulator who took over many of the government’s powers was the Reserve Bank of India, though it remained ultimately subservient to the finance minister and his office. The RBI determined monetary policy. Though there is no legislation that gives it the mandate, it uses monetary policy (money supply, interest rates) to keep inflation within limits. It also manages the external value of the rupee by buying and selling foreign currencies and increasing and decreasing the flow of rupees. It also regulates the different financial institutions.

Make phonebanking more secure: RBI

Banks will ask for an additional password from their credit card customers from the new year for any transactions conducted over phone, subsequent to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) direction for making phone banking more secure. According to the RBI guideline, all banks will mandatorily decline any telephonic banking transactions, including the automated IVR (interactive voice response) services where customers do not have a onetime password (OTP) for such services with effect from 1 January. However, the OTP will be valid for a single use and would remain in effect for a period of two hours. Customers would need to generate a separate OTP for each IVR transaction.

RBI joins bribes-for-loans scam probe

The Reserve Bank of India has joined the Central Bureau of Investigation in probing the ‘bribes-for-loans’ scandal involving at least 15 companies, in an attempt to prevent loans given to them from burning a hole in lenders’ books.  The central bank has written to all banks seeking details of their lending to firms named by the CBI in an investigation into violations in sanctioning of loans by executives in return for bribes.
“The RBI is trying to assess the extent of exposure, the quality of these assets, and whether banks followed norms while lending to these firms.” Officials at the RBI could not be reached for comment during the weekend.

Festival of coins

A lesson in Indian history, a tour around the world, tips on how to spot fake currency — all this and more are on offer at Mudra Utsav being held at Haldiram Banquet Hall in Ballygunge Park. The event is on till December 26. The Numismatic Society of Calcutta is holding the exhibition as part of its silver jubilee celebrations.  “Individual dealers usually interact directly with collectors and charge them whatever they fancy. Here there are many dealers under one roof, so one has the option of comparing prices,” says Sandip Jain, the president of the society.  Individual collections are also on display. Basant Kumar Rathi’s British India coins date from 1835 when uniform coinage was introduced. “The double mohur was equivalent to 30 pieces of silver rupee. Few people know that till 1969 our mint used to strike these William IV mohurs as personal souvenirs,” he said.  Also on display were Saibal Basu’s collection on Mughal India, especially the Nisar coins, which were issued since Jehangir’s rule for the express purpose of showering them on subjects on occasions like the emperor’s birthday.  Kunal Chatterjee’s collection of Republic of India coins shows how the mint, from where a coin is issued, leaves its mark. “If you find a dot under the year of issue, it is from Noida, a diamond indicates Bombay, a star Hyderabad. If there is no mark, it is from Calcutta,” says Ravi Shankar Sharma, the society’s secretary.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up a stall, from where leaflets are being distributed on how to detect fake notes.  Many had lined up before a grading agency where international coins and bank notes were being graded for a charge.

Disclose meetings agenda, RBI told

An order passed by Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra makes it mandatory for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to disclose pre-board meeting agenda notes and minutes. RBI has been told to draft a “disclosure policy” by February 2011 to bring about greater transparency in the bank’s functioning. The Commission said such a move “will also set the trend for other banks to follow”. The decision came on an application filed by one Kishan Lal Mittal, a resident of Mumbai, who had asked from RBI the copies of the minutes of the meetings of governing board, board of directors, committee of directors of the central bank from April 2007 and information regarding the complaint handling procedures followed by it against banking/non-banking companies.  RBI’s Public Information Officer said the information was “voluminous” and would take a long time to furnish, which would result in wasting public money. What is more, RBI argued that providing the information “would amount to disclosure of information that could prejudicially affect the economic interests of India since RBI and its committees often deliberated on economically and financially strategic matters”. “We direct the CPIO to bring it to the notice of the competent authority in RBI to prepare its disclosure policy in respect of not only the minutes of the board and other meetings, but also in respect of all other information held by it in tune with the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and post this policy on its website,” Mishra said, while asking RBI to comply with the order by February 2011. “Once RBI makes it clear which information it would not disclose under the exemption provisions of the RTI Act, it would be clear to everyone what all information can be expected to be disclosed,” he said. “Such clear enunciation of the negative list of items/classes of information in conformity with the exemption provisions of the RTI Act would remove all doubts in the minds of the officers of the bank about what they must disclose and which they must not. This would minimise the use of the appellate mechanism and bring in much greater transparency in the functioning of the apex bank. It will also set a trend for other banks to follow,” Mishra added. RBI had argued initially that it be placed on the list of authorities exempt from the RTI Act. The government turned down the request.

Banking Laws – Need to change

There are several legislations that cover India’s financial sector. The Banking Regulation Act 1949, The Bank Nationalisation Act, 1970, The State Bank of India Act, 1955, The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, all regulate different segments of the sector, making regulation unwieldy. A comprehensive overhaul is long overdue. Nine months ago, the government announced its intent to form a Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission but nothing concrete has happened yet. The urgency to overhaul these laws cannot be overstated as India integrates with the global economy and complex products are introduced.

More than onion hike, pricey protein items are the problem – Dr.Gokarn

The Reserve Bank of In dia is seriously worried about the enduring nature of high prices of protein items, which it fears, carries a risk of spilling over to more generalised inflation. This, together with a rise in the prices of commodities globally, may force its hands to hike key policy rates in its quarterly review in January 2011. "Prices of protein items, specially milk, fish, eggs and meat that are not sensitive to monsoon, have been rising steadily. When this happens, and there is a trend, it carries a risk of spilling over to generalised inflation,"  said Subir Gokarn, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2010-11 on January 25, 2011

Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India will announce the Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2010-11 on Tuesday, January 25, 2011.  This will be done in a meeting with the chief executives of major scheduled commercial banks at 11.00 a.m. on January 25, 2011 at the Central Office, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

RBI fines Rupee Co-op Bank

RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Rupee Cooperative Bank, Pune, Maharashtra for violation of RBI guidelines. The bank had violated RBI directives by purchasing cheques beyond the ceiling of Rs 0.25 lakh in current accounts.

Bank staff oppose HR policies' recast

All India Bank Employees Association has termed the recommendations of Khandelwal Committee on recast of HR policies for PSBs detrimental to the interest of bank employees. The association will protest march to Parliament on February 23.

