1. Kerala is just a few notches away from achieving total financial inclusion with the latest count at 97.5 %.This emerged at the meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) held here on Friday. The target date for achieving the milestone was June 30 this year.The meeting also discussed the annual credit plan for 2007-08 for the State with the disbursement to the priority sector having been fixed at Rs. 30,017 crore. Out of this, the target for the agriculture sector is Rs. 11,597 crore and for the small-scale industries sector Rs. 4,754 crore.
2.Regional rural banks (RRBs) will have to enter into suitable tie-up arrangements with their sponsor banks for opening and maintaining FCNR-B deposit accounts by non-resident Indians and persons of Indian origin (PIO).The tie-up will enable necessary support and expertise to the RRBs in putting through the transactions regarding acceptance of FCNR (B) deposits.“Since the RRBs may not have well-developed treasuries to manage the foreign currency liability or risk, they may enter into suitable tie-up arrangements with their sponsor banks,” according to the Reserve Bank of India notification.
3. Forex reserves have increased by $937 million to $213.486 billion for the week-ended June 29 on strengthening of non-dollar currencies against the greenback.The reserves had increased by $1.534 billion to $212.549 billion for the week ended June 22.Foreign currency assets rose $936 million to $206.114 billion, said the RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement.Foreign currency assets, as expressed in dollars, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation in non-US currencies (euro, sterling and yen) held in reserves.
4. IFCI Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 246.86 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 on net sales of Rs 349.95 crore. This standalone result for the quarter was stated in a communication sent by the company to the National Stock Exchange. IFCI had recorded a net loss of Rs 15.61 crore on net sales of Rs 252.01 crore in the same period last year.
5. Crisil has got a nod from its board of directors to incorporate a company to undertake credit information business subject to due diligence and regulatory approvals.In a BSE announcement, it said that its board meeting on Friday has approved the proposal. “This is just to create an enabling environment before planning to set up a credit information bureau to assess the credit risks of borrowers at individual levels.
6. South Indian Bank and Oman International Exchange, have signed an agreement for enabling online fund transfer facility for non-resident Indians working in Oman. It would facilitate the transfer of funds through the Oman International Exchange to all the branches of South Indian Bank instantaneously. The facility under the brand name, “SIB Express” utilises the bank’s ‘Finacle’ backbone.
7. Syndicate Bank today announced the launch of sale of gold coins under the brand name “Syndsona” through its 104 select branches spread across eight States. The coins in denominations of 4 gm, 8 gm and 10 gm in tamper proof card with 999.9 purity certificate will be sold through its designated branches. The bank has imported the gold coins from Switzerland and a tie-up arrangement should enable the bank to offer very competitive rates to its customers, a bank re lease said. The bank had tied up with the existing clients and corporates for the sale of gold coins and has sold 50 kg of gold on the first day itself.
8. Gross bank credit increased by Rs 2,186 crore and stood at Rs 18,95,801 crore for the fortnight ended June 22, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Weekly Statistical Supplement.The gross bank credit was inclusive of food credit which increased by Rs 514 crore to touch Rs 43,956 crore, and non-food credit which increased by Rs 1,671 crore to Rs 18,51,845 crore.The food credit had gone down by Rs 1,422 crore to Rs 43,442 crore for the fortnight ended June 8 while non-food credit went up by Rs 8,517 crore to Rs 18,50,174 crore.
9. The Kerala Government is keen on entering the banking industry, according to the Finance Minister, Dr Thomas Isaac.
10. ayments made by a credit card, a debit card and use of an electronic clearance system (ECS) through a bank account would now fall outside the scope of expenditure disallowance by the taxman even if the amount involved exceeded Rs 20,000.The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has now spelt out the circumstances in which disallowance cannot be made by the assessing officer under Section 40A (3) of the income-tax law. This provision relates to expenses or payments not deductible in certain circumstances.
