RBI and Retired Employees - Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

......Today’s position is that the Retirees cannot openly disclose their pension to even their own relatives to maintain the prestige of the RBI. The moment one tells the amount they look down upon and have a contemptuous feeling........

This comment I gave in response to the write up My view - the age old problem by Mr Parab appeared in VITALINFO.

Read........

Public sector banks open 11,887 branches,recruit over 1.72 lakh in last 3 FYs

....Public sector banks (PSBs) opened 3,719 branches in 2009-10; 3,506 branches in 2010-11; and 4,662 branches in 2011-12, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today. The branches were opened in areas such as rural, urban, semi-urban and metropolitan areas. As many as 25 PSBs in new bank branches recruited 58,900 personnel in 2009-10, 57,758 persons in 2010-11 and 55,632 personnel were recruited in 2011-12, Meena said.........

Read - ET 

RBI receives 27 complaints of financial fraud from Assam

NEW DELHI, March 12: As many as 27 complaints of alleged financial fraud were received from across Assam by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during the financial year 2012–13, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.......

Read - The Sentinel

Two chit fund cos duping Assam investors

.......The RBI has reported that no non banking financial company registered with it has been observed to be flouting any guidelines of the RBI in Assam. However, Guwahati Regional Office of RBI has received complaints that certain entities are accepting money through various schemes such as booking of plots, booking of holiday packages, issuing non-convertible debentures and redeemable preference shares to the public alluring them with high returns, the Union Finance Minister said................

Read - The Assam Tribune

Govt to launch Rs 10 plastic notes in 5 cities

........“It has been decided by the government and the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) to introduce one billion pieces of Rs 10 notes in polymer/plastic on a field trial basis,” Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. The minister said the field trail will be conducted in five cities — Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Bhubhaneswar and Shimla with varied geographical locations and climatic conditions..........

Read - HBL

Fake currency siezed in Assam

A Bangladeshi national was today nabbed by the BSF in Dhubri district and fake Indian currency with a face value of Rs 2.98 lakh was seized from his possession. During a special operation by the BSF,......

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Maximum fake currency seized from Pakistan border: Govt

Maximum seizure of fake currency notes with a face value of over Rs 2.64 crore was made from the India-Pakistan frontier compared to other land borders between 2010 and February this year, the Lok Sabha was informed today...............

Read - HBL

CorpBank evolves new business model for Kerala region

........He pointed out that the recent shift in gold loan business from NBFCs to public and private sector banks following RBI guidelines has thrown open more opportunities for banks in gold loans, especially in Kerala. The total disbursement of gold loan business throughout the country by the Corporation Bank was Rs 4,000 crore. Of this, it had disbursed Rs 636 crore in Kerala this year so far against Rs 365 crore in the previous year. In the retail loan segment, he said, the bank is expecting a growth rate of 30 per cent in the next fiscal with a focus on home loans, loans to doctors, traders etc...........

Read - HBL

Rs 71 cr State package for co-op banks’ rehab

Mumbai : The State has sanctioned Rs 71 crore for the rehabilitation of two district co-operative banks which were stripped of their banking licences by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) due to mismanagement. Jalna and Dhule-Nandurbar District Central Cooperative banks – both of these banks are controlled by NCP and this amount may help them to get the banking license.........

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India's industrial revolution

.....This refers to Subir Gokarn's column "From bottleneck to bottleneck" (Muddy Waters, March 11). Although India has the intellectual capacity, strength and ability to fuel the next industrial revolution, it has miles to go to scale new heights on the industrial front.................

Read | Business Standard

The New Microfinance Handbook

.......The objective of The New Microfinance Handbook is to provide a strategic guide to help assess the financial service needs of the poor and to determine how a diversified financial sector can address these needs. It takes a different approach from the original Microfinance Handbook. Rather than taking an 'institutional' perspective (supply driven), the book considers the clients and their needs (demand side) and how the market can better meet their needs first and foremost..........

Read.........

