Trouble in the power sector notwithstanding, the portfolio of L&T Infrastructure Finance is not “stressed”, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
HDFC Bank, India's third largest lender by assets, has cut back a little on corporate lending in order to protect margins, a senior official said.
India’s second-largest private lender HDFC Bank on Thursday posted a 31.4% year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs. 1,429.7 crore for the quarter ended December, 2011 compared to Rs. 1,199 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, helped by healthy growth in loans and interest income.
The government’s plan to tap into India’s vast postal system to reach out to the unbanked population by utilising offices across the country as banks is expected to take some shape this year as the proposal has been sent to the finance ministry for its nod.
Crisil Ratings on Tuesday said the repeated interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and lower operating profits due to high input costs have pulled down Indian firms’ interest-paying ability to a five-year low.
Similar to mobile number portability, the government is now working towards allowing a savings bank accountholder to retain his account number while switching over to another bank.
HT reports.
With just about three months left for the financial year 2011-12 to draw to a close, the finance ministry has asked public sector banks (PSUs) to revise their business targets upward for the current financial year, as the economy shows clear signs of slowdown, a government source familiar with the development said.
As 2011 draws to a close, high-flying investment bankers (i-bankers) have emerged a worried lot. Mahua Venkatesh reports.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is lending €489 billion ($639 billion) to the continent’s banks for an unprecedented three years in an effort to bolster Europe’s stressed financial system.
Competition to attract depositors is getting fierce. Private sector lender Yes Bank on Thursday announcing a hike in its savings deposit rates to 7% from 6%.
Apart from buying physical gold, investing in gold schemes of mutual funds is also fast catching up with retail investors in India.
Sachin Kumar reports.
How they stack upAfter routing payments for crude oil purchases from Iranian oil companies via Turkey, the state-owned companies have now proposed an additional payment mechanism to the Central Bank (RBI) by routing such payments via Russia.
Anupama Airy reports.
Exploring new options for payments
Just weeks after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deregulated interest rates on non-resident external (NRE) rupee deposits and ordinary non-resident accounts, State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Kotak Mahindra Bank on Tuesday announced a hike in interest rates offered on NRE deposits by over 5 percentage points.
HT reports.
Dollar mantraHome loan demand in India has managed to grow in the last one year despite continuous interest rates hikes by the banks. Sachin Kumar & Sachin Dave report.
The market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is reviewing the process for initial public offerings, its chairman said on Thursday, a day after it banned seven small companies from fund-raising for what it said were IPO rule violations.
Watchdog bites