FM to have last word in FSDC

First meeting scheduled around month-end. The Finance Mnistry is going ahead with its plan to be the final authority in the proposed Financial Stability Development Council (FSDC) structure despite Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) objections.  Though the final guidelines for the proposed council are yet to be formulated, it has been decided that issues which elude consensus within the FSDC sub-committee – headed by the RBI governor – will be automatically referred to the finance minister, who will chair FSDC.  Industry sources say this translates into the finance minister’s intervention on most issues as there is hardly any consensus at such meetings. Even the High Level Co-ordination Committee (HLCC) was unable to agree on most issues, they said. The first meeting of FSDC has been scheduled around the end of this month and will be attended by the heads of the four regulators, the finance secretary, the banking secretary, the director general (department of currencies) and the finance minister. Interestingly, RBI deputy governors are not included in the sub-committee, though they are invitees to the present HLCC. With FSDC in place, HLCC will die a natural death. In response to the draft guidelines, RBI had suggested that the governor-chaired sub-committee be given the authority to sort out regulatory disputes and the matter be referred to a higher authority only if the chairman was unable to resolve any issue. In the initial proposal for FSDC, two sub-committees were envisaged. The one on regulatory coordination was proposed to be chaired by the RBI governor, with the finance secretary heading the sub-committee on financial stability. RBI objected on the grounds that the functioning of FSDC was likely to impinge on regulatory autonomy and flexibility. “This may affect the ability of the sectoral regulators to act in a timely manner, taking into consideration the specific compulsions and circumstances of the sector concerned,” the central bank had said. Following RBI’s observations, the government and the regulator reached a compromise formula, under which it was agreed that while the finance minister would head the proposed body, the governor would head the only sub-committee of FSDC. The terms of reference of FSDC include inter-regulatory co-ordination, financial stability, financial literacy and inclusion, and sector development. Interestingly, they also mention that “any other issue” deemed fit by the chairman or the council could be taken up. The government also differs with RBI on financial stability being the exclusive mandate of the latter. Sources said the government was of the view that RBI would not be able to ensure fiscal or social stability as well as the government. The finance ministry also cited the recent global financial crisis where governments played a more critical role to restore normalcy.

Finance ministry doubts EPFO’s 9.5 per cent math

The finance ministry has raised doubts over how the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) managed to extract an extra Rs 1,731 crore from its accounts to reward subscribers with an additional 1 per cent interest rate this year. The Central Board of Trustees had in September declared a 9.5 per cent rate for 2010-11 after discovering a surplus in its interest suspense account. In 2009-10, it had paid 8.5 per cent to its subscribers. Although the interest rate is declared by the labour ministry, it is the finance ministry that notifies it. Without an official notification, subscribers who withdraw money from the PF would not be able to earn the 9.5 per cent rate applicable for this year. The finance ministry fears that once a high rate for EPFO is set, it might be politically difficult to lower it in the coming years. It had recently appointed a panel chaired by the Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Usha Thorat (who has retired since) to review the current system of fixed returns on all small savings schemes. While the panel will most likely suggest a shift to market aligned rates, the sources said it would be a tricky affair given the EPF’s new 9.5 per cent return benchmark.

Prepaid payment instruments come in various options; choose the one that suits your needs

Think of prepaid and the first thing that will come to your mind is the scratch card you would have bought to recharge your cellphone. But prepaid has since acquired a whole new meaning with prepaid payment instruments coming into existence. These include not just the traditional scratch cards, but also smart cards, virtual cards, Internet wallets, mobile wallets and mobile and your Internet account. You can use these to pay bills while on the move, your driver could use it to remit money back home and your child won’t have to rely on your credit card to make purchases online.

What are prepaid payment instruments

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines define them as payment instruments that allow you to purchase goods and services against the value stored in them. A customer can purchase the value and store it on the instrument. The transaction can be done through cash, debit or credit card. Such payment instruments include paper vouchers, magnetic cards and smart cards, Internet and mobile accounts and wallets. There are three types of payment instruments—closed, semi-closed and open instruments. The last two enable mobile transactions.  These instruments work best for those who may not have a credit or debit card, but would want ease in bill and ticketing payments. Moreover, they can be a huge advantage and can provide much ease to the section that does not have access to formal channels. Says Vivek Saxena, co-founder and CEO, ZipCash, “Apart from teenagers who shop online but may not have a credit card, this is also meant for working people who are looking for a safe and easy way to make their payments. You could also use this if you don’t want to use your credit card for small transactions.” These are safer bets compared with a credit or debit card since your liability is limited to the value you store in cases of fraud.

RBI holds meeting with Bankers on resuming credit to Microfinance Institutions

The Reserve Bank of India yesterday met select banks and SIDBI to get an assessment regarding the ground level situation in the microfinance sector in Andhra Pradesh and other states and the need for any interim measures. The RBI sensitized the banks to the need to maintain funding lines to MFIs on merits to prevent contagion. The Indian Banks Association will shortly come up with concrete proposals for the measures to be taken in the interim, for consideration of Reserve Bank of India.

Who will float new banks?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday put up on its website comments of industrial houses, banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), microfinance institutions (MFIs), industry associations and public on its discussion paper on the entry of new banks, released in August. The range of comments varies and there is no consensus on the profile of new entrants.

Second password to be must for mobile banking

If you use a credit or a debit card for any transaction by phone, then you need a second password starting from 1 January, 2011. The Reserve Bank of India has made second password mandatory for all transactions based on interactive voice response (IVR). The cardholder has to send an SMS to a particular number . The bank will SMS back a password to the cardholder. This password will be the second authentication, which would be required to complete the transaction.

RBI may allow recast of loans to MFIs

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) may finally have something to cheer about. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said it is considering a proposal from banks to allow them to restructure loans to the sector, without classifying the assets as non-performing. According to RBI norms, banks can restructure standard assets, but they have to be treated as sub-standard and require provisioning.

A decision will be taken as soon as the Indian Banks’ Association comes up with a detailed proposal. Restructuring the loans is expected to help avert defaults, which could turn loans into non-performing assets. At a meeting here on Wednesday with top banks, RBI also advised them not to choke funds to MFIs.

