1. Reversing last year's trend, the financial assistance sanctioned and disbursed by the financial institutions in 2005-06, has increased significantly. The asset quality, profits and CAR of the FIs improved during the period. The sanctions by FIs witnessed a rise of about 39% at Rs 27,239 crs and the disbursements rose by about 34% to stand at Rs 20,522 crs. The assets and liabilities during the period, however remained more or less at the same rate as of 2004-05.
2. After software services, India is now also emerging as a major exporter of financial services. In FY06, the earnings in forex were $1.7bn from providing financial services to the rest of the world. From being a net importer of financial services, India, for the first time since 2000, has emerged as a net exporter of financial services. Net inflows on account of financial services aggregated $1,087m in ‘05-06, according to the latest balance of payments figures. Contrast this with the net outflow of $1,626m in ‘00-01.
3. RBI has permitted ICICI Bank to open new branches and set up off-site ATMs. This signifies the lifting of the ban, imposed by the banking regulator, on the branch expansion of a slew of commercial banks involved in the IPO allotment scam. These banks were also fined for their role in the scam. HDFC Bank would soon be allowed to open new branches.
4. The competition for raising resources, including deposits, to meet the burgeoning credit demand has taken a toll on spreads, of the new private sector banks in 2005-06 over 2004-05. The spreads for new private banks dipped to 3.5% from 4.3 % in the previous financial year. For PSBs, spreads improved to 2.9% from 2.8% and for foreign banks, they rose to 4.4% from 4.2%.
5. The country’s top two banks, SBI & ICICI, reported a sharp rise in loan loss provisioning in the second quarter of 2006-07. The provisioning for NPAs rose nearly 11 times for SBI and by over 3 times for ICICI Bank, on slippage in loan accounts, particularly retail. SBI’s provisioning for NPAs was Rs 116 crs in July-September 2006 against Rs 10.7 crs a year earlier, an increase of 981.1%. For ICICI Bank, the provisioning was Rs 380 crs in the second quarter of 2006-07 against Rs 90 crs a year earlier.
6. SBI and Hero Honda have joined hands to help the farmers of Uttar Pradesh and signed a deal in Lucknow for financing two-wheelers for the state’s farmers. The deal envisages SBI financing in the rural areas and attractive cash discounts by the company. Hero Honda is targeting sales of 250,000 two-wheelers in the rural areas in the current financial year and the tie-up is aimed at synergising the marketing and servicing strengths of the two giants.
7. Information Technology holds the key to kick-starting a revolution in banking, said Radha Unni, chief general manager, SBI. She was inaugurating a national conference on `Braving new frontiers in banking,' organised by the ICFAI Business School, Trivandrum. She called for standardisation across banks and appealed to them to take the services to the doorsteps of the customers for financial inclusion.
8. Indian (Indian Airlines) has launched the exclusive, fully-loaded "Indian Platinum Credit Card Master Card'' in association with ICICI Bank. Issued by invitation, initially to senior officials of the Government, the card offers a generous 20 % cash back on airline tickets purchased at full fare levels, together with convenient options of buying tickets at any Indian (Indian Airlines) offices.
2. After software services, India is now also emerging as a major exporter of financial services. In FY06, the earnings in forex were $1.7bn from providing financial services to the rest of the world. From being a net importer of financial services, India, for the first time since 2000, has emerged as a net exporter of financial services. Net inflows on account of financial services aggregated $1,087m in ‘05-06, according to the latest balance of payments figures. Contrast this with the net outflow of $1,626m in ‘00-01.
3. RBI has permitted ICICI Bank to open new branches and set up off-site ATMs. This signifies the lifting of the ban, imposed by the banking regulator, on the branch expansion of a slew of commercial banks involved in the IPO allotment scam. These banks were also fined for their role in the scam. HDFC Bank would soon be allowed to open new branches.
4. The competition for raising resources, including deposits, to meet the burgeoning credit demand has taken a toll on spreads, of the new private sector banks in 2005-06 over 2004-05. The spreads for new private banks dipped to 3.5% from 4.3 % in the previous financial year. For PSBs, spreads improved to 2.9% from 2.8% and for foreign banks, they rose to 4.4% from 4.2%.
5. The country’s top two banks, SBI & ICICI, reported a sharp rise in loan loss provisioning in the second quarter of 2006-07. The provisioning for NPAs rose nearly 11 times for SBI and by over 3 times for ICICI Bank, on slippage in loan accounts, particularly retail. SBI’s provisioning for NPAs was Rs 116 crs in July-September 2006 against Rs 10.7 crs a year earlier, an increase of 981.1%. For ICICI Bank, the provisioning was Rs 380 crs in the second quarter of 2006-07 against Rs 90 crs a year earlier.
6. SBI and Hero Honda have joined hands to help the farmers of Uttar Pradesh and signed a deal in Lucknow for financing two-wheelers for the state’s farmers. The deal envisages SBI financing in the rural areas and attractive cash discounts by the company. Hero Honda is targeting sales of 250,000 two-wheelers in the rural areas in the current financial year and the tie-up is aimed at synergising the marketing and servicing strengths of the two giants.
7. Information Technology holds the key to kick-starting a revolution in banking, said Radha Unni, chief general manager, SBI. She was inaugurating a national conference on `Braving new frontiers in banking,' organised by the ICFAI Business School, Trivandrum. She called for standardisation across banks and appealed to them to take the services to the doorsteps of the customers for financial inclusion.
8. Indian (Indian Airlines) has launched the exclusive, fully-loaded "Indian Platinum Credit Card Master Card'' in association with ICICI Bank. Issued by invitation, initially to senior officials of the Government, the card offers a generous 20 % cash back on airline tickets purchased at full fare levels, together with convenient options of buying tickets at any Indian (Indian Airlines) offices.
