The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, December 18, 2002

`Cheaper loans vital for farm sector'
FARMERS would be able to compete in the international market only if the interest rates on agricultural loans are brought down below 6 per cent, as in most other countries, and the commercial banks step up priority sector lending, especially to ... More

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Goldquest plans to set up mint in Bangalore
GOLDQUEST International, a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing company dealing in numismatic and medallion collectibles, plans to set up a mint in Bangalore at the cost of $25 million and has approached the Reserve Bank of India for permission. ... More

FOREX

Re edges up; gilts rally
Mumbai: THE rupee closed stronger at 48.1375/1425 against the dollar on Tuesday as compared to Monday's close of 48.1450/1500 in the forex market. There was good supply of the greenback, especially through foreign institutional investors, which ... More

Capital flows drive rupee
LONG has the rupee provided a living for forex dealers, brokers and consultants — because it was always a one-way bet. The question was not whether it would depreciate but how much. There were some periods of stability — the early ... More

AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

RIDF: Working at cross-purposes
THE Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) operated by Nabard seems to have failed its mandate and "Nabard has little incentive to improve the situation.'' That is the finding of a research paper published by Alice Albin Morris and ... More

PRIVATE BANKS

No Hawk eye?
EVERY nationalised and private sector bank has an RBI nominee on its board. And, every major decision of consequence has to be ratified by the board of directors before the bank can enforce it. And to sustain its keen vigil, the apex bank has a ... More

ICICI Bank offers to help Federal, South Indian Bank
ICICI Bank has said that it was open to providing resources to support the capital base of both Federal Bank Ltd and South Indian Bank. Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Mr K.V. Kamath, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ... More

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS

SBI, BoI going in for US GAAP
STATE Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of India (BoI) are going in for US GAAP. This is viewed as a prelude to listing by the banks in a US exchange. SBI has already appointed global consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to advise the bank ... More

Corpn Bank, Bank of Rajasthan to share teller machines
THE Mangalore-based public sector Corporation Bank and the private sector Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) signed an agreement in Jaipur on Wednesday for the mutual sharing of their automated teller machine (ATM) networks. The agreement between the two ... More

NON-PERFORMING ASSETS

Banks meet today on Roofit asset seizure
A CONSORTIUM of banks led by Karnataka Bank may soon invoke the Securitisation Act to seize the assets of Roofit Industries Ltd, manufacturer of asbestos cement sheets, to recover about Rs 250 crore in advances and interest due. According to ... More

SECURITISATION

SBI, BoI to test waters in securitisation market
EMPOWERED by the Securitisation Act, several public sector banks that were reluctant to enter the Rs 15,000-crore asset securitisation market, are preparing to test the waters. State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest commercial bank, ... More

FIXED DEPOSITS

BoI cuts deposit rates
BANK of India (BoI) has revised interest rates on domestic rupee term deposits of less than Rs 1 crore, downwards by 25-40 basis points, in the maturity buckets of `40 days to 90 days and above'. The new rates will be effective from December 18. ... More

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

The bank that grew too big, too fast
With its net worth wiped clean and mounting losses and NPAs, Nedungadi Bank is banking on white knight Punjab National Bank to bail it out. C. J. Punnathara looks at the twists and turns in the Kerala-based bank's journey downhill. More

Valuing a failed bank
Will PNB gain if it decides to take Nedungadi Bank in its fold? Suresh Krishnamurthy on the credits and debits of the proposed merger. More

EVENTS

`Pricing, service key to success in insurance'
CONFEDERATION of Indian Industry (CII), Kerala organised a one-day seminar on `Insurance: The Secure Morrow' on Tuesday in order to provide an opportunity for the industry to network with insurance companies. Inaugurating the seminar, Mr N. ... More

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