rss

RBI hikes CRR by 75 bps; repo rates untouched

RBI GOVERNER

The Reserve Bank of India, in its Monetary Policy review today has hiked the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 75 basis points (bps) to 5.75 per cent, while holding the repo and reverse repo rates steady in line with market expectations.

The CRR hike will be done in two tranches. The first one will be for 50 bps with effect from February 13, 2010, and the balance 25 bps will be effective from February 27, 2010. Eventually, this will drain out Rs 36,000 crore from the system.

Repo rate is the rate at which the banks can borrow money from RBI in order to avoid scarcity of funds.

The move comes on the back of spiraling inflation. Food inflation touched 17.4 per cent for the week ended 16 January 2010, slightly higher than previous week’s 16.81 per cent. Fuel price index rose to 5.7 per cent while primary articles price index touched 14.66 per cent for the week ended 16 January 2010.

A median forecast released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the pre-policy ‘Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments: Third Quarter Review 2009-10’ yesterday raised the economic growth projection to 6.9 per cent from the 6 per cent projected three months ago.

NIFTY Future :In panic low of 4757 was made and now trading at 4801.My Support and expected target was of 4724-4676 in panic.

-Don’t panic @ lower levels.

-If not breaks 4757 & trades above 4812 with volumes will take to 4845-4856 & there after watch unexpected buying upto 4889-4900 level.

Updated at 11:25/29th Dec/Baroda

Euro’s strength must be maintained

The Bank of England and European Central Bank will deliver their latest monetary policy decisions on Thursday.

No change is expected from either, but it should still mean that sterling and the euro come, at least briefly, into sharper focus.

It’s the single currency that has been doing better of late, boosted by the ECB’s implicit bond backstop and subsequent easing of eurozone tensions.

In July, it cost less than 78p to buy one euro. Now it’s more than 81p. (more…)

Indian Economy :Unknown Facts

Unknown Fact

India’s long-term local currency debt is rated at Ba2 by Moody’s, two levels below the investment grade and at par with Armenia and Turkey. Indian government debt accounts for about 80 percent of GDP. Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings have a rating of BBB-, the lowest investment grade.

The government’s annual debt repayments will rise to 1.14 trillion rupees in the next fiscal year from 531 billion rupees.

The 10-year yield has risen 62 basis points in the past year, the worst performer during that period among the 10 Asian local-currency debt markets outside Japan, according to indexes compiled by HSBC Holding Plc. It fell 95 basis points in the previous 12 months.

RBI hikes export credit refinance rate to 5 per cent

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today said the standing liquidity facilities provided to banks (export credit refinance) and primary dealers (PDs) under the collateralised liquidity support would be at the revised repo rate, ie, 5.0 per cent with effect from 20 March 2010.

The RBI had, in its monetary policy announcement on 19 March, had increased the fixed repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 4.75 per cent to 5.0 per cent with immediate effect.

The RBI, while announcing its monetary policy measures, had said that there had been significant macroeconomic developments since the third quarter review in January 2010.

Advance estimates by the CSO for 2009-10 and for Q3 of 2009-10 suggest that the recovery is consolidating, RBI noted. Data on industrial production currently available up to January 2010 show that the uptrend is being maintained.

UBS latest to cut India's FY12 growth forecast to 7.7 pct

(Reuters) – UBS on Wednesday joined the growing list of brokerages lowering India’s 2011/12 economic growth forecast, paring Asia’s third-largest economy’s growth to 7.7 percent from 8 percent, as interest rate rises and higher oil prices start to bite.

Morgan Stanley and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch had last week lowered their growth forecast for the Indian economy in the next fiscal year that begins in April to 7.7 percent and 8.2 percent.

UBS also cut the world’s second-fastest growing major economy’s gross domestic product forecast for the current fiscal year to 8.7 percent from 9 percent on weak December-quarter growth and continuing weakness in the industrial output growth.

“The reason for the slowdown is as before: lagged impact of todays tight money on demand plus effect of higher oil prices,” Philip Wyatt, an economist at UBS wrote in a note, adding he sees the economy recovering to 8.6 percent growth in 2012/13.

India’s economy grew at a slower-than-expected 8.2 percent in the December quarter from a year earlier, after expanding at 8.9 percent in the previous two quarters.

Industrial output in January topped forecasts, but was still weak at 3.7 percent annual rise.

“We expect WPI (wholesale price index) inflation to accelerate from 7 percent in March 2011 to 7.7 percent a year hence,” Wyatt wrote.

India’s headline inflation unexpectedly quickened in February on rising fuel and manufacturing prices, raising expectations for aggressive central bank tightening beginning later this week. (more…)

Go to top