Hype, hope and hubris

.....With the Budget out of the way and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) policy meeting ahead of us, it is a good time to take stock of India's much-needed macro recalibration. It is also worth assessing to what extent the latest Budget acts as a catalyst for this adjustment. India's economy needs to make two transitions......

Read | Business Standard

Sand in the wheels of the rate cycle

A fall in lending rates is still some time away. Yes, the consensus among pundits is that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will reduce interest rates when it reviews monetary policy next week. But that might not translate into lower market rates because the monetary transmission system is jammed............

Read - Mint

On RBI’s Sense And Sensibilities

The Central bank’s norms on new lenders are mostly sensible. Let’s see who makes the cut

The much awaited document has arrived — a 19-page note from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) dated 22 February 2013, setting out the guidelines for the licensing of new private sector banks. Having read it through most of the day, I must admit that it is well drafted. Let me outline its key elements and then raise some issues.......

Read.............

Scope for easing monetary policy: FinMin

Finance Ministry today said that there is a scope for easing of monetary policy to boost growth in view of moderation in WPI-based inflation. "Inflation numbers have also come down so there is certainly a case for (giving) further impulses for growth," ............

Read - FE

Despite IIP surprise, RBI to cut rates on Tue: Foreign analysts

........"We doubt that either of today's data releases (IIP and retail inflation) will prevent the RBI from cutting the repo (and cash reserve ratio) by another 25 bps March 19, while we are also looking for a 25 bps reduction on May 3,".......

Read - FE

Banks unlikely to reduce deposit rates this month

......."Deposit rates may not fall at the same pace like the repo rate as there is a shortage of deposits in relation to the credit. We may see some softening in deposit rates. At the most, deposit rates will soften by a further 25 basis points if there are repo rate cuts of 50 basis points,".......

Read | Business Standard

Street expects RBI to slash rate, despite higher CPI

...........The commitment displayed by the government towards fiscal consolidation in the Union Budget, along with further moderation in WPI and slight improvement in trade data, should provide RBI the window to continue to address growth risks, Shubhada Rao, chief economist, YES Bank, said..........

Read | Business Standard

India is new focus for Societe Generale

.........Societe Generale has been present in India since 1978, through a representative office in Delhi. In 1985, it opened its first full-fledged branch in Mumbai. In 1993, it opened a branch in Delhi. For its third branch, the bank had zeroed in on Ahmedabad. However, it later chose Sanand, as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines mandate banks to open branches in the hinterland as well...........

Read | Business Standard

Is the “New Normal Inflation” here to stay?

..................The RBI governor believes that the central bank is committed to bringing down inflation below the current levels and in the long run bring it down to 3%-4% levels. The speech of RBI governor minutely examines both arguments in favour of new normal inflation and the arguments formulated by RBI against it. Let us look at some of the factors that have caused inflation in India post 2009-10...............

Read - Moneylife

India Inflation Fight Hampered as Debt Role Hinders RBI

.......“You can crib, you can cry,” former RBI head Y.V. Reddy said in December, when Subbarao asked in a panel discussion if fiscal policy dominates monetary policy. “It’s always been so.”........

Read..........

Banking supervisors may seek to simplify Basel III

LONDON (Reuters) - Global banking regulators will examine whether their new rules forcing lenders to hold more capital to absorb any future losses should be simplified after criticism that they are too complex to be effective..........

Read | Business Standard

‘Subversion of JPC began soon after its formation’

..........One meeting on February 3, 2011, includes Mr. Chandrashekhar “sensitising” RBI Governor Dr. Subbarao in his chamber, “before his deposition to the PAC”. In effect, not one, but two Parliamentary committees investigating the 2G scam, may have been compromised over the last two year — putting to waste crores of tax payers’ money in the hope that the JPC and PAC, which primarily depend upon witnesses’ testimonies and documents, would arrive at a fair and detailed report on the wrongdoings in the 2G scam..........