RBI disallows foreign investment in IndusInd Bank

The Reserve Bank of India today said it will no more allow foreign investors to purchase shares of IndusInd Bank as their investment in the private lender has reached the trigger limit. "The RBI has today notified that the aggregate net purchases of equity shares in Indusind Bank by FIIs/NRIs/PIOs under Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) in the primary/secondary markets have reached the trigger limit. "Hence, the company has been included in the ban list of RBI (for purchase of equity shares by FIIs/NRIs/PIOs)," the central bank said in statement.

Banks want RBI to watch MFIs

Fearing a default from Andhra Pradesh-based microfinance institutions (MFIs), whose cash flows have been disrupted by new laws, lenders have asked RBI to ensure stability by bringing the sector under its purview. In a meeting called by the Reserve Bank to discuss funding of MFIs, it asked banks whether the institutions were repaying loans on time and if the end-borrower was suffering because of the credit crunch faced by them. RBI had recently collected data from banks on their exposure to the MFI industry.  Bankers told RBI that although there has not been any major default, lenders are worried about the impact of the new law introduced by Andhra Pradesh that bars them from weekly debt recovery. The state has introduced its own laws even as the central government dithers over a new legislation. The finance ministry has now said it will introduce the bill after taking into account recommendations of an RBI committee headed by Y.H.Malegam, a director on the its board. Bankers fear that in the absence of any regulation, each state government may decide to take matters in its own hands through legislation.

Stubborn prices strengthen case for a rate hike in Jan

The pace of fall in food prices is not exactly in line with the expectations of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This signals that there is an increased likelihood of a rate hike in the next monetary policy in January 2011.  “Food inflation is not easing as we would like it to be. Upside risks to inflation are still high,” said RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn, speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on debt market organised by credit rating agency CARE. He added that global commodity prices are on the upside, which is a concern.  The central bank had taken a pause on rate hike in its mid-policy review on December 16 and left the policy rates unchanged. About the rising onion prices, Mr Gokarn termed it as a temporary spike, which would normalise as “the government is doing everything it can to manage supply-side pressures”.

Sebi, govt may trash Jalan report

Govt Fears That Panel’s Suggestions May Hit Competition, Fund Raising - The Securities and Exchange Board of India and the government are expected to reject some of the contentious recommendations of the Bimal Jalan committee on the grounds that they could restrict competition and also affect companies that depend on the securities market for fund-raising.  Amid hectic lobbying by various stakeholders –– including exchanges depositories and clearing houses ––sources involved with regulatory decision-making said that several players have voiced their concerns over the inability to list exchanges, something that the committee, which also had representatives from the finance ministry and Sebi, has recommended.

MFIN CEO to meet RBI to discuss lending issues today

Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) CEO Alok Prasad will meet the Reserve Bank of India officials and the Malegam Committee today to discuss the bank lending issues. MFIN wants resumption of bank lending to MFIs, which were badly hit due to the freeze on lending. Banks have stopped lending to all MFIs across India.

Anand Sinha as Deputy Governor - Final decision soon

With a bit delay the proposal to elevate RBI’s executive director Anand Sinha as one of the Deputy Governors of the central bank has started moving ahead for the final decision. Finance ministry sources said Sinha’s name after being accorded vigilance clearance had now been sent to appointment committee on Cabinet (ACC) for its approval. “After ACC’s approval, it will go to Prime minister office PMO for the final nod,’’ said a senior official. Though Sinha was selected to succeed Usha Thorat who retired as a Deputy Governor, RBI almost one and half month back, the concerned file hadn’t moved fast because of some technical reasons giving rise to speculation whether Sinha still remained in the race. However, the finance ministry while clarifying that Sinha’s appointment letter will soon be issued, said the ministry is yet to initiate step to find a successor to another Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath, who will be retiring in June 2011.

Banks plan consortium loans to MFIs

Worried over microfinance institutions’ future profitability, banks want to diversify their risks by lending to the sector in a consortium.  Leading bankers are meeting Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath on Wednesday to make a case for consortium lending.  Banks have discussed the proposal informally with the finance ministry. “Several issues, including debt restructuring of microfinance institutions, are to be discussed,” said a senior finance ministry official involved in the discussions. “RBI has so far supported the stance on consortium lending.”

No threat to asset quality of banks: Rangarajan

There is no threat to the asset quality of Indian banks in the immediate future due to huge exposure to crisis-hit sectors such as microfinance, aviation, real estate and telecom, Chairman of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, C Rangarajan said on Tuesday.  He said presently the asset quality is well within limits and under norms set by the RBI.

Jalan panel report sparks off hectic lobbying

Stakeholders’ meeting sees sharp exchanges over proposal to disallow the public listing of exchanges. Vicious lobbying, including open letters, advertisements and personal attacks, is underway among different stakeholders in the capital market over the recommendations of the Bimal Jalan committee on ownership and governance of market institutions such as stock exchanges. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), an industry lobby, on Tuesday organized a meeting between former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Jalan, two of his committee members, and stakeholders in the capital market to exchange views. The only stakeholder not represented was the retail investor. The meeting was marked by some sharp exchanges between stakeholders and committee members over a recommendation to disallow the public listing of exchanges, a personal attack by one of the stakeholders on Jalan, which resulted in an intervention from the moderator with a request to restrict conversation to issues and not personalities and veiled suggestions that the report did not reflect the majority view of the 29 stakeholders who deposed before it. The committee was constituted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to review the ownership structure and governance of market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) such as stock exchanges.

Unique ID will be enough to open account

RBI talking to states on financial literacy – V.S.Das, Executive Director

After Karnataka, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in talks with other state governments to include financial literacy in school curriculum. While Karnataka launched chapters on financial literacy in school syllabus in March 2010, Punjab and Haryana have also agreed to do the same. RBI Executive Director V.S.Das today said the central bank was in talks with Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and few other states as well to take financial literacy to school children.

Beware of cyber jobs offering easy money

Beware of people offering commissions for monetary transactions from your bank account. They could be acting on behalf of a terrorist organization and using you as a 'money mule'. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has alerted banks and customers about transactions through dormant accounts since this could be a case of the account holder being used as a "money mule" for laundering. "Of late, it has been brought to our notice that money mules can be used to launder the proceeds of fraud by criminals who gain illegal access to deposit accounts by recruiting third parties," said an RBI official. "The third parties may be innocent or they could be complicit in the crimes."

