Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Lights, camera, action...... but no (rate) cut...............


"Policy" in Media - Click on the following links to read more.................

India Inc disappointed with RBI for not cutting rates


India interest rate unchanged on inflation fears


RBI keeps rates unchanged, disappoints industry & stock market


Economists React: RBI Stands Pat on Rates


RBI stuns, keeps rates steady as growth crumbles


Overall inflation a worry: RBI


RBI policy review brings no smiles for borrowers, key rates unchanged


Bankers miffed, but economists hail RBI stance


Rates lower than in 2003-08, other forces impacting growth: RBI


Chambers disappointed with RBI’s monetary stance


RBI was right in not cutting interest rates: Prashastha Seth, IIFL Wealth


It is too early to feel comfortable about inflation: Gaurav Kapur


RBI to government: We’ve done enough, it’s your turn now


RBI's decision disappoints borrowers

Monetary policy: ‘Growth takes backseat, inflation comes to forefront’

Subbarao’s signal: Done enough, time for govt to act

Salaam, Subbu! The Good Doctor gives us a bitter medicine

Perspective: Has RBI left growth to fend for itself?

Why Subbarao told the finmin to take a walk

RBI is so very wrong

Six reasons why Subbarao kept rates unchanged

RBI won’t play to gallery, keeps key rates unchanged

Anand Sharma wants RBI to rethink on rate issue

RBI not touching interest rates shows 'disconnect' with govt: BJP

Gutsy RBI Holds Rates

RBI's communication flip-flop baffles market

Ambit’s Holland Says Lower Rates Alone Won’t Boost India Growth

RBI Hunkers Down

Decoding RBI's monetary policy: the what and why of it

Rationale for status quo

Inadequate response

A do-nothing RBI policy

Missing a ‘rate’ trick

A difficult policy choice

Monetary policy: Is the transmission mechanism really effective?

.....A leading bank has reduced interest rates by up to 350 basis points for certain categories of borrowers even before the RBI’s mid-quarter policy review. Does this mean that there is no relationship between policy announcements and action by banks?........

Mangled remains of the car.......

Mangled remains of the car in which 3 RBI officials were killed in car-truck collision


Kiran Sethi's photo was not readily available at the time of uploading this news

Rs 5 lakh cheque that can't be encashed!

A woman who was given a fit for discharge certificate by a mental hospital three years ago after suffering from schizophrenia, has been prevented by her bank from depositing a near-expiry Rs 5 lakh cheque....................

Use of Securitisation Act by cooperative banks challenged in Guj HC

.....He has further claimed that Securitisation Act was not applicable to the cooperative banks formed under the state acts as there is already a mechanism for recovery under those state Act, in this case it is Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act, 1961. Also, the Act was applicable to “a company engaged in banking, and not a cooperative society engaged in banking”,......

RBI move to have more political leaders on currency notes can trigger needless acrimony

The RBI’s move to add Dr BR Ambedkar, Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi as faces on currency notes will lead to needless acrimony

According to a report in the Times of India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working on plans to added leaders such as Dr BR Ambedkar, Chhattrapati Shivaji, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi as faces on currency notes along with Mahatma Gandhi. Is this a good move? Or will it only unleash a storm of jousting and lobbying by politicians about precisely which leader is accorded the honour?

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

RBI to RRBs: Stop charging prepayment penalty on home loans

......"It has, therefore, been decided that Regional Rural Banks will not be permitted to charge foreclosure charges or pre-payment penalties on home loans on floating interest rate basis, with immediate effect," RBI said in a notification.........

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Finance ministry, central bank's tense partnership on Pranab's watch

.....Tension between North Block and RBI has been brewing for some time. Central bank officials point to the increasing intervention of the finance ministry in RBI activities in recent times. The government was also seen to be trying to micro-manage banks and issuing guidelines to them, which RBI thought came strictly under its purview. For example, the ministry recently issued norms for consortium lending by public sector banks.  RBI has now decided to pursue the matter by writing to the government. A letter has been send to the government, detailing how the finance ministry had encroached upon the regulator's territory......



Will respond quickly to any adverse development due to global turmoil: RBI

"... recognising that the global situation is turbulent, the Reserve Bank stands ready to use all available instruments and measures to respond rapidly and appropriately to any adverse development," Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its mid-quarterly review.....

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Hike in export refinance limit to bridge liquidity gap: M&M

The central bank's move to keep rates unchanged disappointed both the equity and bond markets. However, the Reserve Bank has decided to enhance the export credit refinance (ECR) limit to 50% of the outstanding rupee export credit for banks, from 15%. This move will inject Rs 30,000 crore into the system. Welcoming this step, VS Parthasarathy of Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) highlighted the dual impact of this move. "It gives two impacts, it gives liquidity and secondly it has a basis of getting rates reduced for the exporter or it gives a little bit of cushion for the bank to act the way that they want.".........