Read - The Hindu

Zeroing in on the 'parallel economy'

.........It is, therefore, required first to change the basis of filing returns from “total income” to “gross total income” and, then, to mandate that everyone with “gross total income” of Rs 1 lakh or more must file the return. It may prove to be the most effective initiative to drive away the “parallel economy”. It will not only widen the tax base at the lower level but also at higher levels of income. Unrecorded transactions of existing taxpayers would get disclosed as recipients of such unrecorded money start filing returns.............

Read | Business Standard

Demand for agricultural credit remains high: RBI

Demand for agricultural credit this year is sustained even if other sectors have shown lesser demand. According to the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data for sectoral deployment of bank credit, agricultural loans showed a healthy growth rate of 19.8 per cent against 6.3 per cent last year. This is despite some parts of the country facing severe drought situation this year...............

Read | Business Standard

Nabard bets on mechanisation for farm credit growth

...........A Nabard official said that with limitation in available labour and increasing wages, medium and large farmers are looking for labour saving devices to remain competitive. The policymakers and social scientists are looking for mechanisation to remove drudgery from farm operations so that the rural educated youth do not run to urban areas in pursuit of jobs, which are already in short supply. .............

Read | Business Standard

Banks stop offering long-term bonds over Basel III uncertainty

.......However, under Basel III norms, a bank’s debenture holders must also bear part of the risk. And, in case a bank has to be rescued by tax payers, these bonds get converted into equity, which most likely means they would be worthless. This clause is known in the Basel III norms as the “loss absorption mechanism”. It ensures that the bank continues to function instead of being forced to pay bond holders, triggering a liquidation. For this reason, debenture investors are asking for a risk premium, which in turn pushes up their cost for the banks...............

Read - Mint

Mandya co-op bank faces fraud suit

Mandya City Co-operative Bank Ltd (MCC), Mandya, which sought an assistance of Rs 62.40 lakh to “waive the debts sought by 292 agriculturists,” from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is set to face action. The Mandya district authorities are set to frame the charges shortly........

Read - Deccan Herald

Over to RBI now

....This is why, along with repo cuts, RBI also needs to infuse liquidity back into the system. Going by the multiplier, BofAML estimates every one rupee injection by RBI, by say buying gilts, leads to a five-fold hike in deposits through credit creation. ..........

Read - FE

The state of Indian banking sector

Four of India’s top bankers discuss the toughest challenge the banking system is confronting—rising non-performing assets.........

Read - Mint

My View on "Age-old problem -- e-age plea................."

By this time you must have read an appeal to the Board member by GS Shri Talekar. It is a fact that many members do not know what is their total loss in pension and what is their monthly loss in pension. Now we have attached here two statistical statements in above both the respect as on 31st Oct. 2012 i.e. the expiry date for 5 years settlement period. As the new settlement of wages would be w.e.f. 1-11-2012, we have to wait till new revision of wages is reached. Kindly pass on this to your friends and also discuss if any problem is felt. What is rightfully due to us has not to be given up. Come what may! With the Bank's stand to give effect prospectively we have no other go to fight the issue in a court of law. 

- L R Parab

9-3-2013

Statistical statement on loss to pensioners

Gold as a convenient villain

.It thus appears that controlling imports of gold to rein in CAD is as difficult a task as curbing imports of crude oil. These commodities are structurally inter-linked with different sectors of the economy. Yet another factor that militates against steps aimed at discouraging imports of gold is that this fuels smuggling. The government coffers will be poorer as a consequence.........

Read - Mint

IIM-T bucks the trend in summer placement

....RBI participated in the process for the first time and offered roles to students in foreign exchange trading. ICICI Bank, Citibank, PreQuate, Ah!Ventures, IIFCL, and NCDEX recruited students for roles in Finance. ICICI Bank offered different roles, including Corporate Banking and Wealth Management.....

