The Hindu Business Line : Friday, May 25, 2007

INSIGHT
Exports, more than rupee's worth
Global experience has shown that a fixed or rigid exchange rate is a sure recipe for economic problems; — in extreme cases, as in several Latin American countries, it may also assume disastrous proportions. Equally, a fully flexible ... More

ECB curbs and market-control measures — Does the RBI have a choice?
Given the current state of market development and the multiple responsibilities which the RBI shoulders, resorting to direct market-control measures does appear inevitable. More

FOREX
Rupee weakens by 3-4 paise
The rupee weakened by around three to four paise on the RBI intervention in the forex market on Thursday. The home currency opened at 40.53/55, traded in a range of 40.53-40.61 and finally closed at 40.60/61 against the previous ... More

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Catholic Syrian Bank net zooms 210%
Catholic Syrian Bank has posted a 210-per cent increase in the net profit to Rs 19.07 crore for 2006-07, compared with Rs 6.14 crore the previous year. The board of directors has recommended a dividend of 15 per cent. Operating profit grew to ... More

Centurion Bank of Punjab Q4 net up 7.6%
Registers 72% growth in advances to Rs 11,221 crore More

CONSULTING
PSU non-life insurers seek consulting help
For fashioning `a transformation strategy' More

SOFTWARE
Tavant, Overture's lending tool
Tavant Technologies, provider of IT solutions to the mortgage industry, and Overture Technologies, mortgage industry's developer of automated underwriting systems, have announced the launch of an end-to-end lending solution for ... More

DEBT MARKET
Rs 20,000-cr limit for WMA in H1
The limit for Ways and Means Advances (WMA) to the Government will be Rs 20,000 crore for the first half of the year, 2007-08 (April to September) and Rs 6,000 crore for the second half of the year (October to March). "When 75 ... More

INTEREST RATES
Growth, inflation and interest rates
Oftentimes, inflation is a by-product of growth, as India is experiencing, and the policy response is usually to raise interest rates. But there may be other solutions too that will not slow the economy. More

GOVT BONDS
Bond prices slip 10 paise
Bond prices slipped by around 10 paise in anticipation of the Rs 8,000-crore government securities auction on Friday. Total traded volumes on the order-matching system were at Rs 1,150 crore (Rs 2,090 crore). "Volumes were thin ... More

CORPORATE BONDS
ITI's bond issue downgraded to `default'
Moving from the best credit risk to the worst in one stroke. That is the fate of ITI Ltd, a cash-strapped public sector undertaking that has seen its bond programme going from a Triple A rating (AAA) to a default rating in one go. ITI says it ... More

SHORT TERM INSTRUMENTS
Call rates end at 7.80%
The inter-bank call rate closed at 7.60-7.80 per cent (7.7-7.8 per cent). In the first one-day repo auction, there were two bids for Rs 300 crore and there were no bids in the reverse repo auction. In the second one-day repo ... More

OVERSEAS INVESTMENTS
PNB gets licence for Hong Kong branch
Punjab National Bank has received the licence for opening a full-fledged branch in Hong Kong, said the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr S.C. Gupta. "We will be opening our Hong Kong branch before July 31," he added. PNB had recently ... More

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
RBI nod for delivering cash at doorstep
Instead, you can call up your bank branch or make an online request and have the cash delivered right at your doorstep. Taking the doorstep banking service one step forward, the Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to deliver cash at the ... More

OUTLOOK
SBT aims at higher business this fiscal
State Bank of Travancore (SBT) hopes to achieve total business of Rs 1 lakh crore over the next three years. The optimism of the management stems from the fact that the bank's business crossed the Rs 50,000-crore mark and reached Rs 56,065 ... More

PSBs' portfolio revamp likely to hit asset yields
Average yield may fall below 9% in the current quarter More