Friday, June 21, 2013

Analysis: FM's push to PSU banks, a case for short selling

.........While private sector players are not willing to invest in these long gestation and government controlled projects, public sector banks are being compelled to do so. The renewed push will only make matter worse for public sector banks.........

No plan to trim savings deposit rate from 6%: Kotak Bank

............ "We will maintain the 6 per cent rate for some time. We have no plans to change the rate this fiscal," president for consumer banking KVS Manian told reporters on the sidelines of a bank event here. He said the bank has more than doubled its savings account base over the last 18 months, ever since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deregulated interest rates on the product helping it tap into the market with an aggressive offering.............

RBI cancels licence of Vaishali Urban Co-op Bank, Jaipur

......This is in view of the fact that Vaishali Urban Co-operative Bank, Jaipur, Rajasthan, has ceased to be solvent, all efforts to revive it having failed and the depositors being inconvenienced by the continued uncertainty, the Reserve Bank of India delivered the order cancelling its licence to the bank on Jun. 12, 2013............

LIC Housing Finance to apply for bank licence

.........V K Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer, LIC HFL told Business Standard, “we have decided to go ahead with the application but other modalities like setting up of non operative financial company (NOFHC) are still being discussed.”  “There is a separate committee looking into those matters” Sharma added................

Read | Business Standard

Analysis: Paying the price of running the economy on hot money

...The government has tried every trick in the book to improve the deficit situation, but is not been able to control it. It has put restrictions on gold imports, which helped only for a short duration of time. Investors still find gold a much safer asset class than other financial instruments. With bond yields falling and only few stocks in the equity markets holding it up, there are few avenues left for investment.......

Sebi sets up local office in Chandigarh

..........The new local office would look after the regulatory aspects of investor protection, facilitate redressal of investor complaints, financial and investor education, among other functions, across Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana. "Its role and responsibility shall extend to the areas falling under the territorial jurisdiction of Union Territory of Chandigarh, State of Punjab and State of Haryana," Sebi said...........

ICAI organizes seminar on audit of co-operative societies

....."Auditors should audit thoroughly and submit their reports to the cooperative banks and societies as the same are required by Reserve Bank of India and other government regulators. They shall also guide the management in weak areas of the society...........

Bernanke unleashes virtual tsunami in financial markets

U.S. Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke set off a virtual tsunami in global financial markets on Thursday after he hinted that the American central bank could start winding down its massive stimulus programme this year. While stock markets, including India, crash landed, commodities, currencies and shares tumbled to unwanted milestones......

RBI hamstrung by $290bn reserve

........But while the 60-level has been protected, markets are far from assured as RBI’s forex reserves of $290 billion are just enough to cover seven months of imports. Efforts by policy makers, economic advisor to the PMO Raghuram Rajan and Planning Commission chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia — to talk up the rupee also didn’t yield much results.............

Making the most of a mini-crisis

...........So how can the rupee recover? The quickest way is for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to use its dollar reserves to buy the rupee from the market, thereby stabilizing the currency. Some think the RBI can afford to do so because its foreign reserves are now equivalent to 15 percent of GDP, almost double the level in 1998. .................

Out of currency

.............While the rupee has declined sharply against the dollar, it has also depreciated significantly against the euro and the Singapore dollar, while declining somewhat against the Japanese yen too. This suggests a combination of the general weakness of the rupee, as well as the strength of the dollar. Other emerging market economies (EMEs) dependent on foreign capital flows have also experienced currency declines against the dollar, with the rupee, along with the South African rand and the Brazilian real, having been hit particularly hard..........

Will rupee become senior citizen? RBI says no

........"We have a range of instruments. We can call on them as and when needed. We will not flag them. The ministry of finance, RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) are watching developments closely and take action appropriate. We should not let ourselves to be led by the market into directions we do not want to go," said Raghuram Rajan, Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry in New Delhi.

Don’t try to control the rupee

.....When the rupee moves, there are gainers and losers. Among the gainers are those who export to the world. Figure 2 shows the real effective exchange rate of the rupee. This shows that the rupee has not appreciated like the Chinese renminbi has, or depreciated like the South African rand has, but roughly remained stable. The real effective exchange rate is what determines export competitiveness. There has been domestic inflation in India, and what has kept Indian exports competitive is the rupee depreciation. If like the Chinese currency, the rupee had also not depreciated, today Indian exports would have been even less competitive...........

Re flirts with 60, markets in tailspin

....Also, higher inflation will limit RBI's ability to cut interest rates dimming hopes of lower loan EMIs for individuals. Also, the record current account deficit - the difference between dollar inflows and outflows - may restrict RBI's scope to prop up the rupee. The apex bank could do this by dipping into its $290 billion of foreign exchange reserves, enough to cover imports for seven months, analysts said..........

Weak rupee casts shadow on rate cut in July policy

Hopes for a cut in policy rate from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the July policy review are fading fast with the rupee coming under renewed pressure after the US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke hinted they might taper the QE later this year, which led to a sell-off in the emerging market currencies...........

On day of panic, RBI brass connect with treasury chiefs

.....One of the Deputy Governors of RBI is believed to have spoken to select banks to get a feel of the market mood and send a message that RBI was watching. When contacted, two public sector executives conceded such an interaction took place but declined to elaborate further, saying the matter was confidential. The treasury executive with a public sector bank commented: "This happens but it is not common.".....

Montek on rupee: RBI has a lot of firepower and they will intervene

.......The rupee fell to a record low of 59.94 to the dollar, breaching past its all-time low of 58.98 on June 11. Dr Ahluwalia said the further decline in the rupee was caused by Fed's statement and on global economic uncertainty. It is not just the Indian currency but currencies of other emerging economies like Brazil, South Africa and Mexico too have depreciated, Dr Ahluwalia said.........

It is the job of RBI to manage rupee: Montek Singh Ahluwalia

.........Currency is volatile everywhere and currencies do move sometimes a little beyond what people expect. That is the job of the Reserve Bank to manage and I do not want to add to speculation on what they will do and when they will do it. We need to watch the situation and see how the bank handles the problem.......

That sinking feeling

.......For finance minister P Chidambaram and RBI governor D Subbarao, a persistently weak rupee adds to an array of problems. There is precious little any government can do to keep hot money from flowing out, but it can very well open the doors wider for dollars to flow in........

Thursday, June 20, 2013

RBI ED Bhaskar, IAS officer Krishnan join FPSB Board

.........The Financial Planning Standards Board India (FPSB) today appointed IAS officer K P Krishnan and Reserve Bank Executive Director P Vijaya Bhaskar on its board of directors. The city-based FPSB, which is a public-private enterprise and a professional standards setting body, said the appointment will be till March 2015...............