Read - The Hindu

Job applications flood State Bank

.....he would be one among an astounding 1.7 million applicants for just 1,500 probationary officers posts in State Bank of India, the country's largest and government-owned bank. The overwhelming response has surprised the bank management. Usually, it gets 500,000 to 700,000 applications for its advertisements for probationary officers. SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri says the response has been way beyond the management's expectations. He attributes this partly to the "attractive" advertisements, which positioned an officer's job in SBI as an excellent career choice........

Read | Business Standard

With vehicles, woes soar

.........Construction of multi-level parking near RBI building in Sector 17: The process to construct multi-level parking lot in Sector 17, near RBI building, was planned around three years back, but the project is yet to start on ground. MC completed the entire exercise, but forgot to take environment clearance which delayed the project and it is still under process ..........

Read - TOI

Fin inclusion won’t succeed without women’s participation

...Over the last decade, the government has made a determined push for the economic betterment of rural women. The proliferation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and to an extent, government-sponsored employment guarantee schemes have created employment and brought a greater measure of financial independence to them. As a next step, greater financial awareness will help them better deploy their savings.........

Read - TOI

Chidambaram: Top contender for PM?

....."He (Rahul) could do a Sonia - heed his 'inner voice' and step aside for someone else," said economist T.C.A. Srinivasa Raghavan, a former Reserve Bank of India consultant. "The only person who meets the bill is Chidambaram. He alone has the seniority and the (political and economic) track record," he said.

Read - The Hindu

Banking on rural presence, Srei looks to set up bank

.........."Srei group is interested in setting up a bank as it can tap the rural presence," Srei Chairman and Managing Director Hemant Kanoria said. "We will go alone in this banking venture and there are no plans to rope in any partners," he said. Last month, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came out with guidelines for issuing new banking licenses and many private players have expressed interest in setting up banks.........

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Macro indicators point to a rate cut in March

.......However, it isn't clear how the deficit data will be interpreted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While one set of economists believe that a widening current account deficit (CAD) may force the central bank to ease rates, another set believes that it may delay easing further........

Read | Business Standard

Do not give up in the battle against inflation

........“Accepting a new normal for inflation not only has no theoretical or empirical support, but entails the moral hazard of policy inaction in dealing with supply constraints. Not a sufficient condition because there is no empirical evidence to establish that the benefits of higher growth outweigh the costs of welfare loss associated with higher inflation,”..............

Read - Mint

Don't bank on new bank yet, RBI is moving slow

Do not expect any new bank to come up before next year, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to take at least six months to study the applications it receives for the new bank licences before giving its nod. The central bank has set July 1, 2013 as the last date for filing the applications.......

Read - Hindustan Times

WHY NEW BANKS?

The RBI has come out with a set of draft guidelines for issuing licence to new banks in the private sector. However, the main question is why the government is bent upon opening up the banks to the private players when there is ample scope to expand PSBs to unbanked rural areas. The swiftness with which the amendment to Banking Regulation Act 1949 was passed in Parliament by the UPA government was clearly aimed at enabling the unrestricted entry of the private sector into the banking domain.

- J.Anantha Padmanabhan, Srirangam (HBL)

Cooling inflation gives some leeway to RBI: Morgan Stanley

............"... I think inflation in India seems to be coming off the boil and that gives some leeway for the RBI to act. But I find, RBI is not the main player out here, the whole issue is that inflation is symptomatic of a wider problem in India,".............

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Lending lives to those who rightfully live

........ The new regulations from RBI have helped keeping the sector in check and have kept the interest rates under control. There were institutions which were charging high interest rates earlier but now owing to regulations, interest rates are moderated..............

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Banks' borrowing crosses Rs 1-lakh-cr on tight liquidity

.............“It is the start of a new fortnight. Banks have started building their cash reserve ratio (CRR) requirement before the advance tax outflow happens. It is expected that the outflow on account of advance tax payment will be Rs 60,000 crore,” ............

