The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, October 30, 2002

Rupee gains five paise
THE rupee closed around 5 paise stronger at 48.38/3850 per dollar on Tuesday, though the market witnessed a fair amount of fluctuations in the early part of the day. The currency ended at 48.4250/4350 on Monday. Dealers said there was some sort ... More

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Falling in line
Slowly but steadily, the Indian customer is moving towards Internet banking. The ATM and Net transactions are becoming popular. But the customer is clear on one thing - he wants Net banking to be simple. And the banking sector is matching its step s to the march of technology. More

STOCKS

Bank rate, CRR cuts pep up sentiment for bank stocks
THE reduction in bank rate and cash reserve ratio (CRR) announced by the Reserve Bank of India gave a boost to the bank stocks today. However, brokers and analysts said the rise was more sentiment-driven rather than on fundamentals. Both ... More

CREDIT POLICY

Jalan drops rates to fuel growth
THE Reserve Bank of India today dared to bankroll economic growth with a 25-basis point cut in bank rate to 6.25 per cent. The central bank tagged it to a cut in repo rate from 5.75 per cent to 5.5 per cent and a drop in the cash reserve ratio ... More

Depositors at the receiving end
BANKS seem to have rebuffed the Reserve Bank of India's good intention to bring down interest cost in the economy. Instead, banks have chopped deposit rates, dumping the common man on the street. Leading off the bank brigade is the State Bank ... More

It's progressive: Jaswant
THE Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, today said that the Reserve Bank of India's mid-term review of the Credit Policy for 2002-03 would benefit the people. Calling the policy ``progressive'', Mr Singh said it was also forward-looking. ``The ... More

A commitment to keep soft rate regime
THE issues addressed in the mid-term review are on predictable lines, continuing with the overall stance of the monetary policy announced in April 2002. Considering that the GDP growth at this stage stands lowered at 5-5.5 per cent as against ... More

More fillip to farm sector
THE Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the limit on advances granted to dealers in drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation system and agricultural machinery from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. This is one among the many initiatives RBI has ... More

Credit Policy musings
THE preamble to the mid-term Credit Policy shows how far we have come in monetary matters, interest rates and inflation. Reserve money has actually decreased since the beginning of this financial year, despite the increase in the RBI's forex ... More

Export credit — no major impact seen immediately
THE Reserve Bank of India's move to deregulate interest rates for exporters in two stages with effect from May 2003 is unlikely to create any significant impact immediately, bankers say. Exporters are already enjoying very low rates, ... More

Fixed income market to see strong activity
THE mid-term credit policy statement is along the lines of market expectations - particularly with respect to monetary policy action. All the three key benchmark rates - bank rate, repo rate and CRR - have been slashed by 25 basis points ... More

Policy norms can help raise credit offtake
THE Reserve Bank of India has sent a clear signal of its determination to keep rates low by choosing to cut the Bank Rate after a relatively long hiatus of a year. The past 12 months witnessed steep falls in gilt yields but not in the published ... More

`Higher level of CRR maintenance will curb volatility'
HIGHER level of daily cash reserve ratio (CRR) maintenance (80 per cent) stipulated by the RBI is expected to bring discipline in cash flow and fund management in banks, bankers and analysts have said. "There is the problem of uneven cash ... More

`Boost for industrial recovery but very little for exporters'
WHILE the Credit Policy initiative for a gradual reduction of interest rates has generally drawn a positive response from trade and industry, it has fallen short of the expectations of certain sectors, particularly of the exporting community. ... More

More relief for repo market
THE mid-year policy pronouncements are a continuation of the efforts taken by the Reserve Bank of India for the development of the money and securities markets. In the context of the policy stance that the call money market will be exclusively ... More

Rate cut hardly trigger for banks
THE RBI's decision to do a 25 basis point cut in bank rate and repo rate while meeting the mosaic of market expectation ahead of the policy tacitly underpins the limited relevance for monetary stimulus. A 25 basis point cut in bank rate is ... More

RBI becoming more flexible, say fund managers
FUND managers today welcomed the mid-term review of the Monetary and Credit Policy 2003 with most saying that the policy was in line with expectations though the CRR cut came as a pleasant surprise. According to Mr Nikhil Khattau, CEO, Sun ... More