‘BANK ACCESS TO ALL VILLAGES IN 5 YRS’

RBIs outreach programme under financial inclusion would be implemented in villages across India and all people would be covered in the next five years, the apex banks Deputy Governor K C Chakraborty said on Monday. "All the banks have been asked to bring the technology to link up the Unique Identification Number (UIDs)”, he said.

Pune shivers at 6.5 degrees Celsius

Monday Was Decade’s Second Coldest Day - The mercury plunged to 6.5 degrees Celsius on Monday, making it the second lowest temperature for the month of December in the last decade. In 2005, the temperature had gone down to 6.3 degrees. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) here said Pune was colder than Delhi (7.5 degrees Celsius) and even Mahabaleshwar (10.4 degrees Celsius). However, Nashik recorded the lowest temperature at 5.9 degrees Celsius.  Pune experienced its lowest temperature ever in 1968, at 3.3 degrees Celsius.  Over the last five days, the minimum temperature in Pune has reduced by more than five degrees Celsius.Monday’s temperature was more than three degrees less than the average minimum temperature for December — 10 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature is expected to remain around 7 degrees Celsius over the next two days,said said Medha Khole, Director (Weather Forecasting), IMD, Pune.

Dr.D.Subbarao at Bankers’ Club, Kolkata

Indian Bank to open branch in Jaffna

Indian Bank would soon open a branch in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka, its second in the island nation, a top bank official said today. The Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had given their approval for opening the overseas branch of the Chennai-headquartered bank, Indian Bank Executive Director Rajeev Rishi told reporters.

Digital inclusion for rural empowerment

India needs to develop its own model of how to utilize information and communication technology (ICT) to benefit the masses, said Sam Pitroda, adviser to the Prime Minister on public information infrastructure and innovations. “We need to create an Indi- an model of information sys- tem suited to our needs,“ Pitroda said at the 7th Man- than Award South Asia 2010, hosted in New Delhi on Saturday. Organized by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF); One 97, a provider of mobile value-added services; Internet Society; and the Indi- an government's department of information technology (DIT), the theme of the awards this year was “empowering rural masses through wireless, 3G and broadband“. Mint is a strategic partner of The Manthan Awards.

Microfinance: The Worst Kept Secret

The Y.H.Malegam Committee is expected to tour Andhra Pradesh in the next one month, while the Andhra Pradesh Government has passed a bill that formalises the Ordinance that it had promulgated to protect borrowers. Close on the heels Dr.Y.V.Reddy forcefully arguing for strict regulation of the sector, another former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Dr.C.Rangarajan, has called for a cap on the margins of the microfinance institutions (after similar demands by the AP Government). He has also called for a complete revamp of the business model of the MFIs. Muhammad Yunus has called for a regulatory agency for the Microfinance sector so as to avoid creating a new set of loan sharks in place of the old loan sharks (moneylenders).The AP government has suggested that the margins should not exceed more than 12-13 over and above their cost of funds - a very reasonable margin considering the fact that the banking sector operates on a Net Interest rate margin of about three percent.  All this comes at a time when it is clear that the MFIs were themselves contemplating a change in their business model - one that would have made them no different from the Non-bank Finance Companies (NBFCs). They were contemplating a shift to monthly repayments ("MFIs shift to monthly repayments", Business Standard, 31 August 2010, p.7). There were a number of MFIs that are already gradually shifting as they have reached a critical mass (volume wise) and their growth can now expand only by making every larger loans to credit worthy customers.

One wonders why we need the MFI sector when we already have a dynamic NBFC sector, as the MFIs are now seem to be keen on evolving a business model that is akin to the NBFC sector. One wonders why there is a need to subsidise the MFIs when they are no different from NBFCs. Level playing field  and transparency of government actions has been one of the important claims and the supposed underlying logic in the aftermath of liberalisation. If the government can subsidise the MFI sector, then it is high time they do the same to NBFCs. After all, what is the difference between the two: both are keen on overcharging borrowers, even if they it is usurious rates, and NBFCs too are very keen to attract private equity and list shares on the stock exchanges. This probably the reason why former governors of RBI seem to believe there is a need for the MFIs to change their business model.

UNDER PRESSURE - LPG cylinder may leave your wallet lighter by 100

Oil Ministry Weighs Hike Of 50-100 After 66% Rise In International Price Of LPG -  The oil ministry plans to raise cooking gas prices by 50-100 per cylinder as the international price of liquefied petroleum gas has jumped by almost 66% since August. The rise in global prices is hurting state-run oil firms as India imports 3 million tonnes of LPG a year.   The government will, however, take a decision on Wednesday only after weighing the political implications of a hike against the need to shore up the finances of companies such as Indian Oil Corp, which plans to raise 20,000 crore from a public issue in 2011.

Bank of Maharashtra conducted workshop on “Cyber security in banking”

Let the RBI have more disclosure: Satyananda Mishra

In a recent judgement, information commissioner Satyananda Mishra asked the Reserve Bank of India to change its disclosure norms and share with common men at least some information regarding its board meeting proceedings. Mishra who disposes off 250 odd RTI appeal cases every month says that there has been a perceptible change of government departments’ disclosure procedures thanks to the implementation of Right to Information Act. Sunday ET’s Shantanu Nandan Sharma caught up with this former DoPT secretary who is set to take oath as India’s new Chief Information Commissioner on Monday.

IDRBT signs MoU with IIT-Kanpur for research collaboration

There is a need to integrate knowledge, business and technology to benefit the common man, says K C Chakrabarty. Hyderabad: Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), a Reserve Bank of India arm, on Friday signed a MoU with IIT, Kanpur for research and academic collaboration. K C Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor RBI and chairman of IDRBT, said there is a need to integrate knowledge, business and technology to benefit the common man. “There is need to exploit banking technology and take it to the people. We alone cannot do it. Institutions have to work together and leverage each other’s expertise to drive the benefits of research, academics and technology to drive critical initiatives like financial inclusion and take it to masses. Therefore the MoU with IIT-Kanpur has tremendous potential and is great beginning for two key institutions to work together in several areas of common interest,” Chakrabarty said. Prof. Sanjay G Dhande, Director IIT-K said there is an urgent requirement to marry the domain expertise in the banking sector with the new technologies and this MoU will provide a framework to forge productive relationship to make this happen. According to the MoU IDRBT and IIT-K will undertake joint projects, create centre of excellence in information security, cyber security and business intelligence, besides many other programmes.