Read | Business Standard

CLSA's Wood reduces position on India

.....“The only consolation from the negative growth data is this, at least in theory, increases the chances of inflationary pressures subsiding. Therefore, RBI (Reserve Bank of India) will have room for more rate cuts,” the report said. CLSA predicts RBI would cut the policy rate by 75 basis points by the end of this financial year......

Read | Business Standard

RBI & government: A strained relationship

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made no bones about its view that monetary policy in India has been constrained by the central government’s policies. It has, in numerous policy statements, called for a change in both the quantity and the quality of the fiscal deficit. Its recent publication, titled Report on Currency and Finance, elaborates on the rather strained relationship between RBI and the government.........

Read - Mint

New licensing norms: Bank unions call for nationwide protest

Bank unions are opposed to the RBI’s new bank licensing policy by which private industrial, business and corporate houses will be permitted to open their own banks. The United Forum of Bank Unions, a representative body of nine bank unions, has called for countrywide demonstrations by bank staff on March 18 in this regard, C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), said..........

Read - HBL

From bottleneck to bottleneck - Subir Gokarn

..........The traffic bottleneck metaphor provides a useful way to think about it. The impact of many reform measures can be effectively neutralised by the persistence of a small number of surviving bottlenecks. In this scenario, despite many of the "right" things being done, there is no visible growth dividend. However, when even some of these bottlenecks are removed, there is a very quick and visible pay-off in terms of accelerating growth. Eventually, though, a bottleneck is reached and the pattern repeats itself...........

Read | Business Standard

G Gopalakrishna: Financial inclusion is a national mission for India

Vote of thanks by Mr G Gopalakrishna, Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India, at the Reserve Bank of India-OECD-World Bank Regional Conference on “Financial education”, New Delhi, 4 March 2013

.........As the Governor so aptly put it, partnering with OECD and World Bank in hosting this Conference is a valuable learning experience for India. These two institutions have carried out work in the areas of financial education and financial inclusion which serves as a benchmark for other entities to emulate..................

Read.......

Chidambaram to meet heads of PSU banks on March 18

NEW DELHI: Amid moderation in economic growth, finance minister P Chidambaram is likely to prod banks to step up lending at a meeting with heads of public sector banks on March 18. The broad agenda of the meeting include direct benefit transfer, deteriorating asset quality and credit growth..........

Read - TOI

CM unveils Jeevika's bonanza for poor

..........Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said the SHGs have helped change the socio-economic profile of the state and a big social revolution was taking shape. He expressed hope that the women engaged in SHGs would have toilets in their houses, will educate girls and not marry them before 18.  Rural development minister Nitish Mishra, social welfare minister Parveen Amanullah, development commissioner Phool Singh and others also spoke. Chief general manager of SBI, Mumbai, Ashish Kumar Rai, RBI Regional Director Pradip Kumar Jena and various other bank officials were also present. ...........

Read - TOI

Rs 21 lakh withdrawn using counterfeit cheques

........."Those were sent to us for clearance by local branches of Axis bank and Canara bank. The cheques were honoured as we did not find anything wrong in it," he said. "However, the fraud was detected after our Patna counterpart alerted us that the cheques were fake. By that time the money was withdrawn,"........

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It's so vital........ She said it...............!!

v Thank you so much. I read VITALINFO first thing every morning. Thank you very much for your wishes to all of us and congrats to all the women in RBI.

Shyamala Gopinath, Former Deputy Governor

v Keep up the good work.

Usha Thorat, Former Deputy Governor

v Dear Tarambale, Thanks and we begin our day by opening your mail. 

Kiran Sharma, Deputy General Manger, Jammu

 v Thank you so much. This remembrance means a lot.

  Rama Nabar, Manager, ITP Centre, Pune

 v Thanks Mitra, You were the first to wish which always makes you a special man indeed !

  Maria Sarmalkar, Private Secretary to ED 

 v Thank you so much dear Mangesh.

  Saroj Mahajan, Private Secretary, RBSB

 v Thanks Mangesh. Wishes to your better half also.

