Reserve Bank of India sees inflation risks, limited room to ease policy

The RBI chief struck a hawkish note on Saturday and said there are upside risks to inflation from food and commodity prices, while room for monetary easing is limited.Headline inflation slowed to its lowest level in more than three years in January, but some analysts say the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will watch the fiscal and current account gap and inflation risks before easing again."There are upside risks for inflation. In particular, food prices are going up as result of cyclical factors ... Then there is pressure on inflation from global...

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Sebi allows mutual funds to lend idle gold

Gold demand will soften a little and returns on gold mutual funds will inch up with the capital market regulator allowing fund houses to invest their idle gold.Gold mutual funds can now invest in gold deposit schemes of banks provided they limit their investments to 20% of the total asset base of the scheme, said a Sebi release.This will enable the funds to earn a return on the gold they deposit and allow banks to lend gold to jewellers. Tapping a slice of this idle asset will lower demand and therefore gold import. "This will help gold ETFs...

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Corporation Bank conducts roadshow

Corporation Bank on Friday organised a roadshow to market its new savings account variants — ‘Corp Super’ and ‘Corp Signature’ — in Mangalore.A press release said here that the bank launched a door-to-door campaign for the newly launched savings account variants.Through this drive, the staff members reach out to customers in residential areas, business establishments, government organisations, corporates, etc.Participation by individual staff member will inculcate the habit of pursuing and seeking business opportunities outside the branch to...

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SBI to offer loans for buying micro-irrigation systems

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has entered into a partnership with Mahindra group company, EPC Industrie Ltd, to provide loans to farmers who wish to use EPC’s micro-irrigation systems.“EPC will assist the bank in identifying eligible farmers with a requirement for micro-irrigation systems, crop management services and agriculture pumps,” SBI said in a release.The bank said that it expects that a large number of farmers will be financed through this tie-up in the coming months as the use of water-saving methods like...

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RBI tweaks gold deposit scheme of banks

Seeking to unfreeze idle gold, the RBI made the gold deposit scheme of banks more attractive by lowering the investment time period and allowing mutual funds to participate in the scheme.“It had now been decided to change the maturity period, of gold deposit schemes, ranging from six months to seven years,” the RBI said in a circular.Earlier the maturity period for the said scheme was between three and seven years.As per the estimates of an RBI committee, about 20,000 tonnes of idle gold is lying with the people.The central bank wants to channel...

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SBI net profit up 4% at Rs 3,396 cr in Q3

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India has reported a 4 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 3,396 crore for the October-December quarter this fiscal, according to a release filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange.The profit was muted on the back of higher provisions and bad loans.The public sector bank had posted a net profit of Rs 3,263 crore in the year-ago period.Net interest income (difference between interest earned and interest expended) grew 6 per cent to Rs 1,215 crore from Rs 1,152 crore in Q3FY12.During the quarter, provisions...

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LIC Housing Fin Q3 net drops 23% on higher finance costs

LIC Housing Finance’s third-quarter net profit fell 23 per cent to Rs 236.24 crore (Rs 305.63 crore, a year ago) as the home loan provider made higher provisions to cover loan losses and finance costs increased.In the October-December period, the housing finance arm of Life Insurance Corporation of India set aside Rs 31.56 crore to cover potential loan losses.In the corresponding quarter last year, the company had realised Rs 80 crore due to reversal in provisions.Finance costs increased 27 per cent to Rs 1,535 crore (Rs 1,213 crore).Total...

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Syndicate Bank to open specialised branches in AP

Syndicate Bank is planning to expand its branch network in Andhra Pradesh by 150-200, and it would focus on opening specialised branches in the north-coastal Andhra region, including for agriculture, MSME and personal banking, according to Executive Director Anjaneya Prasad. At present, the bank has 411 branches in the State.He said in an interview that the bank had a limited presence in the region. The number of branches in the port city would go up to 10 by the end of this fiscal. “The four districts together have 28 branches and the plan...

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SBI opens e-corners in Kolkata

State Bank of India, Kolkata Circle opened five e-corners in various parts of the city on Thursday. The e-corners will have various facilities including ATM, cash deposit machines, self-service kiosk (for passbook printing, fund transfer, NEFT, account statement, cheque book request, bill payments) and coin vending machine, said a bank statement.These e-corners would help cater to the day-to-day banking needs of the customers 24x7.The bank also plans to set up such e-corner outlets in various districts of West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman and...