Dams before cash in bank - RBI governor visit earns sops for Doba

Doba (Lohardaga), Dec. 18: What is life like at a water-strapped village, after its 15 minutes of fame? The hitherto nondescript Doba under Kudu block of Lohardaga district, with a population of less than 1,500, was thrust into flashbulbs during Wednesday’s high-profile visit of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D. Subbarao, who came with a team comprising Chief Secretary A.K. Singh and senior officials of nationalised banks. Not surprisingly, a hasty whitewash preceded the celebrity visit. The administration morphed into Santa and came to this tribal hamlet laden with goodies such as a revamped connecting road, water supply (restored after 20 years) and promise of 25 wells and a series of check dams.  Villager Bandi Oraon applauded the role of RBI and nationalised banks in adopting the village for the ambitious 100 per cent financial inclusion scheme. But he wondered: “How will villagers get money to put in banks, if there’s no water and if MGNREGS schemes pay so little?”  Villagers appealed to the chief secretary during his visit that the government should ensure the construction of a series of check dams by the banks of the Koel river that flows by the picturesque village dotted with sakhua trees. .

'Banks to play bigger role in MSME sector'

The role of banks to nurture the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector by going beyond just providing finance was underscored at a meeting organised by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry as part of the nationwide India Corporate Week-2010 celebrations on Saturday.

Currency notes get a makeover to check forgery

Security Features Include Invisible Fibre,Colour Shift Ink & Machine-Readable Micro Text

A slew of new security features such as invisible fibre, colour shift ink and machine-readable micro text are on their way to prevent counterfeiting of currency notes.   The move comes amid a sharp surge in recovery of 1,000 counterfeit notes this year.  The government fears that counterfeit currency could be used to fund terror groups.  The security features have been selected by an inter-ministerial committee comprising representatives form RBI, finance ministry, security agencies and ministry of home affairs, a government official told ET.  “The menace of circulation of counterfeit currency in the country has been assuming alarming proportions,” a Parliamentary committee said in a recent report.  The government has now made a global request for qualification from manufacturers to incorporate the new security features in the currency.  Among the measures proposed by the panel are security thread with magnetic properties, variation in colour when viewed from different angles, foil or stripe with magnetic properties and micro text for currency notes.  These features were selected from responses received by the finance ministry to its request for security information in September. According to some estimates, eight in a million notes circulated in the country are fake.  The value of fake currency seized and recovered has increased from 8.39 crore in 2006 to 23 crore in 2008. As on October 31, 21.1 crore worth of fake currency has been found. India produces 18 billion pieces of bank notes of which about 50% is high denomination notes ( 100, 500 and 1,000).  Interestingly, the most popularly faked 500 note seems to be falling out of favour though it still is by far the biggest. The higher denomination 1,000 note seems to be the new favourite. In the first ten months of the current year more 1,000 counterfeits have been seized or recovered against that for entire 2009.  “..RBI should introduce easily recognisable and yet scoring high anticounterfeiting security features in the design of currency notes on the lines of advanced international practices,” the parliamentary committee had said.   The government has also constituted a high-level committee with the Union home secretary as its head to prepare a strategy to combat circulation of fake currency notes in the country. Parallel bodies have also been set up in the states. A directorate of currency has also been created in the finance ministry to coordinate and oversee acquisition and research and development of security features for currency notes. This followed recommendations of an expert panel chaired by Shilabhadra Banerjee, a former secretary to the government.  

Use of corp bond funds for infra push not a viable option: Reddy

Dr.Y.V.Reddy, former governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has rejected the view held by his successor at the central bank that a developed corporate bond market is necessary to fund infrastructure.  Instead, he called for good governance by indicating that public policy should play an active role in funding infrastructure. “Bad governance will feed in itself for bad finance (and misallocation of resources),” he said.   Both Subir Gokarn, Deputy Governor, and Deepak Mohanty, Executive Director, called for a need to develop corporate bond market to help financing of infrastructure at a seminar on ‘Investment and Its Finance’ in Mumbai over the past two days.

Chinese Bank Enters India Market

With a branch planned in Mumbai, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (601398,1398.HK) may become the first operational Chinese bank in India. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed a memorandum in December 16. Ministry of Commerce representative Wu Donghua said many Chinese enterprises in India need capital support, and Chinese branches there address that need. Separately, China Development Bank signed a series of agreements with India telecom operator Reliance Communications, energy company Essar Group and ICICI Bank.

RBI to build strong corp bond market to fund infra

Developing Bond Market Critical To Revving Up Growth Engine, Says Gokarn

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn on Thursday said the central bank is focusing on developing a strong corporate bond market to fund infrastructure development that will require an estimated $1 trillion during the 12th Plan period.  “We are focusing on developing long-term corporate bond market to support banks in financing infrastructure projects,” he said. Mr Gokarn was delivering his keynote address at the ASEM (Asian-Europe) Conference organised by the Reserve Bank of India and the European Commission here this morning. “We need a strong corporate bond market as we have to take away the burden on banks from financing long-term funding needs of the infrastructure sector which is targeted at $1 trillion over the 5-year period beginning 2012,” he said.

RBI opts for growth over inflation for now

RBI kept key policy rates unchanged on Thursday, signalling that maintaining growth momentum was a priority while taking steps to infuse close to 50,000 crore of liquidity. This will ease pressure on banks to raise rates both on lending and deposits in the near term.  However, going by the hawkish tone of the mid-term policy review statement, the bond market is now bracing for a rise in interest rates in January when the next review is due. RBI has raised rates six times this year to fight inflation, and has warned that risk to its 5.5% inflation estimate in March is on the upside.   The mid-term review appeared to be more of a fire-fighting measure with attempts to pump money into the banking system, which saw a record deficit of 1.44 lakh crore as reflected in bank borrowings from RBI on Thursday. According to the apex bank, the deficit was making it tough for the banking system to sustain credit delivery.   RBI said although the liquidity crunch has helped achieve its objective by getting banks to raise rates, the shortfall was way outside its comfort zone.