  Rita Fernandes, Ex-Private Secretary

 v So thoughtful of you. I have added VITALINFO in my bloggers list in google reader. 

  Asmita Kale, Private Secretary, DEPR

 v Thank you Mangesh. My wishes to your wife also.

  Kamala Rajan, Chief General Manager, UBD, C.O. Mumbai

Finance is indeed a woman’s cup of tea

.......... Women save more and even without a direct source of income, 60 per cent of women in India who are housewives are able to save a minimum of 5 to 10 per cent of their household income. It is widely believed that women’s higher risk aversion deters them from achieving high returns. But a study by consulting firm Rothstein Kass found that female hedge fund managers handsomely beat the global hedge fund index return of 2.7 per cent, by earning a 9 per cent through the third quarter of 2012.........

Read - HBL

Women in bank unions

Women wear many hats in banks. They are now chairpersons, managing directors, executive directors, and general managers also. Another major part of Indian banking system is the trade unions. Though there are quite a few women leaders at regional level, they are yet to reach top positions in many bank unions. Considering the need for developing women leadership in unions, the Mangalore-based Corporation Bank Officers’ Organisation (CBOO) started a separate women’s wing way back in 1985........

Read - HBL

Are you serious, Mr Chidambaram?

......A woman’s bank will not become successful in India if it focuses only on banking. If our finance minister is serious about this project, he must see that this bank goes beyond taking deposits and giving loans and becomes a vehicle for social change, taking care of other things such as education, vocational training, etc and help in empowering women in every possible way. At a parallel level, as Vijay Mahajan points out, we also need to address two structural issues—women must have right to property (otherwise they can’t offer collateral for a loan) and get adequately involved in formal economy through jobs and entrepreneurship. Professional urban women do not need a bank of their own but rural women, particularly in those pockets of India which are fraught with casteism and gender discrimination, will find in it an oasis...........

Read - Mint

All-women banks elsewhere

If the all-women bank is yet to take shape in India, one such experiment in the neighbouring Pakistan is in its teens. In 1989, the first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan late Benazir Bhutto set up ‘First Women Bank Ltd’ to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs. In the last 23 years, the bank expanded its network to 24 locations with 41 branches. Started with 30 employees, the bank has around 600 employees now...........

Read - HBL

Women’s bank? SEWA has been doing it for 39 years

At the counter near the bank entrance, two women are helping illiterate women clients fill out their passbooks. Many other clients—again, women—stoop over women officials in their cubicles. There are no men here. This isn’t the all-women’s bank that Union finance minister P. Chidambaram proposed in the 2013-14 budget. It’s the Shri Mahila SEWA Sahkari Bank Ltd, Ahmedabad,  one that has been around for 39 years..................

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Ahmedabad banker Jayshree Vyas to help goverment frame all-women bank

...........“I don’t have the terms of reference but it is going to be an exciting and challenging task to prepare a blueprint for such a bank in a short time. We have to submit the report by April 30,”.............

Read - DNA

Rs.80 cr. to be disbursed to 2,781 SHGs

......DRDA Project Director M. Janaki, Reserve Bank of India AGM Ranga Rao, Lead District Manager R.V. Narasimha Rao, NABARD AGM N. Madhu Murthy, Indian Bank Zonal Manager Ramchandra Rao and officers of various departments participated.......

Read - The Hindu

“Bad repayment of education loans pushes banks’ NPAs up”

.......Delivering a talk on ‘Overview of Bank Balance Sheets’, the bank GM said as per the Reserve Bank of India Guidelines 4 per cent had to be Cash Reserve with RBI and 23 per cent as Statutory Liquidity Ratio, which refers to the amount that the commercial banks require to maintain in the form gold or government approved securities before providing credit to the customers. The profitability of the banks depends on lower NPAs, quantum of large-value funding, cost of fund borrowed from the market for lending and availability of total lendable funds...........

Read - The Hindu

RBI launches fresh survey on inflation expectations

....“Inflation expectations are subjective assessments of around 5,000 households across 16 cities proposed to be covered in the Survey round and are based on households’ individual consumption baskets,”......

