Use your PAN card carefully

....Waving a PAN (Permanent Account Number) card as a form of identity, when such a document is required with a photograph, has become second nature to many of us. Keeping a laminated copy as a spare, and placing the original in safe-keeping, is the strategy adopted by many. But now, with more and more transactions requiring a copy of a PAN card, or at the very least the number, it appears that the role of this essential piece of plastic, and its consequences, are rapidly changing, in a way and manner not anticipated by the authorities........

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Man held for debit card fraud

.....In the past few months, cases of ATM thefts have increased with fraudulent persons peaking into details of ATM cards while a transaction is being swiped. The RBI has come out with repeated warnings to ensure that secrecy is maintained during ATM transactions.......

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PMO asks MCA to look into Sahara co-op society issue

........The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) to look into the matters concerning Sahara Credit Co-operative Society. The MCA, in turn, has asked the registrar of co-op societies, Lucknow, to look into the issue and take an appropriate action. The PMO’s directive comes on the back of a letter written by Mumbai-based investors’ group, Investors and Consumer Guidance Society (ICGS), last year alleging the Sahara Group was mobilising deposits without going through the regulatory rigours of any central agency. The October 2011-letter by ICGS was directed to the prime minister, along with the finance minister, minister for corporate affairs and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor.……………..

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Current account deficit threat to India's financial stability: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India has warned that India's financial stability could be impaired if the current account deficit widens to uncontrollable levels........

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Banks' balance sheets in poor health

........... The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments report on Monday, said sharp deceleration in economic activities had resulted in poor credit offtake. And, some parameters indicated deteriorating health of banks’ balance sheets. This has made lenders seek refuge in “safer” investment avenues, resulting a “compositional” shift in banks’ asset portfolio in favour of investments in government securities.............

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Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to visit US to attend IMF-World Bank meeting

........... "Issues relating to setting-up of working-cum-experts group for BRICS Bank, Transfer Pricing and Tax Avoidance etc. are likely to be discussed in the BRICS meeting," a finance ministry statement said here ahead of the visit. Besides senior finance ministry officials, Mukherjee will be accompanied by Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subbarao.................

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FIIs' asked to take RBI approval before buying Bank of Baroda shares

MUMBAI: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are being asked to take prior approval for buying Bank of Baroda (BoB) shares even though the current FII holding in the bank is well below the maximum permissible limit.........

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Microfinance Bill faces fresh roadblocks

.....The effort to formulate a national regulation on microfinance began in 2007 but it lapsed due to this lack of consensus. Last year, the government revised the Bill after consultations with microfinance industry officials and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The proposed Microfinance Institutions (Development and Regulation) Bill is expected to supersede all state-level regulations, including the controversial Andhra Pradesh Microfinance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Act, 2010.
The Bill includes a provision that allows MFIs to collect small savings from SHGs known as thrift........

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A cut without conviction?

In many ways, the annual monetary policy for fiscal 2013, to be unveiled on Tuesday, will be one of the toughest for D. Subbarao since he took over as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor in September 2008 in the thick of a global credit crisis.....................

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Et tu, RBI

The government has attracted considerable criticism for making mistakes in the economic data it puts out and, some months ago, Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao alluded to the wide variations between provisional and actual numbers that made monetary policy-making difficult. But the central bank is hardly free of the same problem. The RBI bulletin, a monthly publication, went off track by stating that the outstanding number of credit cards declined by close to 2 million in January over December. An enquiry from this paper revealed that instead of a decline, the number had actually increased by 0.07 million and the mistake was subsequently corrected on the website.

BS

Should we worry?

....RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao made an important point when he said, at the launch of the updated festschrift for Prime Minister Minister Manmohan Singh, the macro situation was nowhere as severe as it was in 1991, a comparison being increasingly made today in policy circles..........

