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2 slabs for customs NEW DELHI, May 14: The Union Government has decided to put in place a two tier structure....more ROME, May 14: Soaring national debt in Italy, pre-election tax cuts in France and a stagnant German economy...more HDFC
Fy 01-02 net up MUMBAI, May 14: Housing Development Finance Corporation’s (HDFC) net profit in Fy 2001-02 rose 22.5 per cent .......more Storage
networking BANGALORE, May 14: A four-day global conference and expo "storage networking summit 2002", will be inaugurated here ....more |
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Centre adopting NEW DELHI, May 14: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today said the Centre has adopted a "strictly professional approach" on encouraging States ......more India
to export 40,000 tonnes wheat to Oman, NEW DELHI, May 14: Indian wheat continues to be in demand in global market with the country bagging yet another order to export 40,000 tonnes to....more Call
rate firm, gilts MUMBAI, May 14: The overnight interest rate closed higher at 7.25-7.75 per cent on liquidity crunch on account of auction outflows and short supply at the interbank call money market today. Call rate opened higher at 7.60-8.00 per cent, stayed firm with increased demand for funds and short ...more |
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2 slabs for customs duty by 2004-05 NEW DELHI, May 14: The Union Government has decided to put in place a two tier structure for Customs duty by 2004-05 The existing rates would be adjusted and subsumed in the two basic rates—10 per cent and 20 per cent— Minister of State for Finance G N Ramchandran said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. However, some exceptions would be maintained on account of wto bindings or higher tariffs for agricultural products. The minister said the FICCI had submitted a memorandum to him for simplifying the Customs procedure and rates suggesting that the peak duty be maintained at 20 per cent in three years. Fund diversion: Mr Ramchandran said as per information received by the Reserve Bank of India from 95 scheduled commercial banks diversion of funds had been noticed in 1000 cases during the last 10 years. In most of such cases, the banks had either recalled the advances or had initiated legal action by filing suits for recovery of the outstanding amounts. In certain cases, firs had also been lodged with police and some cases were referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) and the appellate authority for industrial and financial reconstruction. Tax default: Mr Ramchandran said action under various penal provisions of the IT Act, 1961 had been taken in tax default cases involving Sahara India Financial Corporation, Sahara Mutual Benefit Co and Sahara India and IFCI. Appellate authorities had also been requested for speedy disposal of appeals, he said in a written answer. Kisan credit card: Minister of State for Finance Balasaheb Vikhe Patil said no instances of farmers using Kisan Credit Card for purchasing consumer goods like TV, motor cycles or refrigerators, instead of farm inputs, have come to light as per reports received from NABARD. All banks including commercial, cooperative and regional rural banks have issued over 83,82,000 kisan credit cards during 2001-2002 up to February 28 this year. Finance Commission: Mr Patil said State Governments had been asked to send their views and comments on the terms of reference of the proposed 12th finance commission. Their suggestions will be taken into consideration while finalilsing the terms of reference of the commission. The commission would be asked to submit its recommendations before the commencement of the 2005-06 fiscal. (UNI) |
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ROME, May 14: Soaring national debt in Italy, pre-election tax cuts in France and a stagnant German economy are threatening to bust the European "stability pact" on reducing budget deficits, and dangerously jeopardising the credibility of the euro currency. Italy’s latest national debt figures, showing the debt rising at a rate of seven per cent a year, will delay for at least another two years Italy’s promise to get into compliance with the stability-pact rules next year, officials in Rome told United Press International (UPI). At the same time, French President Jacques Chirac’s pledge to cut taxes by five per cent ahead of next month’s crucial parliamentary elections means that France will once again miss its stability-pact targets. "These rules are not imperatives," Chirac said during the Presidential election campaign last month. Now that he is bidding to get a conservative majority in next month’s national assembly elections, Chirac’s