Read - The Hindu

RBI to keep tabs on all export dealings

.........Bringing all export transactions under the scanner of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the government has asked the central bank to set up a monitoring cell that will coordinate with banks to track all banking transactions of exporters. "The automated and unified data processing and monitoring system will scan all exports from the country," minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena had informed Parliament on Friday. Under this system, all data will flow first to the RBI server and then to authorized dealer banks............

Read - TOI

RBI rules out revision in inflation goal

.......Stating that there “is no empirical evidence to establish that the benefits of higher growth outweigh the cost of welfare loss associated with higher inflation,” the Governor felt that the context presented no sufficient condition for the RBI to revise its inflation goal. “The responsibility of the RBI is to anchor inflation expectations, and ensure price stability,” he said. “Neither theory nor empirical evidence presents a credible case for acquiescing in a new normal for inflation in India,” he made it clear.......

Read - The Hindu

RBI to lower interest rates by 0.75% in 2013: Stanchart

......."We expect a positive combination of lower inflation, fiscal consolidation and signs of improvement in the capital account deficit in the first quarter of 2013 to facilitate the rate cuts," ..............

Read | Business Standard

શું RBI વ્યાજદરમાં ઘટાડો કરશે

......શુક્રવારે રિઝર્વ બેન્કના ડાયરેક્ટરો સાથેની બેઠક બાદ જ્યારે તેમને એવું પૂછવામાંઆવ્યું કે તેમણે રિઝર્વ બેન્કના અધિકારીઓ સાથે વ્યાજદરમાં ઘડાડો કરવા સંબંધીકોઈ વાતચીત કરી છે . તો તેમણે જણાવ્યું હતું કે મને તેમની મજબૂરીઓ પણ ખબરછે .............

Read...........

US-64 fiasco - A.Seshan

........But no references were made to UTI officials themselves, withdrawing their investments with the advantage of their insider knowledge. A few years earlier, a committee had recommended an enquiry into UTI buying the shares of Reliance Industries at a considerably higher than market price. There was no follow-up..............

Read | Business Standard

Up to the government

This is regarding the report “Govt has done its bit, ball in RBI’s court:FM” (FE, Mar 9). The government cannot remain satisfied by giving it over to RBI. The downward trend of inflation and the upward trend of GDP growth are welcome. But instead of relying on or looking up to numbers, government will have to work in real terms. As pointed out, the MSP on paddy may be a decisive factor. We hope RBI will play its part well by cutting the rates so that there will be a revival in the industry. Also, attention should be paid to the increase in the growth of agriculture. “Centre seeks Parliament’s nod for additional spending of R49,000 cr” for subsidies contained in various forms just after presentation of Budget. That means not RBI, but the government has to be more vigilant on cutting expenses and increasing earnings.

- Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram (FE)

Assumptions galore

.......Simple arithmetic suggests that economic growth during the last quarter (January-March, 2013) should be significantly higher to bring the year’s growth rate to something around the RBI’s forecast of 5.5 per cent. The pronounced dip in the growth rate has not dissuaded the policymakers from aiming high. While the Finance Minister hopes that the country has the potential to grow by 8 per cent, a rate which one should strive for, the XII Plan has been much more ambitious.............

Read - The Hindu

Savers and senior citizens short- changed - S.S.Tarapore

......The KUB Rao Working Group of the RBI has come up with concrete suggestions for monetising domestic idle gold and has also suggested the setting up of a Gold Bank. The absence of any reference to these recommendations is glaring. Mere exhortations to refrain from buying gold is unlikely to yield any results, unless strong steps are taken to activate idle gold holdings. In the absence of measures the common person has innate common sense and would, and should, continue to invest in gold.......