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Market regulator Sebi freezes assets of Subrata Roy and two Sahara Group companies

The Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, on Wednesday seized bank accounts and properties of two Sahara Group companies and its promoter - the enigmatic and colourful Subrata Roy - a move that could make it difficult for the Lucknow-based group to carry out normal business.In an order issued late Wednesday evening, the capital market regulator ordered the attachment of the bank accounts and properties of Roy and a few other directors; assets of two Sahara Group companies that had forayed into real estate; development rights on thousands...

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Syndicate Bank plans regional office in Vizag

Syndicate Bank is planning to open a regional office here after strengthening the branch network, according to Executive Director M. Anjaneya Prasad.He was speaking to presspersons here on Wednesday after the inauguration of the bank’s ninth branch in the city on Sankaramatham Road (Madhuranagar) on Wednesday. It was the 2,777 branch of the bank and 411 branch in Andhra Pradesh. The branch was opened by Dredging Corporation of India CMD D.K. Mohanty.Prasad said the bank had a good network in Karnataka and other parts of the country. The bank...

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United Bank enters into pact with Piaggio

United Bank of India has entered into an agreement with Piaggio Vehicles Ltd for financing light commercial vehicles manufactured by the company.The bank has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Piaggio, which manufactures three and four-wheeler light commercial vehicles under the brands Ape, Porter and Cargo.The MoU will facilitate the bank to increase its exposure in the micro sector. The bank aims to bring more than 30,000 micro entrepreneurs into its fold during the next fiscal, a bank statement said. MSME portfolio With...

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YES Bank looking to boost lending to small units

Private sector lender YES Bank plans to grow its micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) portfolio by Rs 500 crore in the January-March quarter.Due to pressure on the bad loans front across the banking sector, the private sector lender will end the financial year with a MSME loan portfolio of Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 6,500 crore as at December-end 2012) against the target of Rs 7,500 crore.“MSME lending will be evergreen. We take care of pricing when it comes to NPAs. Our target on MSME loan portfolio was to touch Rs 7,500 crore this fiscal. But...

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Syndicate Bank targets Rs 3,50,000-cr biz by March-end: ED

Syndicate Bank is aiming at Rs 3,50,000 crore business by the end of March and to take the number of branches to 3,000, said M. Anjaneya Prasad, Executive Director.He was speaking while inaugurating the Akkayyapalem branch, Vizag, the ninth branch in the city and 411 in Andhra Pradesh.Prasad said the bank had at present 2,777 branches (including one in London), with a total business of Rs 3,00,723 crore (deposits amounting to Rs 1,64,075 crore and the rest advances). He added that one more branch would be opened shortly at Vepagunta in the...

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Karnataka Bank to sell Reliance Cap MF products

Karnataka Bank has entered into distribution agreement to sell mutual fund products of Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd.A bank release said here on Tuesday that these products will be sold through the branches of the bank. The exchange of agreements took place in the presence of P. Jayarama Bhat, Managing Director of Karnataka Bank, and Himanshu Vyapak, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Capital Asset Management Company Ltd, in Mangalore on Tuesday.Quoting Bhat, the release said that the tie-up is an initiative to provide customers...

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IOB expects credit growth of 18 per cent in FY13

State-owned Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) today said it expects loan growth of about 18 per cent in the current fiscal."In the current fiscal (2012-13), we may be growing by at least 16-18 per cent," IOB Chairman and Managing Director M Narendra said during an event at Hansraj College here.The Chennai-based bank recorded a 7 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 116.50 crore during the third quarter ended December 2012.The Reserve Bank of India has projected 16 per cent credit growth for the banking sector for the current fiscal.Speaking on the...

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All India bank officers to strike on Feb 20, 21

Banking services across the country are likely to be affected following a two-day strike call given by All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) from February 20, in support of their charter of demands.Over 50,000 officers would participate in the strike, which is likely to affect cheque transactions to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore, S Nagarajan, General Secretary of AIBOA, the second largest officers’ union in the banking industry, said.He said that the strike in the banking sector would synchronise with the central trade unions’ strike.Their...

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Allahabad Bank cuts base rate by 30 bps

Allahabad Bank plans to reduce its base rate and benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by 30 basis points effective February 18.Post revision, the base rate would stand at 10.20 per cent (10.50 per cent) while BPLR will be 14.45 per cent (14.75 per cent), said a bank press statement.shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in Source: thehindubusinesslin...

