The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, February 24, 2007

FARM CREDIT
HDFC Bank signs MoU with Tata Pipes
HDFC Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tata Pipes to offer credit facilities to farmers across the country. The credit is for purchase of pipes (from Tata Pipes) for irrigation.HDFC Bank will use Tata ... More

ACCOUNTANCY
ICAI seeks review of audit limit of PSB branches
Faced with the prospect of loss of assignments, the auditing community is seeking a review of RBI's recent decision to waive statutory audits for public sector bank branches that lend below Rs 5 crore annually. Hitherto, the audit waiver was ... More

FOREX
Forex reserves rise $4 billion
The country's forex reserves rose by $3.834 billion to $188.912 billion for the week ended February 16, on strong FII inflows into the domestic equity market. Forex reserves have increased for the sixth consecutive week with foreign currency ... More

The rupee: Lamb at home, tiger overseas
Lamb at home, tiger abroad. That, in a nutshell, is what a combination of rising inflation and unrelenting forex inflows has been doing to the rupee. Consider this. Since 1993-94, the official wholesale price index (WPI) has risen by 109.2 per ... More

Rupee weakens against dollar
The rupee weakened by around two paise to 44.23 against the dollar on Friday, from the previous close of 44.25. The currency moved in the range of 44.27-44.29 during the day. Dealers said there were reports of the Reserve Bank of ... More

NBFCS
RBI moves to prevent hoarding of foodgrains
Big NBFCs told to furnish details of exposure to large borrowers More

LIFE INSURANCE
HDFC Standard Life's regional office in Kochi
HDFC Standard Life Insurance, which is expanding its reach across the country, has augmented its presence in the city of Kochi by inaugurating its regional office. This will be the second office of HDFC Standard Life Insurance in Kochi, where the ... More

GENERAL INSURANCE
National Insurance health cover for Bank of India customers
The co-branded product is for all bank customers More

FINANCIAL POLICY
RBI to pay graded interest on CRR balances
Banks heave sigh of relief More

PRIVATE BANKS
Clicks overtake bricks at ICICI Bank
Technology is proving to be a winner: Kamath More

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
PFC lists with premium
The stock of Power Finance Corporation Ltd made its debut on the BSE at Rs 104, at a premium of 22.35 per cent to its issue price of Rs 85. The stock reached an intra-day high of Rs 117, and an intra-day low of Rs 103.50 before closing at Rs ... More

INTEREST RATES
ICICI Bank raises retail loan rates by 50 bps
ICICI Bank has hiked rates on retail loans by 50 basis points while keeping the benchmark advance rate unchanged at 14.75 per cent. The hike follows the recent CRR hike by RBI to 6 per cent. "The new rates will not be applicable to existing ... More

GOVT BONDS
Bond prices rise by 25 paise
Bond prices rose by around 25 paise on Friday as inflation numbers were lower than expected. The total traded volume on the order matching system stood at Rs 1,020 crore (Rs 2,030 crore). Dealers said that bond prices rose as ... More

NON-PERFORMING ASSETS
`Securitisation Act has boosted debt recovery'
Recovery of bank loans has become speedier and easier after the enactment of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002, according to the Chairperson of Debts Recovery Appellate ... More

CREDIT MARKET
Infrastructure loans: Banks want promoters to stay put
Other covenants such as debt-equity ratio can be relaxed More

SHORT TERM INSTRUMENTS
Call rates drop
Call rates closed at 6.20-6.40 per cent on Friday against the previous close of 6.40-6.50 per cent. In the first three-day reverse repo auction on Friday, the RBI received and accepted four bids for Rs 385 crore. In the second ... More

CO-OPERATIVES
Move to quicken co-op bank deposit claims settlement
The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) has asked the Registrars of Co-operative Societies for an irrevocable undertaking to repay depositors' claims to DICGC when they (Registrars) liquidate a co-operative bank. This is ... More