11. A slight breather has come for those seeking to apply for a home loan. ICICI Bank has cut its floating rates on home loans by upto 50 basis points or 0.5 per cent. On fresh loans, for upto Rs 20 lakh, the rates have been slashed by 25 basis points or 0.25 per cent.However, the rate cut is just a correction and it is unlikely that other banks will follow suit.
2.Regional rural banks (RRBs) will have to enter into suitable tie-up arrangements with their sponsor banks for opening and maintaining FCNR-B deposit accounts by non-resident Indians and persons of Indian origin (PIO).The tie-up will enable necessary support and expertise to the RRBs in putting through the transactions regarding acceptance of FCNR (B) deposits.“Since the RRBs may not have well-developed treasuries to manage the foreign currency liability or risk, they may enter into suitable tie-up arrangements with their sponsor banks,” according to the Reserve Bank of India notification.
3. Forex reserves have increased by $937 million to $213.486 billion for the week-ended June 29 on strengthening of non-dollar currencies against the greenback.The reserves had increased by $1.534 billion to $212.549 billion for the week ended June 22.Foreign currency assets rose $936 million to $206.114 billion, said the RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement.Foreign currency assets, as expressed in dollars, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation in non-US currencies (euro, sterling and yen) held in reserves.
4. IFCI Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 246.86 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 on net sales of Rs 349.95 crore. This standalone result for the quarter was stated in a communication sent by the company to the National Stock Exchange. IFCI had recorded a net loss of Rs 15.61 crore on net sales of Rs 252.01 crore in the same period last year.
5. Crisil has got a nod from its board of directors to incorporate a company to undertake credit information business subject to due diligence and regulatory approvals.In a BSE announcement, it said that its board meeting on Friday has approved the proposal. “This is just to create an enabling environment before planning to set up a credit information bureau to assess the credit risks of borrowers at individual levels.
6. South Indian Bank and Oman International Exchange, have signed an agreement for enabling online fund transfer facility for non-resident Indians working in Oman. It would facilitate the transfer of funds through the Oman International Exchange to all the branches of South Indian Bank instantaneously. The facility under the brand name, “SIB Express” utilises the bank’s ‘Finacle’ backbone.
7. Syndicate Bank today announced the launch of sale of gold coins under the brand name “Syndsona” through its 104 select branches spread across eight States. The coins in denominations of 4 gm, 8 gm and 10 gm in tamper proof card with 999.9 purity certificate will be sold through its designated branches. The bank has imported the gold coins from Switzerland and a tie-up arrangement should enable the bank to offer very competitive rates to its customers, a bank re lease said. The bank had tied up with the existing clients and corporates for the sale of gold coins and has sold 50 kg of gold on the first day itself.
8. Gross bank credit increased by Rs 2,186 crore and stood at Rs 18,95,801 crore for the fortnight ended June 22, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Weekly Statistical Supplement.The gross bank credit was inclusive of food credit which increased by Rs 514 crore to touch Rs 43,956 crore, and non-food credit which increased by Rs 1,671 crore to Rs 18,51,845 crore.The food credit had gone down by Rs 1,422 crore to Rs 43,442 crore for the fortnight ended June 8 while non-food credit went up by Rs 8,517 crore to Rs 18,50,174 crore.
9. The Kerala Government is keen on entering the banking industry, according to the Finance Minister, Dr Thomas Isaac.
10. ayments made by a credit card, a debit card and use of an electronic clearance system (ECS) through a bank account would now fall outside the scope of expenditure disallowance by the taxman even if the amount involved exceeded Rs 20,000.The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has now spelt out the circumstances in which disallowance cannot be made by the assessing officer under Section 40A (3) of the income-tax law. This provision relates to expenses or payments not deductible in certain circumstances.
11. A slight breather has come for those seeking to apply for a home loan. ICICI Bank has cut its floating rates on home loans by upto 50 basis points or 0.5 per cent. On fresh loans, for upto Rs 20 lakh, the rates have been slashed by 25 basis points or 0.25 per cent.However, the rate cut is just a correction and it is unlikely that other banks will follow suit.
