1. Stung by protests from farmers, politicians and even a section of its own employees, State Bank of India on Wednesday hurriedly withdrew its controversial decision to suspend financing of farm equipment, primarily tractor loans. “We regret that our circular dated May 16, 2008, concerning tractor loans has been misunderstood and has given rise to concern. The circular is withdrawn with immediate effect,” SBI Chairman OP Bhatt said in a statement.SBI, the largest bank in the country, had issued a circular to its branches asking them to stop disbursals for new tractor loans, citing a spike in bad loans in this segment. The decision sparked criticism and protest from political parties, farmers' groups and industries, especially tranctor manufacturers, that could be hit by any slowdown in lending to farm sector. Anup Banerjee, a deputy managing director at SBI, said the circular has created some misunderstanding among the people.
2. Debit cards, instant like cash but seen as safer than credit cards, are turning into an aggressive mode of payment for e-commerce transactions. As many as 7,000 online transactions are being done on an average every day through debit cards, echoing a global trend.
3. Following the announcement of the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme by the Union Government today, banks have started collecting details about the loans disbursed and the eligible borrowers. As per the scheme, banks have to display the list of the eligible borrowers in their branches by June 30 and issue eligibility certificates as soon as possible. This will make it possible for farmers to borrow fresh loans for the next season, starting July.Banks will also have to post one or more grievance redressal officers in their branches.
4. Punjab National Bank on Friday said that it does not envisage any problems in the implementation of the farm debt waiver and debt relief scheme announced by the Government.
“The guidelines issued on Friday have removed all doubts and are sufficiently clear. Imlementation of the scheme by June 30 should not be a problem,” said Dr K.C. Chakrabarty, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, told Business Line.
“The guidelines issued on Friday have removed all doubts and are sufficiently clear. Imlementation of the scheme by June 30 should not be a problem,” said Dr K.C. Chakrabarty, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, told Business Line.
5. The country’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $1.381 billion to touch $314.081 billion for the week ended May 16, 2008, according to the RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement.
This is the second week in a row that forex reserves have increased. In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $200 million to $312.7 billion.During the week under review, foreign currency assets increased by $1.342 billion to $304.118 billion, primarily due to a currency revaluation effect. The dollar was steady to weak, against the euro, during that week.
This is the second week in a row that forex reserves have increased. In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $200 million to $312.7 billion.During the week under review, foreign currency assets increased by $1.342 billion to $304.118 billion, primarily due to a currency revaluation effect. The dollar was steady to weak, against the euro, during that week.
6. Concentrating on its core business without compromising on margins helped City Union Bank (CUB) post a 42 per cent increase in profits at Rs 102 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, Mr S. Balasubramanian, Chairman, said today. He said the bank had given a consistent performance on all parameters and its fee-based income had also grown to Rs 62 crs from Rs 38 crs in 2006-07.
7. The net profit of Federal Bank has registered an increase of 25.73 per cent touching Rs 368.05 crore as on March 31, as against Rs 292.73 crore achieved in the previous year.
8. LIC is eyeing at more than doubling its income from rented building property in the eastern zone to an estimated Rs 50 crore in the next two years. The rental income from LIC’s buildings has increased almost four-fold over the last five years and next year itself the earnings may reach the Rs 30-crore mark, he said. The Corporation had earned Rs 22 crore this financial year from its properties.LIC has almost 187 property documents in the eastern Zone comprising West Bengal and the states of North East, each property document consisting on an average of four-five buildings. In Kolkata alone, there are 81 buildings under LIC’s ownership including five heritage buildings.
9. Doha Bank is gearing up for a big splash in India—it intends to pick up stakes in Indian banks, strengthen its recently-acquired stock and commodity broking company, set up a non-banking finance company, an asset management company and get into non-life insurance business.
“We have a cash surplus of $800 million,” says Mr Raghavan Seetharaman, Group CEO, Doha Bank, adding “we are looking at acquisitions globally.”
“We have a cash surplus of $800 million,” says Mr Raghavan Seetharaman, Group CEO, Doha Bank, adding “we are looking at acquisitions globally.”
10. Canara Bank has received the ‘best bank’ award from Kerala’s Kudumbasree Mission for 2007-08.The award is in recognition of the bank’s performance in areas of poverty eradication and housing development for the poorer sections of the society in the State, according to a release from the bank.The bank has been ranked first for the ‘Bhavanasree’ micro-housing scheme of Kudumbasree and the Poverty Eradication Mission of the State Government. The bank disbursed loans worth Rs 508 lakh under the category to the members of the Kudumbasree’s community-based organisations.