`A creditable policy'
IN keeping with the Annual Monetary policy, the stance of the mid-term review is on maintaining soft interest rates and adequate liquidity for credit demand. We welcome the reduction in the Bank Rate, the repo rate and the CRR as measures to ... More

Pressure on banks to do better on NPA front
THE reduction in the repo rate by 25 bps had been largely anticipated by the bond markets and confirms the soft interest rate trend for the remainder of the current fiscal, subject to the continued low rates of inflation. This trend has helped ... More

Easy liquidity will support bullishness
THE markets have responded very favourably to the policy announcements after an initial weak response. The announcements were largely in line with market expectations though we did not expect the cut in the CRR to be timed in the near future. ... More

Debt funds to remain attractive
THE mid-term Credit Policy is progressive and reinforces the RBI's resolve to maintain a softer interest rate regime. Consumer durables and construction, which have been the bright spots of the economy in the past year, should continue to ... More

`Overall stance to continue'

NBFCS

Commercial vehicles boom boosts Sundaram Fin net to Rs 13.5 cr
THE net profit of Sundaram Finance Ltd for the second quarter ended September 30, 2002 has increased by 57 per cent over the same period last year, thanks to the pick-up in the commercial vehicles segment. The NBFC's net profit for the quarter ... More

HOUSING FINANCE

Corpn Bank home loan fairs
MANGALORE: Going by the `formidable success' of its recent `loan mela', the Mangalore-based public sector Corporation Bank now plans to organise `home loan fairs' in several cities across the country. The bank conducted one such fair ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

Kovai hamlet wins laurels from LIC
MARKETING insurance schemes in rural areas has not been easy. Apart from the reluctance in going for such cover, reports reveal that a majority of policies lapse, as the policy-holders fail to remit the premium dues even for a minimum ... More

GENERAL INSURANCE

Move to privatise mediclaim policy servicing opposed
THE General Insurance Officers All India Association (GIOAIA) has described the decision of the four public sector insurance companies to introduce third-party administrators for servicing mediclaim policies as anti-labour and a prelude to ... More

DEBT MARKET

Securities buoyant on cut in rates
BOND prices moved up by 40-50 paise for the medium-term papers and up to Re 1 on the long end today, following the credit policy announcing cut in bank rate and repo rates. The benchmark ten-year paper 2012 dipped to a yield of 6.98 per cent as ... More

PRIVATE BANKS

RBI looking into `problem' banks
THE Reserve Bank of India has been consulting with Centurion Bank and Nedungadi Bank to find medium-term (three to five years) solutions to some problems that the banks have. Not only them, the RBI is in dialogue with all banks that have a ... More

ICICI Bank in talks for unit in Dubai
ICICI Bank is in talks with Dubai authorities to set up an offshore banking unit at the newly established Dubai International Financial Centre, DIFC. The bank has also applied for permission to set up a representative office in the UAE, according ... More

Drop in provisions helps GTB net rise marginally to Rs 6.5 cr
GLOBAL Trust Bank (GTB) has registered a drop in its total income and net operating profit, even while showing a marginal increase in net profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2002-03. The total income during the quarter ended September 30 ... More

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS

More provisioning pulls down SBM net to Rs 7 crore
THE net profit of State Bank of Mysore (SBM) dropped to Rs 7.11 crore for the second quarter of this financial year. During the first quarter, the net profit was Rs 23.42 crore. The unaudited results released indicate that the reduced net ... More

`Banks may lower PLR'
THE lowering of bank rate should stir the banks into considering a reduction in their prime-lending rate (PLR) and also take measures to bring down the cost of deposits. The reduction in PLR should bring relief to the small-scale sector, ... More

INTEREST RATES

Will the banks listen to RBI?
At the press conference, the RBI Governor, Dr Bimal Jalan, made it clear RBI has not issued any orders. Only a request has been put to review the interest rate structure, Dr Jalan said. In the last credit policy, the RBI did make a promise to get ... More

GOVT BONDS

Firm quotes, or firm on not quoting?
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not a transcript of an exchange between smugglers. Laypeople exposed to the world of Indian movies may be excused if they thought so. This exchange is a negotiation to transact in 11.50 per cent Government of India ... More

TRENDS

Breathing space
Mumbaiites get to inhale a minute's worth of pure oxygen free thanks to HDFC Bank, which has deployed an air-conditioned van at Churchgate for customers keen on stress-free banking. Entry is restricted to those who hold ATM cards or credit cards ... More

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