Read - FPJ

Gambling for growth again

.....According to YV Reddy, former RBI Governor and chairman of the 14 Finance Commission, "the new approach does not replace the notions of output or income that contribute to well-being but is considered an antidote to the tendency of economists to focus exclusively on the material determinants of social welfare, such as the gross domestic product (GDP)". A consideration has to be made between "happiness and a longer term and broader goal of life satisfaction".........

Read - Hindustan Times

Measures to make netbanking safe started

Nationalised banks have started taking precautionary measures to ensure that people don’t lose their money through netbanking fraud. The measures were taken after Rs1 crore was transferred from an account with a nationalised bank to various accounts in 45 minutes using National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT)........

Read - DNA

Looking for scapegoats

.....But yes, it does show that the rush to ensure the loan waiver reached beneficiaries in time to extract political mileage inevitably resulted in lack of due diligence in checking credentials of those claiming eligibility as well as poor oversight by monitoring authorities. That includes the National Level Monitoring Committee consisting of two Secretaries to the Government of India, the Dy Governor, RBI, Chairman, Nabard, the chairmen of two public sector banks, two regional rural banks and the MDs of two state level co-operative banks..........

Read - ET

Is large government cash surplus creating liquidity shortfall in the banking system?

.....The government keeps its fiscal surplus with the RBI (out of the banking system), and when it runs a large balance, it stresses banking system liquidity. This factor may seem minor, since it is temporary in nature, as stress is released when the government spends the money. However, given the absolute increase in the size of the government in recent years, it can materially stress the banking system at certain times of the year.......

Read - Moneylife

Software exports new silk route for black money

..Software exports have already come under the scanner of Reserve Bank of India with the central bank's data showing software exports worth Rs 1.51 lakh crore did not match with their bank transactions (i.e. remittances received against exports). .....

Read - TOI

Errant Vidarbha banks to face farmers' 'music'

....."Not in this case where thousands of farmers have already died. We shall continue beating drums outside these errant banks till they comply with the RBI directives and reveal all the frauds that have taken place in this scheme,".......

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Beware loan defaulters! Banks to publish photos in newspapers

..........Adopting a name and shame policy to make borrowers pay their dues, banks have decided to publish in newspapers photographs and details like names and addresses of wilful loan defaulters and market leader SBI has taken the lead in doing so.............

Read - ET

This urban credit cooperative society strikes gold in farm loans!

NAGPUR: If banks have to be pushed to meet their farm loan targets, this urban credit cooperative society has literally struck 'gold' in this business. The Buldhana Urban Credit Cooperative Society (BUCCS) has an exposure of Rs 700 crore from loans doled out to farmers. With this, it sits on as much as 1.5 tonnes of gold pledged by borrowers to get the sum. The cooperative has its headquarters in the drought hit district of Buldhana............

Read - TOI

India’s mysterious love affair with gold

.........I asked a finance ministry official whether he suspected something else to explain the erratic trend in imports of gold. The official was, however, sanguine and dismissed theories that suggest that some of these imports may be money laundering or round tripping of money made through illegal means in India. To be sure, these are speculations and presumably the finance ministry official knows better............

Read - Mint

Sanjiv Misra takes over non-executive Chairman of Axis Bank

Sanjiv Misra, former Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, today took over as the Non-Executive Chairman of AXIS Bank Ltd. This follows RBI approval of his appointment......

Read - HBL

Sebi makeover set to be expedited

.............This is the first time that a regulator in India has opened itself to a performance review by an outside agency. As part of its mandate, the consultant is to develop various scenarios for the development of Indian securities markets, identify possible triggers for change, assess implications for market participants and envisage the role of Sebi in the Indian financial sector for a 5-10 year time horizon...............

Read | Business Standard

YES BANK's innovation for Social Inclusion gets multiple recognitions

............. The YES Money program is a unique domestic remittance solution that enables rapid remittances across the country, without the customer ever having to visit their own Bank or the need to transact during banking hours. Additionally the program, has witnessed tremendous success, benefiting over 4 lac customers since launch and having received 9 national & international recognitions from reputed agencies.............

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