Bank studies in school curriculum soon

The Reserve Bank of India has prepared a well-researched study material for school and college students which is soon going to be introduced in the school curriculum across the nation. Making this announcement here on Monday while addressing students of Ranchi University at the Senate hall, RBI governor, D Subbarao, said, "All schools in the country would include a chapter to promote financial deepening whereas colleges have been asked to include some module of finance in certain subjects," he said.  Acknowledging that only 40 per cent of the households have bank accounts, Subbarao said even among them very few are active accounts. "We give targets for financial inclusion to banks and they open the accounts but the idea is not paperwork but to make it functional, which can be achieved only when the account holder realizes the importance and operational benefits of his or her bank account, for which financial literacy is must," he said. Answering to a query raised by chief secretary, A K Singh, if there is any incongruity in written and verbal instructions issued by RBI, Subbarao admitted that certain RBI instructions are not followed by banks in letter and spirit. Singh raised the issue of banks refusing to extend credits to borrowers even in cases where the RBI has struck-off the need for collateral. Replying to this, Subbarao said that at a recent meeting with branch managers of different banks in Pune, he was apprised of the difficulty faced by banks. "Though there is technically no need for collateral for education loans upto Rs 4 lakh and loan for micro, small and medium enterprises upto Rs 1 crore, bankers have the onus of recovering the amount for which they want to take no risk," he said, adding that the RBI is strengthening its monitoring system and trying to find a viable solution for this.  Answering to a query raised by Rashid Anwar, an MBA student of Ranchi University, he spoke of a committee appointed by the RBI to make the inflation figure more generic and pragmatic. "We realise that one inflation figure for the entire nation cannot be appropriate in the light of the fact that different states have different income levels and consumption basket for which a rural and urban index is being considered to begin with," he said. In response to a question of Tanush Khatri, another student, Subbarao assured that he would take up the matter of ATMs churning out counterfeit currencies with the bank authorities in Jharkhand. "It has been reported many times, especially from bordering states, about counterfeit notes being included in circulation but the RBI is taking every possible step by educating masses, including bank officials about being able to identify," he said. However, he got a poor response from students when Subbarao asked if they have seen advertisements related to counterfeit currency in television and newspapers issued by the RBI from time to time.

Satellite banks and ATMs in Jharkhand soon: RBI

Reserve Bank of India is planning to set up satellite banks as well as ATMs in Jharkhand so as to make banking facilities reach out to villagers there. The idea was shared by RBI governor, D Subbarao. He said that during the initial level, the satellite banks will be made operational on weekly basis and with time get converted to full fledged branches. Report from state government officials read that out of the 4423 village panchayats in the state, 1540 were still in need for banking to reach out to them.

A day before policy, RBI governor gets a feel of 'discounted' Bharat

You might have expected Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subbarao to ponder over the country's economic problems and banks' fund needs sitting at his freshly furnished swanky office a day before he brings out now what is known as the mid-quarter monetary policy review. Subbarao had something else in his mind. He landed up instead at a dusty village, 40 km west of Ranchi. "But you don't get to know how people are affected by RBI's policies sitting in Mumbai. Isn't it?" Subbarao asked in broken Hindi to an audience of villagers at what the financial regulator calls an outreach programme where few state-run banks put up stalls to showcase products of self-help groups they support and also the technologies they are using to achieve the seemingly elusive target of financial inclusion.  And it was a lesson on the limits of financial inclusion for the Governor. The outreach programme had various technology providers demonstrating how their hand-held devices armed with biometric identification feature can act as a bank branch for the largely un-banked villagers who mostly depend on a single crop paddy with no access to irrigation, and some sundry forest products. A villager, after being shown how he can withdraw Rs 100 from his account using that hand-held device, gingerly showed the receipt to Subbarao. “Just 300 rupees! Why? You should keep more money in your account!” a shocked Subbarao asked the villager looking at his account balance. At a loss for a reply, the villager climbed down the stage with a dry smile. “Welcome to Bharat!” a banker in the audience retorted with a grin. A hand-held device wouldn't possibly raise your income in hand, the banker might have thought. "Here people wait for months to encash their NREGA cheques so they trade in them: A Rs 100 cheque is sold for Rs 70,” said A.K. Singh, Jharkhand's chief secretary, who was on the podium along with Subbarao. The rate of cheque-discounting could be a unhappy lesson for Subbarao apart from the very need for a government-given cheque to be discounted in the first place.  From Bharat to India, the journey on the dirt road appears quite long.

ICBC applies to RBI as China banks line for India foray

Despite the signing of a framework joint financial-services agreement between India and China, it will be some time before the first bank from Beijing, the Industrial &Commercial Bank of China Ltd, opens its doors for business in India. The bank has applied to RBI for setting up branches in India but is yet to get a clearance from the top-level policy body that includes the Ministries of External Affairs and Finance,and RBI.

Jalan report anti-growth.....

MCX'SX has lambasted the Bimal Jalan report and said it seeks to "undo everything that has been achieved in the past few years" in the domestic capital markets.

FINMIN, PSB Chiefs to take up HR policy recast today

The ministry of finance has called a high-level meeting of chiefs of major public sector banks to discuss recast of HR policies on Thursday. Financial services secretary R Gopalan and Planning Commission member Arun Maira are likely to meet chiefs of five state-owned banks--State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and United Bank of India --to discuss Khandelwal committee report suggesting major changes in PSB's HR policies. The committee was appointed by the ministry of Finance(MoF)under the chairmanship Anil Khandelwal, former chairman of Bank of Baroda, to chart out action plans for PSBs on HR front. Sources said that a presentation will be made by the government before a select group of bankers and academicians during the meeting.  Representatives from premier management institutes like Indian Institute of Management(Ahmedabad)&IIM (Kolkata) and Indian School of Business (Hyderabad) are also likely to attend the meeting, added the source. Another committee formed under Alok Nigam, joint secretary MoF, to find out the ways to implement Khandelwal report, has also recently submitted its report. Khandelwal report has recommended bank specific wage and service conditions instead of industry-widesettlement. The report has also suggested that variable pay should be made a major component of wages and banks should to go in for cost to company (CTC) in the future.  Banks should also monitor staff costs and endeavour to achieve staff cost ratio of 50% in the next five years, said the report.  The report has advocated that based on well defined efficiency criteria major PSBs could be recognised and rewarded for their superior performance and excellence while some large well performing banks to be considered for `Navratna' status and smaller banks for `Mini Navratna' status. Large banks with business mix of over Rs 3 lakh crore to be provided ED (HR) to drive HR agenda from the top. A steering committee of the board on HR to be constituted to discuss critical HR issues, said the report. On manpower and recruitment planning, the report has said it should be an annual well structured and rigorous exercise for five yearperiod,factoringgapsin skills and competencies.

