The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, April 05, 2007

HOUSING FINANCE
LIC Housing hikes lending rates
LIC Housing Finance has hiked its lending rates by 1.25 percentage points for floating and fixed rate loans effective from today. The floating rate has inched up to 11.25 per cent onwards from the earlier 10 per cent and the ... More

LIFE INSURANCE
ICICI Pru Life hikes capital by Rs 245 cr
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company has infused Rs 245 crore and taken its capital base to a total of Rs 2,060 crore, the highest among the domestic life insurers. This was the fourth equity hike in the last financial year. The two ... More

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS
IOB branch opened
Kerala Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Mr C.K. Divakaran inaugurated the new Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) branch converted from the erstwhile Bharat Overseas Bank (BhOB) branch at Annas Arcade at Spencer Junction here. This ... More

INTEREST RATES
EPF scheme amended to ensure interest payment at retirement
Organisation can pay interest at the last decided rate More

`Hike in interest rate will hit Tirupur knitwear exporters'
Tirupur knitwear exporters said the surge in bank lending rates — following last week's RBI hikes on repo rates and cash reserve ratio (CRR) — will adversely impact exports, especially garment shipments. The increased rate on ... More

GOVT BONDS
Bond prices gain
Bond prices gained by around 10 paise on signs of improvement in liquidity conditions. Total traded volumes on the order matching system were Rs 1,915 crore. Dealers said call rates showed signs of easing and closed at 7-8 per ... More

CRR & BANK RATES
Hike in risk weights, a more tangible tool
Last week ended with the `shock and awe' that the Reserve Bank of India administered by jacking up key rates. "This is part of the series of hikes which commenced on February 17, 2007 and an extension of the `monetary tool' that the RBI now can ... More

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Mandvi, Saraswat Bank swap at 1:1
The shareholders of Mandvi Co-operative Bank will get one share of Saraswat Bank for every share held in Mandvi. If the Mandvi shareholder wants to quit, he will be paid Rs 45 per share by the Saraswat Co-op Bank, said a senior official of ... More

OVERSEAS INVESTMENTS
PNB gets UK nod to operationalise arm
Capital infusion of £25 million required for formal licence More

INTERVIEW
`RBI measures won't impact inflation much'
Mr Haseeb Drabu, Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, states that they do not see any major impact of RBI measures on inflation. They do not anticipate another rate hike in the next few months. Mr Drabu comments that the impact of RBI's moves ... More

EVENTS
Pension reforms
CEO ROUNDTABLE: (FROM LEFT) MR DEEPAK M SATWALEKAR, MD & CEO, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company; Mr A. Vishwanathan, Commissioner, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation; Mr U. K. Sinha, CMD, UTI Asset Management Pvt. Ltd; and Mr Chandrajit .. More

PERFORMANCE
Vijaya Bank posts 39% growth
Vijaya Bank has reported total business of Rs 62,232 crore for FY07, a 39 per cent increase over FY06. Chairman and Managing Director Mr Prakash P. Mallya said the growth was well above the targeted Rs 55,000 crore for last financial year. ... More