promise Saturday of a five percent tax cut makes it clear that he sees the rules as made to be broken. And Germany, which barely escaped a formal warning from the European Commission’s financial watchdogs in Brussels earlier this year, also looks almost certain to miss its own target to get the budget deficit down to less than two percent of GDP by 2004. The danger in this failure to maintain promised fiscal discipline by the three big economies of the euro zone not only undermines the new currency’s credibility. It also threatens to defeat the underlying principle of the euro, that its stability would be guaranteed by firm rules that would make it independent of spendthrift national politicians. "What is the point if the date (for compliance) is pushed back every year?" said Pedro Solbes, Europe’s monetary affairs commissioner. "The 2004 deadline must be respected." In fact, the rules for the euro have been fudged, bent and broken almost from the beginning, which helps explain why the euro, which was worth 1.17 dollars when it was launched in January 1999, has lost one-fifth of its value and now trades at just over 90 cents. The first rule to be broken was the one that said no country should join the euro if its budget deficit was greater than three per cent of GDP and its national debt higher than 60 per cent of GDP. Italy and Belgium were allowed to join, for political reasons, even though their debts were well over 100 per cent of GDP. Since then, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal have all been given temporary waivers that buy them more time to get their budget deficits under control. All, with the possible exception of Portugal, now look like they will miss the new deadlines, as politicians facing elections complain that the euro’s rules are too rigid and that fiscal discipline should be relaxed to allow some deficit spending to get unemployment down during Europe’s recession. In effect, the rules are being widely ignored. Italy had pledged to cut the number of state employees by 2.5 per cent in fact, their numbers have grown by over one per cent, and their total wage bill has jumped by eight per cent. But Italy’s economy remains stalled. Figures released Friday suggest that the Italian economy grew at an annual rate of a mere three-tenths of one per cent in the first quarter of this year. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has already admitted that the euro’s weakness is not unwelcome, since it brings down the cost of Germany exports on world markets. But this in turn stores up trouble with washington whose strong dollar and economic recovery suck in imports, and drive the US trade deficit to record heights. But the euro’s weakness, and the cavalier treatment of the rules that Germany originally demanded to give the new currency some of the credibility of the old Deutschmark, are likely to have another serious impact — weakening the case for Britain to give up the pound and join the euro. Currently enjoying the healthiest economy and strongest growth rates in Europe, the British have seen their economy recover from its long postwar weakness to overtake both the Italian and French economies — while remaining outside the euro zone. The British Government of Prime Minister Tony Blair, who says he intends to join the euro when the timing is right and the British economy has passed a series of tests designed to measure whether it has "converged" with the rest of the euro zone in inflation and interest rates, already faces an uphill task in persuading skeptical voters to approve the euro in a promised referendum. Polls show a majority of close to 2 to 1 against joining, and the euro’s mounting credibility problem will make Blair’s challenge no easier. (UPI) |
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HDFC Fy 01-02 net up 22.5% at Rs 580-cr, dividend Rs 25 a share MUMBAI, May 14: Housing Development Finance Corporation’s (HDFC) net profit in Fy 2001-02 rose 22.5 per cent to Rs 580.01 crore from Rs 473.65 crore a year earlier, as the growth of its core business of individual loans continued to be robust. HDFC’s loan approvals and disbursements were both higher by 31 per cent during 2001-02 with approvals amounting to Rs 9,041.25 crore against Rs 6,879.77 crore a year ago, and disbursements Rs 7,616.56 crore against Rs 5,803.01 crore. HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said the board has approved a dividend of Rs 25 per share, including a one-time special silver jubilee dividend of Rs 10 per share, against Rs 12.50 per share a year earlier. HDFC, the market leader in housing finance, celebrated its silver jubilee in 2001. The dividend will absorb Rs 304.28 crore and the balance net profit has been transferred to reserves. Parekh said