D.A. Chart for Nov-09,Dec-09 and Jan-2009

D.A. Chart for Nov-09,Dec-09 and Jan-2009

D.A. Chart for Nov-09,Dec-09 and Jan-2009

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Bank guarantee issue limits

Banks can now issue guarantees to service importers for an amount of up to $5,00,000 or equivalent, following the move by the Reserve Bank of India to increase the limit. In a notification, the RBI increased the limit for issuing bank guarantees from the earlier $1,00,000 or equivalent. Banks are allowed to issue guarantees in favour of a non-resident service provider, on behalf of a resident customer who is a service importer.

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Banks prepared to check fake currency menace: RBI

Banks are fully geared to check the menace caused by fake currency, a senior official of the Reserve Bank of India said. Reserve Bank of India Regional Director J Sadakkadulla said a high-level committee headed by RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat had recommended installing of note sorting machines (NSMs) in all bank branches in a phased manner and has asked the banks to give a road map to the RBI to achieve this task. He said the number of fake notes in India was just eight pieces per million which is one of the lowest in the world. "The total circulation of the currency in India is 48 billion pieces and the fake currency merely 0.0008 per cent of that," he added. "The market price of the note-sorting machine is Rs 10 lakh and will decrease in the near future,' said Sadakkadulla. He said earlier, it was only the currency chest of the banks which were required to install note sorting machines. "But now each branch of the bank will have to go for note-sorting machines," he asserted. At present, only about 4,000 currency chests have these machines and about 70,000 bank branches that are present all over the country require them.

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Rising rupee a big worry for exporters

Over 10 per cent rise of rupee against the US dollar has become a "big worry" for exporters at a time when they saw arrest in sharp decline in the country's exports amidst a hope of recovery. The dollar is trading at below Rs 47, weakening by over 10 per cent from Rs 52.17 in the first week of March 2009. "The appreciating rupee will have negative effect on exporters, who are already facing lack of orders," Federation of Indian Export Organisations President A Sakthivel said. He said weak dollar results in falling margins for exporters as their rupee realisations drop, which in turn affects their negotiating power with the global buyers. "Appreciating rupee is a big worry ... we were getting help from strong dollar," Chairman of Council for Leather Exports Habib Hussain said. Though dollar has seen a sharp decline against major currencies of the world, bulk of India's trade is done through the US currency. Exports have been declining since October 2008 under the impact of recession in the world's major economies. However, the contraction in exports, which dipped by 30 per cent in March and April, reduced to 19.4 per cent in August this year.

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Coming soon: Cheque-reading ATMs

Need cash urgently but have already overdrawn from your account? You have a cheque from a client but it is of little use in the dead of night. Lost or misplaced your debit card and need cash to pay the party organiser for your little one's first birthday celebrations? Help is on way, as a couple of banks in India are testing a technology that facilitates instant cheque encashing at ATMs. Used widely across North America and Europe, cheque truncating machines (CTM)—the contraption that make real-time cheque verification and clearance possible—sit inside special ATMs that the world’s largest makers of these machines, like US-based NCR Corp and Diebold Inc, are now hawking to few banks in India. Governmentowned State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, IDBI and ING Vysya are a few banks that have evinced interest in such ATMs. Banking regulator RBI too has welcomed the move, saying it will be good for customers. Pradeep Sen, MD, NCR India says that the company has been showcasing its CTM-ATMs to banks in India since last month. “We will also be launching new ATM machines, in which you can just insert a bundle of notes of any denomination. The ATMs will read the notes, and credit the amount in your account instantly,” he says. Currently, one has to put cash inside an envelope to deposit inside ATM. It gets credited in about 24 hours. There are over 48,000 ATMs in the country, split between three big makers––NCR , Diebold and Germanybased Wincor Nixdorf.

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