Time to redress the governance deficit

......The Government’s massive borrowing programme has not only pre-empted funds available for private players but also, in the process, pushed up the borrowing costs for trade and industry. In such a situation, where the monetary brakes applied by the central bank as many as 13 times did not lead to desirable results with the fiscal mess remaining the Achilles’ heel of the economy. Given the coalition Government’s inability to institute cost recovery in items such as diesel, when the global crude price was on a rollercoaster, price stability is but a lost cause.......

Monday, June 18, 2012

3 RBI officials among four killed in accident

Ambala, Jun 17 (PTI) Three RBI officials were among four killed when a car collided with a truck near Ambala city. The RBI officials from Chandigarh were returning from Jind in Haryana after attending a meeting when their car met with the accident last night at Model Town Crossing, police said. The car driver also died on the spot while another occupant sustained serious injuries and was referred to Medical College at Chandigarh.


The 3 names of the officers have since been confirmed from the PS to RD, RBI, Chandigarh as follows:-
1. Mrs. Kiran Sethi, AM
2. Mr.   Balvinder Sandhu, AM
3. Mr.   Balbir Singh, AM 

'It is hard to believe' - Times of India 


 

RBI Governor Subbarao still has 15 months to go

.....The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  Governor, poor man, is not half as lucky. Subbarao has another 15 months to go before his term comes to an end in September 2013. So, he will have to soldier on even as problems on the economic front become more intractable and the government, in the run up to the next general elections, becomes more irresponsible on the fiscal front. Unlike Pranab da who only has to bide his time, 'apres moi, le deluge' (after me, the deluge), the  Governor will have to face the consequences of whatever he does today..........

Y.V. Reddy for FM

With the nomination of the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, as the UPA's Presidential candidate, his elevation is almost a certainty. Even before he relinquishes his post as Finance Minister, speculation is rife on the probable successors, with names such as Dr C. Rangarajan, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Mr P Chidambaram, Mr Jairam Ramesh, Mr Anand Sharma, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde and Mr Veerappa Moily doing the rounds.  P.V. Narasimha Rao, while appointing Dr Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister in 1991, gave him full freedom to implement economic reforms, even when the country was not ready to accept the same. We now need a finance minister with such inglemindedness of purpose. He should not be cowed down, or dictated to, by self-serving groups. The one person most suitable for this post is none other than former Governor of the RBI, Dr Y .V. Reddy. He steered our country away from the global financial meltdown and took pre-emptive policy action. This was despite widespread criticism from all quarters, particularly from the vested interests, as he foresaw the domino effects of the sub-prime crisis in our country. So, in the fitness of things and the ongoing Euro debt crisis, Dr Reddy would be the best choice as the next Finance Minister to succeed Mr Mukherjee.

- K.Vittal Shetty Bangalore (The Hindu)

What Subbarao says is as important as what he does

One hears that this time around Mr Subbarao and his team have read and reread the policy draft many more times than they usually do, tweaking the language endlessly before giving the final go. Often attacked for doing the right thing at the wrong time, they don't want the world to misinterpret them. Indeed, his choice of words is as crucial as the measures he takes (or doesn't take)..................

Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao has a tough decision to make

....Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao has a tough decision to make. The rate policy expected today comes as the RBI’s twin responsibilities, growth and inflation, spiral out of control.......

Situations vacant

This refers to the report “Chakrabarty gets three-month extension as RBI Dy Governor” (June 14). K C Chakrabarty is the latest victim or beneficiary – depending on how you look at it – of the United Progressive Alliance’s impaired decision-making apparatus. In the recent past, we have been observing government delays in filling top jobs. Often, procedures are rushed through and aspirants who are kept on tenterhooks till the eleventh hour become functionally ineffective at least for the initial few months. In Chakrabarty’s case, giving a straight extension of two years or leaving the post vacant till a final decision on the incumbent is taken could have avoided the speculations that are bound to follow now. The Centre should think of putting a system in place that will take care of filling up of top positions and smooth transition from one incumbent to the other. Appointing younger people at the top, making the tenures longer and allowing inter-mobility from the position of enforcement directors and upwards following transparent norms are some areas that could be considered to improve the functioning of government and public sector organisations.

- M G Warrier, Mumbai (BS)

Monetary policy: The depositors ’ viewpoint - S.S.Tarapore

.....The topmost priority for the RBI should be to control inflation and to ensure that the depositor gets a reasonable real rate of interest ( i. e. the deposit rate minus the inflation rate should be positive). Thus, from the depositors' viewpoint the least that needs to be done is that the RBI should not succumb to governmental pressures; this is easier said than done. The All India Bank Depositors' Association should proactively articulate the need to reward depositors fairly.........

Ensure one a/c per family, Fin Min to banks

....."During the meeting between Finance Minister (Pranab Mukherjee) and heads of public sector banks on June 12 it was decided to ensure that there is a bank account in every family in the next six months," .....

How much more you have to shell out for banking services

After petrol, the price hike bug has bitten the banks too, with several of them raising their charges in the recent past. Banks have also introduced fees for services which were available for free till now...........

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