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Rising rural, urban wages aiding inflation: RBI report

"The pressure on generalised inflation from sustained increase in wage costs has been one important characteristic of the recent high inflation episode. Wage increases for unskilled labourers in rural areas continue to be at a rate faster than the comparable rate of inflation," the RBI's annual macroeconomic and monetary developments report said..................

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A rate cut followed by a hike!

.....So, we fear that the April 17 rate cut may well be the last for this year. And come June-July we’ll all be talking about the next rate hike. For India to return to the high-growth and low-inflation environment of the mid-2000s, corporate investment has to revive. Monetary policy didn’t cause its demise and it isn’t its savior. The solution, alas, lies with the government..

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RBI in a tight spot on inflation: Moody's Analytics

The Reserve Bank of India will need further proof that inflation has been tamed before it can start reducing policy rates, according to Moody's Analytics. The growth side of the economy has cooled, but inflation remains elevated, leaving the RBI in a tight spot, Moody's Analytics said in a research note issued after the announcement of India's headline inflation for March. The research firm said that it had always maintained that RBI should have begun lowering rates to shore up the economy's demand side. But it is not so simple for the central bank, which raised rates aggressively in 2010 and 2011 to counter inflation, the note said...........

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RBI should support growth, cut rate: Experts

Q: What is your key takeaway as far as the macro economic report is concerned and its effect on the policy tomorrow?

Rao: The RBI has clearly articulated all the problems as they get more and more intertwined - be it on the external sector in terms of the widening current account gap, the pressure on how to fund it in terms of the capital flow adequacy. For capital flow adequacy you need corporate earnings, which are getting impacted because of input costs and interest burden. The RBI has also articulated adequately on systemic pressures in banking. The future scenario doesn't look too bright in terms of maintaining asset quality………………

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RBI has a tough unenviable job with credit policy: Nilesh Shah

Nilesh Shah of Axis Direct speaks to NDTV Profit ahead of RBI's annual credit policy announcement on Tuesday. He says that the RBI is in a tight corner as the bank had an unenviable job to do with liquidity remaining tight and inflation not easing completely. "I would not like to be in RBI's position. They have a tough job," he said.

'Monetary policy can't address all external risks'

Saying there existed limited room for the monetary policy to manage external sector risks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday favoured a hike in petroleum product prices and steps to curb demand for precious metals to arrest a widening current account deficit (CAD). Further reforms in policies are a must to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) or equity in the country, the central bank said in its Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments report released ahead of its annual policy for 2012-13..............

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Deciphering RBI’s actions

........In RBI’s transition from a closed economy credit distributor to a open economy regulator—started by C. Rangarajan in 1992, strengthened by Bimal Jamal and structurally adapted by Y.V. Reddy—D. Subbarao has contributed by changing the style of monetary policy communication. There is no denying the fact that his personal style—participative, democratic and accommodative—has got reflected in the monetary policy management. Last year, setting out his agenda of reaching out, Subbarao emphasized the need of listening to and learning from the “‘wisdom of the crowds’ in reaching a monetary policy judgement”. In explaining the “known knowns” and indicating the “known unknowns”, using the informally formal channels of communications, RBI has become open about its thoughts and intentions. The formal forward guidance, even if short of a commitment, has been getting bolder. The manner in which RBI’s guidance has been worded it really amounts to an assurance...........

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Economists say rate cut not advisable now

....“The inflation figures for March do not seem to be very comforting. Personally, I feel RBI should not cut the interest rates right now. The macro-economic factors still do not favour a rate cut. The saving rate is dropping, the liquidity in the system still remains tight. Thus a rate cut will not help and the rupee will continue to depreciate,”.......

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Central bank still worried about prices

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday cautioned that inflation in Asia’s third largest economy will remain sticky in the current fiscal and chances of any significant moderation are low, even as it expects a modest recovery in growth. On the eve of the central bank’s monetary policy announcement, which is widely expected to see the beginning of the rate-reversal cycle, the report reflected the division among economists, some of whom say inflation is still too clear and present a danger for rates to be cut.
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