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Axis Bank, Nabard form farmers’ club

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, has formed Farmers’ Club across 12 States in association with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to develop rural areas through credit, technology transfer, awareness and capacity building.Under this club, 106 farmers were promoted through 16 agri business centres of Axis Bank over the last one year, the private lender said in a statement.Farmers’ Club is a grass-root level informal association comprising 10-15 farmers of the same or nearby villages promoted...

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SKS concludes securitisation of two loans worth Rs 390 crore

SKSMicrofinance said it has concluded securitisation of two loans given to small borrowers aggregating to Rs 390 crore.With this, SKS Microfinance has completed seven securitization transactions aggregating to Rs 803 crore in FY13, SKS said in a statement.SKS Chief Financial Officer S Dilli Raj said the present transactions generate liquidity of Rs 370 crore for SKS Microfinance Ltd, country's only listed micro-lender, and also bring in the concomitant capital relief."Notably, 26 per cent of the pool is from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe...

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Punjab & Sind Bank to get Rs 140-cr capital infusion

State-owned Punjab & Sind Bank said it will get Rs 140-crore fund infusion through preferential issue of shares to the Government by end of next month.The bank proposes preferential allotment of 1.98 crore shares to the Government aggregating about Rs 140 crore, Punjab & Sind Bank said in a statement.The proposed price for preferential issue is Rs 70.66 a share including premium of Rs 60.66 per unit, it saidFollowing the infusion, the Government holding in the bank will go up to 79.86 per cent against the existing 78.16 per cent. With...

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UCO Bank cuts base rate by 30 bps

UCO Bank has reduced its base rate by 30 basis points to 10.20 per cent from the existing 10.50 per cent. The benchmark prime lending rate has also been reduced by 50 basis points to 14.5 per cent.The revised rates will come into effect from February 11, said a bank statement. Source: thehindubusinesslin...

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KVB cuts base rate by 25 bps

Karur Vysya Bank has reduced the base rate by 25 bps and hiked the one to two-year term deposit rate by 50 bps with effect from February 3.Post this reduction, the base rate now stands at 10.75 per cent and the benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) at 15.75 per cent.The rate offered on its domestic and NRE term depositshas been increased by 50 bps to 9.5 per cent for the one to two-year period. Senior citizens would get an additional half-per cent, the bank said in a release. Source: thehindubusinesslin...

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Syndicate Bank gets board nod to raise Rs 1,500 cr equity capital

Syndicate Bank’s board has cleared the proposal to raise Rs 1,500 crore equity capital from the market and Rs 2,000 crore via tier-II bonds, the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director M. G. Sanghvi told newspersons here.“But we will raise it depending on the market condition. We are expecting the Government to infuse some capital. We understand that some announcement on this line will be made in the Budget. We will have to wait and see.“Meanwhile, the bank’s board had cleared a proposal for raising equity capital from the market. We have applied...

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J&K Bank eyes 20% credit growth in FY14

The Jammu and Kashmir Bank is targeting a credit growth of 20 per cent next fiscal and will gradually be increasing the share of advances in its home state, a top official has said.“We will grow our overall credit by 20 per cent and deposits by around 16-17 per cent in FY14,” the Srinagar headquartered public sector bank’s Chairman and Chief Executive Mushtaq Ahmad told PTI here.Lending in Jammu and Kashmir, which accounts for a little over 40 per cent of the book at present, will grow by 25 per cent while the same in rest of India will grow...

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Entry of new banks will promote healthy competition, says PNB chief

The Reserve Bank of India might soon come out with its final guidelines on new bank licences, said Punjab National Bank Chairman and Managing Director K. R. Kamath.The entry of new banks into the system would encourage healthy competition, thereby benefiting customers, he said.In August 2011 the central bank had issued draft guidelines, according to whichfirms with an exposure of 10 per cent or more to real estate and brokerage businesses by revenue or assets might not be eligible for applying for bank licences. The RBI had also fixed the minimum...

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18 EDs in race for CMD posts in 9 banks

As many as eighteen executive directors of various public sector banks are in the fray for the post of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) in about nine banks.Interviews for the posts of CMDs, which are likely to fall vacant this year, will be held in the Capital on Monday, sources said.The selection panel will include Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru and RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha. There will also be interviews for the posts of executive directors on Tuesday and Wednesday.As many as 35 general managers in various banks are in...

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