Only
the most hardcore enthusiast and diehard follower of the Indian business scene would
have been “excited” by the events of today. Even a dorky one as yours truly was
definitely unexcited by the big deal which unfolded today. Lo And Behold: - The Reserve Bank of India’s
Quarterly Credit Policy. But since I opted to torture myself by listening to
the RBI governor D.Subbabrao’s long and boring speech about India’s battle from
the clutches of the world recession out of the singular hope that there might
be a remote chance of some exciting changes, but
after a long winding speech the credit policy simply turned out to be a buffer
to the country’s long term growth plans.
One of the foremost criticisms
about the Interim Budget the past month has been that it’s been a lot more
descriptive instead of being a lot more prescriptive. The focus as we have made
clear in the past has been on the General Elections. The breakdown in the Finance
Ministry over the past three months would have been passed off under normal circumstances.
However the global economic crisis is needless to say a game changer.
Now that the dates for the
elections are finally out the Indian economy must rely on its chief regulatory
institutions for guidance. The present government is busy pre occupied with the
election and a new one will be declared only on May 16.Assuming that the new
government takes charge only in the middle of June; India is looking at a four
month lull in concrete policy which in this time is very discouraging.
In conjunction with www.compete.com, The India Street has compiled the online statistics for India’s top Banks. In terms of Online usage in visits, ICICI Bank clearly leads the pack while Citibank is close behind. Noticeably, State Bank of India’s traffic has decreased 21% year over year while ICICI Bank has risen an astounding 76.9% year over year.
Financial intermediation in the organized sector of India is conducted by a wide array of institutions functioning under the overall surveillance of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
It has come into the notice that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government are working on new methods to minimize liquidity in the face of relentless forex inflows without only relying on instruments such as the cash reserve ratio (CRR).
No doubt, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex is making valiant attempts to decisively cross the 14,697 peak it reached on February 8 but has not been able to ever since.
Home loan borrowers in India have to wait for a bit before they see interest rates softening up. Home loan experts while speaking to The India Street has said that this can only happen if the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxes few of the fiscal curbs it has imposed on banks.
Indian government may minimize custom duties on number of items to keep inflation below 5 percent. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, while talking to The India Street said government was ready to take further fiscal steps to control inflation and keep it below 5 percent.
One of the foremost criticisms
about the Interim Budget the past month has been that it’s been a lot more
descriptive instead of being a lot more prescriptive. The focus as we have made
clear in the past has been on the General Elections. The breakdown in the Finance
Ministry over the past three months would have been passed off under normal circumstances.
However the global economic crisis is needless to say a game changer.
