The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, February 21, 2009

MONEY & BANKING

CONSUMER FINANCE: SBI freezes new car loans at 10%, farm loans at 8% for a year
Limited period offer to run till May. Mumbai, Feb. 20 State Bank of India has taken the lead once again. This time, the country’s largest bank has frozen interest rates for a year on new car loans at 10 per cent and loans to farmers ...

CREDIT MARKET: Banks see slowdown in export credit
Demand slackens from overseas markets due to recession. Mumbai, Feb. 20 The lack of demand from overseas markets due to recession has led to a slowdown in export credit. Despite the Government offering subsidies in the form of subvention to ...

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: TMB net profit rises 60%
Tuticorin-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank’s net profit has increased 59.73 per cent, from Rs 71 crore to Rs 114 crore, on a year-on-year basis. According to Mr G. Narayanamoorthy, Managing Director and CEO, the total income grew from Rs ...

TECHNOLOGY: StanChart in shared ATM network
Standard Chartered Bank has joined the National Financial Switch (NFS) shared ATM network, which will allow its customers to access funds from over 30,000 ATMs across the country, said a press release issued by the bank. The NFS aims to connect ...

RBI & OTHER CENTRAL BANKS: ADB to kick off studies to foster deeper Asian currency bond markets
New Delhi, Feb. 20 With rapid expansion of bond markets in Asia and regional cross-border issuance and investment remaining meagre, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a series of studies to set the course for further development ...

CONSUMER FINANCE: SBI Bengal Circle car loan book grows 60%
Kolkata, Feb. 20 The Bengal Circle of State Bank of India has registered 60 per cent growth in its car loan portfolio during April 2008 – January 2009 on an annual ...

ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES: LIC ties up with public sector banks to cover SHGs
Kolkata, Feb. 20 The Life Insurance Corporation is looking at attaining its target of extending insurance cover to self-help groups (SHGs) in 2008-09 by partnering with public ...

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: Foreign equity in domestic insurance cos cannot exceed 26%: IRDA
Hyderabad, Feb. 20 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has clarified that the equity held by a foreign company in domestic insurance companies cannot exceed 26 per cent as laid down in the IRDA (Registration of Indian ...

FOREX: Rupee ends down in thin volumes
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NBFCS: IDBI Trust notified as SPV
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FOREX: Forex reserves fall $1.84 b
Mumbai, Feb. 20 The country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.84 billion to $249.692 billion for the week ended ...

AWARDS & HONOURS: South Indian Bank awarded
South Indian Bank has bagged the award for the best bank in asset quality among all private sector banks in India from Dun & Bradstreet. South Indian Bank could bring down its gross non-performing assets from 4.99 per cent in March 2006 ...