The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Panel gives go-ahead for Pension Bill — Suggests 26-pc FDI cap, ban on investments abroad
PENSION reforms are finally set to roll ahead. The Standing Committee on Finance that was studying the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, 2005, has given its go-ahead for the introduction of the Bill in Parliament ... More

FOREX

Yuan-rupee in focus as China is top imports source
CAPITAL flows into India have remained steady in the first quarter of 2005-06 going by the macroeconomic and monetary developments put out by the Reserve Bank of India. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has more than doubled in April-May 2005 at ... More

Bond prices surge; rupee buoyant
MUMBAI: In the bond market, prices of short-term papers rallied by about Re 1 and long-term papers by as much as Rs 3on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of India left the reverse repo rates unchanged. Mr R.V.S. Sridhar, Vice-President ... More

STOCKS

Bank stocks shine as RBI keeps rates unchanged
BANKING stocks moved up as the Reserve Bank of India kept the bank rate and reverse repo rate unchanged in its quarterly monetary policy review announced today. This was second day in a row that banking sector stocks remained firm. The ... More

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Kotak Mahindra Bank net slips to Rs 20 cr
KOTAK Mahindra Bank announced stand alone net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2005 at Rs 19.67 crore, down from Rs 22.06 crore in the corresponding quarter last year due to fall in profit on sale of investments. A press release from the ... More

RBI & OTHER CENTRAL BANKS

Monetary Policy Quarterly Review — RBI prefers the status quo
Not wanting to take away the punch bowl when the party is going strong, and because of the macroeconomic uncertainties engendered especially by the rise in oil prices, the RBI has kept all its key rates unchanged much to the relief of banks and marke ts. The only major change it has effected is in raising the capital adequacy for bank finance for real-estate and stock market. This is as it should be, says A. Seshan. More

MONETARY POLICY

First quarterly review of Monetary Policy — RBI hikes risk weights on loans for real estate, capital markets
TO check unrestricted flow of bank funds to real estate and capital markets, the Reserve Bank of India has increased the risk weights for banks' outstanding exposure to these sectors from 100 per cent to 125 per cent with immediate effect. ... More

Key interest rates unchanged
IN its first quarterly review of the Monetary Policy, the Reserve Bank of India has left key parameters — bank rate, repo rate, and cash reserve ratio — unchanged. According Dr Y.V. Reddy, RBI Governor, the current assessment of the ... More

'No case for any sharp adjustment in interest rates'
THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, said on Tuesday that the current macroeconomic environment in the country does not call for any sharp adjustment in interest rates. He also said that the Reserve Bank of India's policy stance in the ... More

Macro-economic events under close watch, says RBI chief
THE overall stance for the monetary policy for the rest of the current fiscal will continue as set out in the Annual Policy statement of April this year, the Reserve Bank of India said in its first quarterly review of the monetary policy. ... More

FCNR deposits maximum maturity hiked to 5 years
THE Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to accept FCNR (B) deposits up to a maximum maturity period of five years. According to an RBI press release, it has also decided to allow banks to accept FCNR deposits in Canadian dollar and Australian ... More

RBI decouples from the Fed
THE first of the proposed quarterly reviews of the Annual Monetary Policy took place on Tuesday. Large sections of the market anticipated that the RBI would hike the reverse repo rate by 25 bps in the monetary policy. That has not happened, ... More

Will keep investments unhampered: Bankers
BANKERS have welcomed Reserve Bank of India's decision not to hike interest rates in the quarterly review of the Monetary Policy. The move to leave rates untouched would ensure that investments continue unhampered, said banking ... More