Lakshmi Vilas Bank hikes lending rates by 25 bps

Lakshmi Vilas Bank has increased its base rate or the minimum lending rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 11.25 per cent (from 11 per cent).

The private sector bank also hiked its fixed deposit rates from 75 up to 275 bps in select maturities ranging from 15 days to 270 days period.

The revised rates will take effect from August 26, 2013.

“RBI's tight liquidity and high interest rate in the shorter end of the rate curve needs suitable adjustment in deposit rates and to align with shift of operating policy rate from Reverse Repo to MSF rate,” said Moses Harding, Executive Director of the bank.

It is also expected that high interest rate regime is there to stay till rupee settles down in its comfort zone and there is clarity on US Fed's stance of quantitative easing, he said.

beena.parmar@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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V. Kannan to head Vijaya Bank

The Centre has appointed V. Kannan as Chairman and Managing Director of Vijaya Bank. Kannan, who is currently an Executive Director at Oriental Bank of Commerce, is expected to assume charge of his new role on January 1 next year.

The Centre has also appointed Suresh N. Patel as Executive Director of Oriental Bank of Commerce.

Patel will assume charge as ED of Oriental Bank on January 1 when Kannan moves over to Vijaya Bank.

Patel is currently General Manager at Dena Bank.

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Exim Bank to open Myanmar office in September

The Export Import Bank of India will open its eighth overseas office in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, next month, a senior official said on Friday.

This is being done as a follow up to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to the neighbouring nation during which the two sides had signed MoUs worth $500 million for various projects.

These include irrigation and railway projects worth $199 million and $100 million, respectively. “We have requested the Government to finalise the remaining projects at the earliest,” said David Rasquinha, Executive Director, Exim Bank, here.

Exim Bank had so far contributed to the development of projects worth $250 million, including a Tata Motors’ vehicle assembly plant, in Myanmar.

Currently, Exim Bank has overseas offices in Singapore, Dubai, London and Washington DC, besides three offices in Africa.

Rasquinha said the Bank’s overseas payment receipts have been excellent and its non-performing assets negligible.

On rupee depreciation, he said it could benefit India in the long term as this currency has now become more competitive, particularly vis-à-vis those of Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia, whose currencies, too, have depreciated.

He said Exim Bank sees good business opportunity for India in Africa. Seven of the fastest growing economies are now in that continent whose entire GDP is almost equal to India’s $1.3 trillion. As on March 31, 2013, project export contacts valued at over Rs 1,16,000 crore ($21.37 billion), supported by Exim Bank, were under execution by 90 Indian companies in 68 countries across Asia, Africa and the CIS.

Of these, 163 projects worth Rs 20,682 crore in 41 countries are under Exim Bank’s Government of India-supported Lines of Credit (LoCs). The balance 130 projects worth Rs 95,337 crore in 40 countries, which are on progress-payment basis, have been supported by Exim Bank.

Recently, with Exim Bank’s support, Gujarat-based Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) secured a power transmission line contract worth $180.87 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Axis Bank hikes NRE deposit rates by 50-75 bps

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, has increased interest rates on Non-Resident External (NRE) fixed deposits for tenures above three years by 50-75 basis points (bps), with effect from August 24.

The bank also increased interest rates on Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR-B) deposits of tenures over three years by 100 bps, effective from August 17. Similarly, the rates for fixed deposits in other currencies have been hiked by one percentage point, the bank said.

For NRE fixed deposits of three to five years, the interest rate has been raised to 9.50 per cent from 8.75 per cent and for 5-10 years, it has been revised to 9.25 per cent from 8.50 per cent.

IDBI Bank

IDBI Bank has hiked FCNR (B) deposits for the tenor of three years and above by 100 basis points across all nine currencies.

In respect of NRE deposits, the rates have been hiked for tenors of more than three years and up to seven years by 25-50 bps. The bank is now offering a peak interest rate of 9.5 per cent on NRE deposits as a result of the revision.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank

Meanwhile, Lakshmi Vilas Bank also increased its lending and deposit rates. The bank hiked its base rate or the minimum lending rate by 25 bps to 11.25 per cent (from 11 per cent).

Its fixed deposit rates have been raised by 75-275 bps in select maturities ranging from 15 days to 270 days. The revised rates will come into effect from August 26.

beena.parmar@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Manappuram moves to new corporate office

Manappuram Finance, one of the leading gold-loan companies in the country, has a new corporate office.

On Friday, Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranaryanan, formally opened the new corporate office at Valapad in Thrissur district. He noted that just because the value of the rupee has gone down recently the Indian economy would not collapse as some doomsday predictions had made out to be.

He recalled that while hundreds of banks in the US and Europe had folded up in the wake of the global economic slowdown, none of the banks in India had closed, signalling the strength of the country’s banking system as well as of the economy.

V.P. Nandakumar, managing director and chief executive officer of the company, recalled that Manappuram Finance had its humble beginnings at the village of Valapad.

Source: thehindubusinessline

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