individual home loan approvals were up 45 per cent and disbursements up 47 per cent. A total of 1,65,037 loan applications from individuals were received, which was 44 per cent higher than in 2000-01. HDFC managing director Keki Mistry said the high growth in individual applications was because more and more people come to HDFC despite stiff competition. During 2001-02, HDFC’s total assets rose 20.2 per cent to Rs 21,459 crore from Rs 17,842 crore a year ago. HDFC’s loan approvals during the year were in respect of over 2.13 lakh housing units. HDFC’s cumulative loan disbursements as of March 31, 2002 were Rs 33,570 crore. Mistry said despite a 175 basis points reduction in deposit interest rates during 2001-02, HDFC’s deposits increased to Rs 8,491.02 crore from Rs 7,249.83 crore, with a depositor base of over 13 lakh. HDFC mobilised retail deposits of Rs 3,221 crore in Fy 2001-02 against Rs 2,717 crore a year earlier and its deposits from individuals and trusts now constitute 82 per cent of the total deposits. HDFC’s capital adequacy ratio as of March 31, 2002 stood at 14.5 per cent. HDFC’s capital adequacy is entirely on the basis of tier I capital and 75 per cent risk weight on housing loans to individuals. HDFC expects the risk weight to become 50 per cent in the current year, following the Reserve Bank of India allowing commercial banks a 50 per cent risk weight on housing loans. (UNI) |
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Storage networking summit 2002 on Sept 8 BANGALORE, May 14: A four-day global conference and expo "storage networking summit 2002", will be inaugurated here on September eight. Over 500 prime organisations, IT executives and professionals who were in the planning stages of deploying storage networking technologies in the Asia-Pacific region, were to participate in the summit to be addressed by experts in storage and networking. Storage networking summit convener and member director Kumar Malavalli told newspersons yesterday that according to a 2001 IDC Asia/Pacific report, the Indian storage systems market would record the strongest growth of all 12 countries in the region. Quoting the report, he said, against a market size of 134.6 US million dollars in 2000 in the country, the Indian storage and networking market was expected to go up to 425.8 million US dollars in 2005, registering an average annual growth of 17 per cent. The September-11 episode in US was an eye-opener for industries about the need to store their valuable data elsewhere, he opined. The storage area networking was a boon to SMEs in the country, as it avoided storage cost and also provided scope for saving data even under circumstances beyond control, he elaborated. Mr Malavalli said the fibre channel industry association, Indus Entrepreneurs, a global organisation created for the advancement of entrepreneurship which had 45 worldwide locations and 10,000 members in its fold, the software technology parks of India and the storage networking industry association were actively supporting the SNS in organising the summit. The first-of-its-kind event in the Indo-Asian region, would have a full tutorial day, two-day conference, expo and a channel development day, which would provide participants scope for having advanced knowledge about cross-industry storage education, he added. (UNI) |
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Centre adopting ‘professional approach’ on WB loans to States NEW DELHI, May 14: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today said the Centre has adopted a "strictly professional approach" on encouraging States to get structural adjustment loans from the World Bank and other multilateral agencies. Answering a series of questions about the States availing structural adjustment loans from Department for International Development (DFID) of Britain, Mr Sinha said the Centre was helping States irrespective of political affiliations to get such loans as it was aimed at improving the fiscal situation and governance in States and enable them to have funds for development. The DFID has made special focus on Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh for structural adjustment loans. Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh were being financed by the Asian Development Bank. Karnataka also was seeking structural adjustment loans, Mr Sinha said. He said multilateral funding of States was not a new phenomenon but taking place ever since 1975. He said without structural readjustment loans, it would be difficult for the States to come out of indebtedness and they would end up paying interest alone leaving no scope for financing developmental schemes. The Finance Minister said the Government of India was responsible for the loans to the States and all loans have to be availed through the Centre. The Government also had the responsibility of ensuring the States fulfilling their commitment to multilateral agencies. He conceded there were some problems with the States in utilising the money, but things had improved over the years. Mr Sinha said the Government was keeping a watch on the utilisation of funds received and the States would have to maintain annual guidelines. There were heated exchanges in the Rajya Sabha when Mr Dasari Narayana Rao wanted to know if the Centre had checked the proper loan utilisation of over Rs 42,909 crore availed by Andhra Pradesh from the World Bank and other agencies. Mr C Ramachandraiah and TDP leader Alladi Rajkumar said Mr Rao was making "sweeping allegations" when the world had acknowledged Andhra Pradesh as a progressive State. (UNI) |
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India to export 40,000 tonnes wheat to Oman, Abu Dabhi NEW DELHI, May 14: Indian wheat continues to be in demand in global market with the country bagging yet another order to export 40,000 tonnes to Oman and Abu Dabhi. However prices fetched have come down drastically due to increasing competition among exporters. "Our wheat export policy is showing good results and a multinational company (MNC) has just got an order to export 40,000 tonnes Indian wheat to West Asia at 101 dollars cost and freight (C&F) for June delivery," official sources told PTI. With increasing number of exporters, competition within the country for getting orders is getting tough. While the MNC’s bid at 101 dollar including a nine dollar freight is the lowest, it outbid an Indian firm which quoted 104 dollar c&f for the same tender. On an average, 3-4 lakh tonne wheat is being shipped every month but the price Indian wheat is quoting at has come down a good 10 dollar a tonne over the past one year. An MNC trader said there is a greater scope to export from India but black sea countries like Ukraine and Romania are bagging many orders for feed wheat at lower prices of 97 dolla C&F. Furthermore, corn, used as cattle feed, is also cheap at 94-97 dollar fob. Demand is likely to pick up with Indonesia’s largest miller Bhogasari back in the market and the country likely to pick up one lakh tonnes every month. (PTI) |
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Call rate firm, gilts crash on liquidity crunch MUMBAI, May 14: The overnight interest rate closed higher at 7.25-7.75 per cent on liquidity crunch on account of auction outflows and short supply at the interbank call money market today. Call rate opened higher at 7.60-8.00 per cent, stayed firm with increased demand for funds and short supply by state-run banks. The auction outflows of about Rs 4,000 crore also pressured the liquidity. The call rate closed at 7.25-7.75 per cent, higher from 7.00-7.25 per cent of Monday’s close. Most of the deals were struck around 7.50-7.75 per cent level, dealers said. According to dealers, many banks were short of cash on account of their long bond positions and a spurt in the demand for loans. Some traditional lending banks stayed away from market while others quoted higher rates. Given the tight liquidity condition, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today also did not receive any bid in its daily repo and reverse repo auctions under the liquidity adjustment facility. Prices of Government securities (g-secs) crashed on distress selling, disappointed by the cut-off yield set by the RBI in Monday’s auction and the devolvement by the apex bank. Tight liquidity in the money market also aided the downtrend in the gilts market. Bond prices, across the maturity, fell sharply by 120-150 paise towards afternoon on sustained selling pressure. The 11.50 per cent, 2011 Government stocks were trading at Rs 125.03 in the afternoon, down by a whopping 132 paise from its previous day’s close of Rs 126.35, while the 11.03 per cent, 2012 bond dipped by 155 paise to Rs 121.95 as against Rs 123.50 of monday s close. The yield on the 2011 and 2012 bonds dipped to 7.55 per cent and 7.63 per cent respectively as compared to 7.61 per cent and 7.69 per cent of the previous day’s close. RBI on Monday devolved at Rs 514.836 crore in the 8-year paper auction and Rs 1503.18 crore in the 20-year bond auction for a notified amount of Rs 3,000 crore each, setting the cut-off rate at 7.55 per cent and 8.35 per cent respectively. According to Ms Pushpa Rai of Mata Securities Ltd, RBI for the first time in the current fiscal year devolved in the bond auction as market remained wary of the cut-off yields. The rejection of underwriting bids of primary dealers was a cue to events on Monday’s auction, she added. (UNI) |
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