1. The Annual General Meeting of Federal Bank approved a dividend of 40% for the year 2006-07. Addressing the AGM, Mr M. Venugopalan, Chairman, said the business volume of the bank had grown by 23.19 %.
2. While the Indian rupee has appreciated to a nine-year high against the dollar, its neighbouring counterparts the Pakistan rupee, the Bangladeshi taka and the Chinese yuan have a different story to tell.The Indian rupee has appreciated by around 13 per cent in the past one year- the currency which is at 39.80, was at 45.95 in September last year.However the political turmoil in Pakistan and Bangladesh has meant that these currencies have not seen much movement against the dollar. This is bad news for India’s exporters, since Bangladesh and Pakistan are strong competition in textile exports.
3. Nabard has sanctioned Rs 50 crore from its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund XIII (RIDF XIII) for a new IT complex at Infopark in Kochi being implemented by the IT Department of Kerala Government.The complex, covering an area of 4.27 lakh sq ft, will house 50 IT companies and is expected to create employment for around 5,000 professionals.
4. Union Bank of India has cut interest rates on home loans by 25-50 basis points, depending on the size of the loan. The reduced rates are applicable to new home loans.For loans less than Rs 20 lakh.
5. Punjab National Bank today signed an MoU with the Government of Assam to provide housing loans to employees of the State Government with a minimum service period of three years. The bank has agreed to provide relaxation of the interest rate over and above the current flexible rate. The rate will be subject to change as decided by the bank. The house building loans will be for purchase of house/ flat / plot etc., and also for taking over of loans from other financial institutions.
6. In a bid to ease the pressure of forex inflows in the wake of the rate cut by the US Fed, the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday allowed Indian companies to invest more funds overseas without its prior permission.RBI would now allow higher limits for corporates in direct and portfolio investments besides pre-payment of external commercial borrowings. Individuals have been permitted to remit up to $2 lakh per annum ($1 lakh earlier) without RBI permission.
7. The public sector banks are now gearing up to shed their dowdy image and introduce upmarket branches in order to tap the younger generation customers. They are looking at bringing the ‘luxury element’ to their branches to attract tech-savvy customers.Senior officials at public sector banks feel that a majority of the affluent young customers flock to the new generation private sector banks.
8. Public sector banks (PSBs) in the country are equipping themselves to successfully take on the challenges by the entry of foreign banks into the country in 2009.
9. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has been given a deadline of six months for submitting its report on restructuring of the three public sector general insurance companies.
10. The Union Cabinet is set to approve a proposal to allow sugar mills to access interest-free loans from banks against their excise payments during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons (October-September).
11. ICICI Bank has launched a floating rate repayment product for car loans, commercial vehicles loans, construction equipment loans and professional equipment loans from September this year.
12. Axis Bank plans to offer wealth management services to its semi-urban and rural customers. The bank, which launched its focussed group on wealth management two years back, is now planning to give wealth advisory and wealth management tips to the customers in Tier II and Tier III cities and villages.