RBI board opposes govt grip on staff issues

The central board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opposed a government move to have control over the central bank’s staff-related matters. The proposal to make staff regulations statutory and bring them under the subordinate regulation of Parliament was discussed at RBI’s board meeting in Kolkata last week. According to sources, RBI Governor D Subbarao mooted the proposal during the board meeting. But three board members and a few executive directors opposed it on the grounds that it would affect RBI’s independent functioning. The central bank would have to take the government’s approval on issues like salary, service conditions, promotions and incentives of its employees. Sources said following the opposition, the proposal has now been deferred. It is highly unusual for a proposal to meet with stiff resistance from RBI board members. The government has been putting pressure on RBI to make staff regulations statutory under Section 58 of the RBI Act, 1934, and bring them under the subordinate legislation of Parliament. The central board of RBI consists of the governor, all deputy governors and representatives from industry and government. At present, the government nominee on RBI’s board is Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla. Executive directors are not board members, but are invitees to the meeting. Recently, the government had asked RBI to take its approval before finalising central bank employees’ pay hikes, which the regulator had not initially agreed to. Later, the central bank agreed to ‘brief’ the finance ministry about the pay revision, but said it would not seek approval. During the year, there were at least two instances when the government’s actions prompted Subbarao to highlight the importance of RBI’s autonomy and independence. The first was over the ministry’s decision to refer all regulatory disputes on hybrid financial products to a committee headed by the finance minister. Later, RBI also expressed concern about the proposed Financial Stability & Development Council and said financial stability should be the exclusive mandate of the central bank.

Saraswat Co-op Bank seeks to become a private bank

To overcome the inherent restrictions in the co-operative banking model on raising capital, the country's largest co-operative bank is mulling the option of converting into a private sector bank. The Mumbai-headquartered Saraswat Co-operative Bank has apparently started working towards this end. A bigger play in the banking landscape by seeking the Reserve Bank of India's permission to spread its wings across the country – currently, it has presence in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Delhi – and giving stock options to employees are in the works. At present, co-operative banks can strengthen their core capital only by issuing shares at face value, ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 100, and plough back of profits. The capital market is off-limits for them. This restriction on bolstering core capital is proving to be a stumbling block for growing assets. The only urban co-operative bank that has converted (in 1995) into a private sector bank so far is the Development Co-operative Bank. This bank was re-christened as Development Credit Bank.

UK Sinha to succeed Bhave at SEBI

Senior bureaucrat and chairman of UTI Asset Management Co. Ltd U.K. Sinha will become the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). A Central government panel headed by cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar has chosen Sinha from a list of candidates including senior bankers and bureaucrats, according to three persons familiar with the development. A formal announcement by the government is expected in January. Sinha, who will assume office in the third week of February, declined comment.

Banking on a new era for micro lending

CHANDRA Shekhar Ghosh, the founder-chairman of Bandhan Financial Services, is waging a lone battle against the entry of private equity funds in the country’s microfinance sector. He has so far managed to keep the nineyear-old Bandhan, now the country’s fourth-largest microfinance institution by assets, free from the grips of private equity players despite the pressure of having to mobilise resources to fund its growth. Foreign private equities come in droves to encash the prospect of the booming local MFI sector. Many feel it becomes difficult for MFIs to keep the all-inclusive interest rates below 24% a year, once private money spinners fund them for returns as high as 25-30%. Even RBI is uncomfortable with private equities ruling the roost, but then for most large MFIs, it was rather easier to get private money from abroad than arranging funds from government agencies like SIDBI.

Now, village gets mobile banking service

Mobile banking services which was being concentrated in the urban areas of Karnataka till now, is being extended to rural areas also, taking rural masses towards economic empowerment.  For the first time in the state, the Reserve Bank of India has extended its mobile banking services to Harwada village in Ankola taluk through the Syndicate Bank. Harwada is mainly dominated by the fishermen community and all its 1,200 families residing in this village can avail the banking service. With this facility, the villagers of Harwada have become customers of Syndicate Bank, said bank officials.

RBI may get to oversee banks’ related outfits

THE government plans to empower the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow it to inspect related arms of banks such as mutual funds and insurance companies to ensure their operations do not pose any systemic risk to the lenders.   The finance ministry plans to incorporate new provisions in amendments to a banking legislation to allow the central bank greater regulatory oversight over associate enterprises of banking companies such as mutual funds, insurance and factoring operations, said a senior official in the ministry.  The ministry plans to seek the approval of the cabinet this month for changes which will be part of the Banking Laws Bill. The official said the proposal seeking to provide more powers of oversight to RBI was taken after an assessment of emerging global regulations, especially in response to the crisis in the global financial markets that involved some systemically important financial institutions, the official said.

Search panel conducts interviews for Sebi chief

A government search panel today held interviews for the post of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman, which will fall vacant on February 17 after incumbent C B Bhave’s term ends. Association of Mutual Funds in India’s (Amfi’s) Chairman U K Sinha and Corporate Affairs Secretary R Badyopadhyay are considered front-runners for the post.  The search panel expressed hope that the new chairman would be appointed before the post fell vacant. “The post would fall vacant on February 17, 2011. We would have the successor before that,” said Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla, a part of the panel. Other people in the race include Additional Secretary, Department of Disinvestment, S Pradhan, Madhya Pradesh Principal Secretary G P Singhal and two State Bank of India (SBI) Managing Directors, S K Bhattacharya and RSridharan. Of those selected for the final interview, at least two — SBI Chairman O P Bhatt and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty — expressed their unwillingness for the position, sources said. The panel headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar includes Financial Services Secretary R Gopalan and Department of Personnel Secretary Shantanu Consul.

Safeguard regulatory autonomy, Bhave says

RBI road map for rural banking

RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn at Parakuchi village in Kamrup district on Sunday.

