RBI sold dollars in October

The Reserve Bank of India intervened in the foreign exchange market for the second month in a row, selling $943 million (Rs 4,714 crore) in October, according to the RBI's 'Current Statistics’ data.

The bank sold $845 million in September. In both these months, the central bank did not buy any dollars.

Contrary to belief that the RBI has been keeping its hands off the foreign currency market, it appears to have intervened to ward off extreme volatility. The rupee had touched a low of Rs 50.32, intra-day, on October 21. The rupee has fallen 19 per cent against the dollar so far in 2011.

The average price (based on the rupee equivalent of the contract rate given by the RBI) at which the central bank sold dollars in September was at Rs 48.99/dollar and, in October, it was Rs 49.98 a dollar.

Net sellers after 2009

The sale of dollars by the RBI in September and October comes after a nine-month hiatus. The bank last sold dollars in November 2010. It, however, bought more dollars than it sold that month. The RBI had, in the whole of FY-11, intervened in the currency market only during four months and was a net buyer in all those months.

The last time the RBI sold more than it bought was in 2009 – April, May, July and November – when the economy was struggling to recover from the global crisis. The rupee had touched a low of Rs 52.02 on March 9, 2009.

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Parliamentary panel recommends CBI probe against IFCI MD

Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) CEO and MD Atul Kumar Rai is in the dock with a Parliamentary Committee finding him guilty of supressing facts regarding his appointment in 2007 and recommending a CBI probe into it.

The Parliamentary Committee of Privileges also found Rai guilty of misbehaving with BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy when he had gone to meet the official to discuss some issue.

In its report tabled in the Rajya Sabha, the Committee headed by K Rahman Khan, said, “Rai suppressed factual information pertaining to his appointment as CEO/MD of IFCI.”

The Committee observed that Rai was a Director in the Ministry of Finance and was also nominated to the IFCI Board.

Rai, who belonged to Indian Economic Service, had taken voluntary retirement from February 28, 2007 citing personal and family grounds.

It said that Rai gave false declaration and suppresed vital information before taking up the IFCI job.

The Committee said it was, therefore, recommending that its observations relating to Rai’s conduct “be given serious consideration and properly examined for a CBI probe in the whole matter by the government to find out the facts and fix responsibility at the higher level in the then hierarchy of officers in the Department of Financial Services.”

The Committee went into the matter following a complaint by Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Pratap Rudy that Rai misbehaved with him.

Talking to reporters, Rudy said that during investigation by the Committee, “it was found the appointment of Atul Rai as IFCI CEO was manipulated and fraudulent...He had submitted a fraud certificate to the government.”

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Over 3,100 RRB branches to be opened in 2 years

The Government today said over 3,100 branches of regional rural banks (RRBS) will be opened in different parts of the country in the next two years.

The Minister of State for Finance, Mr Namo Narain Meena, said during Question Hour that 1,297 branches of RRBs would be opened in 2012 and 1,845 in the following year.

As on March 2011, there were 82 RRBs with 16,001 branches. There are 19 nationalised banks with 44,369 branches and 20 private sector banks with 11,874 branches in the country, as on September-end. Besides, 39 foreign banks are operating in the country with 319 branches.

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PNB's total business set to cross Rs 6 lakh cr by this year

The total business of Punjab National Bank (PNB) is set to cross Rs 6 lakh crore in the third quarter ending December 31, 2011.

The bank had reached a total business of Rs 5.90 lakh crore at the end of the second quarter, showing a year-on-year growth of 22.5 per cent. The deposits grew by 25 per cent to Rs 3.41 lakh crore and the advances by 19.3 per cent to Rs 2.49 lakh crore.

The bank's deposits are expected to grow by 21-22 per cent and credit by 19-20 per cent, year-on-year, by the end of the current financial year and this will be around two per cent more than the average industry growth rate, according to Mr K.R. Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director.

Saving fund campaign

He said here on Monday that the bank was awaiting regulatory approvals for acquiring 30 per cent stake in MetLife India Ltd. It had already entered into a corporate agency arrangement with the life insurance major and started selling policies through its branches.

Mr Kamath said that the bank had launched a ‘saving fund campaign' from August 1 to September 30 this year and opened 20.60 lakh saving fund accounts during the period. It had also unveiled a ‘special agriculture credit campaign' from October 15 to November 30 to boost direct agriculture advances.

Biz growth in Kerala

The bank's total business in Kerala grew by around 30 per cent, year-on-year, to cross Rs 7,000 crore as on December 2. The deposits recorded a growth of 36 per cent to Rs 3,600 crore, while the advances grew by more than 24 per cent to Rs 3,400 crore. The credit-deposit ratio of the bank in the State stood at 91.25 per cent.

PNB is opening a new branch in the Kozhikode circle on Tuesday, taking the total number of branches in the circle to 81 and in the State to 141. As part of the saving fund campaign, a total of 40,604 accounts were also opened in the State during the August-September period.

Under the financial inclusion programme, the bank has been allotted eight villages in Kerala, out which all the six villages in Kozhikode circle have achieved the goal.

vinoottan@thehindu.co.in

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South Indian Bank to open corporate finance branches

South Indian Bank is planning to open exclusive corporate finance branches in metro cities to tap potential in corporate sector, according to its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr V A Joseph.

Speaking to newspersons after inauguration of 15 branches in Andhra Pradesh here on Monday, Dr Joseph said the corporate finance branches would be opened in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata during next financial year.

“Our target is to generate at least Rs 1,000 crore business in each of these branches,'' he said.

Speaking earlier at a function to electronically inaugurate the branches, Dr Joseph said the 82-year-old bank would soon begin operations in Nagaland. “With this, we will be in 27 States and Union Territories making our bank a pan-India bank,'' he said.

To hire 1,000

Plans were afoot to recruit over 1,000 including professionals in engineering and chartered accountancy, he said.

Mr Amitabha Guha, Non-Executive Chairman, said the total number of branches would be increased from existing 675 to 700 before March 31, 2012.

The focus was on financial inclusion. “Out of 15 branches opened today, 11 are in the unbanked areas of Ranga Reddy district,'' Mr Guha added.

Mr E.S.L. Narasimhan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, who formally inaugurated the braches, said there was a need to upgrade security features on electronic banking.

nagsridhu@thehindu.co.in

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