Guwahati, Dec. 12: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has drawn a road map to bring 2,327 villages in Assam with a population of over 2,000 under the banking system. The exercise would be completed by March 2012. RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn said the RBI was committed to bring banks closer to people and was taking all steps to do the needful. Gokarn’s first visit to Assam brought him to Parakuchi village, 40km from Guwahati, in Kamrup district to inaugurate a financial outreach camp.  On the issue of directing private banks to set up facilities in rural areas, Gokarn said they could not direct the banks as there was always a question of viability. “If it is viable, they will come,” he said

Microfin pioneer Yunus lashes out at Indian outfits

BANGLADESHI microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus on Sunday attacked companies for “misusing and abusing” his original concept of helping the poor via small loans, after a backlash against profit-making lenders.   Mr Yunus admitted the reputation of microcredit had been tarnished by Indian commercial companies that charge high interest rates and use heavy-handed tactics to collect repayments.

Bimal Jalan Committee Report on stock exchanges sparks debate

The Bimal Jalan Committee report on stock exchanges is a good report and well-argued though the committee may have erred on the side of caution," Rajesh Chakrabarti, assistant professor ­finance,ISB,observed on Friday . Kicking off a panel discussion on the report held in the city,  Chakrabarti pointed out that the 5% cap, the maximum stake that individuals and corporations can hold in an exchange, was the rule in many countries. He also argued that stability and not mindless competition was more important. Competition, he said, could be sub-optimal and "haven't really done too much on Wall Street". An exchange chief's role was to bring ininvestors to trade at one place and increasing the number of exchanges could lead to greater fragmentation.

May increase rates if inflation doesn’t come within RBI’s comfort zone: Chakrabarty

With inflation still looming large, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty today hinted the central bank was open to another increase in key policy rates.  During the previous policy review, Governor D Subbarao had indicated the chances of another rate increase were relatively low as inflation was moderate.  “The governor said it might not be necessary. That does not mean if there is a pause you cannot do it (raise rates). If it needs to be done, it can be done; that is his choice,” Chakrabarty said when asked if RBI was open to raising rates despite the pause indication in the November policy.  An accommodative monetary policy was not required at present due to the high growth rate, Chakrabarty said, on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry event at Kolkata today.

Release the Bhagat Singh coin series, appeals NGO

Chandigarh, Dec 10 – An NGO working to propagate the ideology of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh Friday appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to release of the currency coins commemorating the martyr. Members of All India Shaheed Bhagat Singh Brigade charged the central government with ‘unnecessarily delaying’ the circulation of these coins that were   minted in the denomination of Rs.100 and Rs. 5. In 2007, the government had announced to issue coins bearing the image of Shaheed-e-azam (great martyr) Bhagat Singh. We have checked with the Reserve Bank of India and found the coins were made in 2008 but till date, the authorities concerned have not given the green signal to bring these out in public,’ organisation chief Yadvinder Singh told reporters

SEBI calls for provisions to protect autonomy

The capital market regulator has sought provisions to ensure the autonomy of regulatory bodies. “It is imperative to make sure there are adequate supportive provisions in the laws and rules to maintain the autonomous character of these institutions,” said C B Bhave, chairman, Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Bhave’s statement comes close on the heels of a stand-off between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and ministry of finance on the issue of autonomy. Early this year, the central bank objected to an ordinance that gave a committee headed by the finance minister overriding powers in the event of inter-regulatory disputes

RBI to convene meet on microfinance institutions issue

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will convene a meeting of banks to gauge their stand in relation to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the interim period between the submission of the Malegam committee report and its study by the bank. RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao told mediapersons here Thursday that the meeting might be held in the next two weeks though the final decision is yet to be taken.

Banking licence norms by Jan

RBI will be ready with its draft guidelines on new banking licences by January, governor D Subbarao said on Thursday. It will put a gist of feedback received on the new licence issue in its website shortly. The RBI central board has on Thursday discussed issues like initial capital for new banks and their likely business model, and how would the promoters capital be diluted after initial years. We received a broad spectrum of feedback and there is no clear-cut opinion one way or the other, Mr Subbarao said

RBI wants ideas on savings rate freeing

Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao today said the central bank was unsure about the impact if savings rates were deregulated and if it would make interest rates unstable. We will bring out a discussion paper soon on the (subject) and want banks to give suggestions on it,” he said. The central bank’s mid-term policy review had said the discussion paper would delineate the pros and cons of deregulating the savings deposit rates, which had remained unchanged at 3.5 per cent per annum since March 1, 2003. “There is a chance that once it comes, banks will abandon low-income household services. If interest rates go down, it will affect small savers and if it goes up, it may impact the costs of banks. We are not clear about its outcome,” Subbarao said. Adding: “If we talk about the positives, it may give additional flexibility for banks; they can come up with innovative products. Moreover, if interest rates go up, it will attract more savings and the apex bank will have a better idea of monetary policy transmission.”

INFLATION STILL ABOVE RBI’s COMFORT ZONE: SUBBARAO

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao today said inflation was still above the central bank’s tolerance level and it would revisit the gross domestic product (GDP) growth numbers in its quarterly policy in January.  RBI had earlier projected that the economy would grow 8.5 per cent in the financial year ending March 2011. “Inflation is coming down, but is still above RBI’s tolerance level. On the other hand, the growth is encouraging. RBI will revisit the growth numbers in its third quarter review,” Subbarao told reporters after a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Inflation expected to reduce

The central bank’s deputy governor, Subir Gokarn, today said inflation was expected to reduce in the coming months. And, that liquidity was a concern. “Though a crisis still prevails internationally, in the domestic front things are hopeful, as the GDP and IIP numbers were good in the second quarter. The most important thing is that overall inflation is showing signs of decline. Though some food items are still under pressure, even food inflation is expected to be down,” he said.

Microsoft introduces tracking protection on Internet Explorer

As the debate continues about a potential privacy system that would allow con- sumers to opt out of having their data collected online, Mi- crosoft Corp. on Tuesday an nounced a feature for the new- est version of Internet Explorer that would permit users to stop certain websites from tracking them. The feature, which will exist in Internet Explorer 9, avail- able next year, will let users limit the ability of third-party companies to track them on- line. The announcement comes less than a week after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advocated a “do not track“ mechanism that could be built into a browser and alert websites that a user did not want to be monitored.

Diesel, petrol price hike looming

With inflation worries easing, the minsterial panel on fuels could raise diesel prices by Rs 1-2 a litre next week in a bid to reduce losses of state-run oilmarketers and boost investor confidence ahead of a follow-on public offer from market leader IndianOil.