Joydeep Ghosh &Amp; Abhijit Lele

Stories by Joydeep Ghosh &Amp; Abhijit Lele

File FIRs on fake notes: Govt

File FIRs on fake notes: Govt

Rediff.com   16 Sep 2008

A senior SBI official said bank branches and controlling offices face a piquant situation where the top management expects prompt action, including filing of a first information report, while the local police is reluctant to register complaints often due to political pressure. Of late, investigative agencies have raised concerns over the large circulation of counterfeit notes.

Pay up before the auction action begins

Pay up before the auction action begins

Rediff.com   9 Sep 2008

Home loan borrowers perpetually worry about the consequences of defaulting. And whether they wish it or not, there could be situations where they are forced to do so. For instance, after the Mumbai bomb blasts on July 11 2006, a large number of affected families found themselves in deep financial trouble leading to difficulties in servicing their home loans

SBI to outsource rollout of ATMs

SBI to outsource rollout of ATMs

Rediff.com   22 Aug 2008

State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, is on an outsourcing overdrive. After outsourcing the back-office work in foreign offices, the bank has now decided to rope in external agencies to set up automated teller machines to save on capital expenditure and reduce the rollout time. It plans to initially outsource 500 ATMs to vendors, including original equipment manufacturers.

Auto loans: Floating rate is in

Auto loans: Floating rate is in

Rediff.com   20 Aug 2008

Most car buyers, when applying for a loan, grapple with the question of whether they should opt for a fixed or a floating rate option.

Banks trim sales force as credit growth slows down

Banks trim sales force as credit growth slows down

Rediff.com   19 Aug 2008

A clampdown on fresh personal loans, credit cards and auto loans is taking a toll on direct selling agents hired by banks to push these products. According to estimates, banks have reduced the number of DSAs by 15-25 per cent, while marketing expenses are 35-40 per cent lower.

Bankers warn firms to stay off dipping yen

Bankers warn firms to stay off dipping yen

Rediff.com   19 Aug 2008

The yen may have depreciated to 110 against the dollar from a high of 96 earlier this year, but bankers are advising extreme caution in using the Japanese currency for raising resources and hedging risks.

Give priority sector label for loan waiver: Banks

Give priority sector label for loan waiver: Banks

Rediff.com   18 Aug 2008

Government banks have demanded that the amount eligible under the farm waiver scheme should continue to be considered lending to the farm sector till the government clears the dues to help banks meet the mandatory priority sector lending target.

Home loan tap must flow, FM to tell banks

Home loan tap must flow, FM to tell banks

Rediff.com   11 Aug 2008

Continuing the flow of home loans and accessing low-cost deposits are two key elements of the government's instructions to public sector banks.

Gold equity funds lag behind

Gold equity funds lag behind

Rediff.com   4 Aug 2008

While gold index funds have returned almost 10 per cent over the last three months, gold equity funds (investing in mining companies) have not given good returns in the last few months. At present, there are two gold funds, DSPML World Gold Fund and AIG World Gold Fund

Retail loan rates come a full circle

Retail loan rates come a full circle

Rediff.com   30 Jul 2008

Stock market investors and potential home buyers may not remember the years 1998 and 2008 too fondly.

Car loan? Have you signed a 'surrender letter'?

Car loan? Have you signed a 'surrender letter'?

Rediff.com   28 Jul 2008

Among the many documents that you sign when you take a car loan could also be a 'surrender letter' -- a document that declared you a defaulter even before the loan is sanctioned.

Global funds shine amid market chaos

Global funds shine amid market chaos

Rediff.com   25 Jul 2008

In January this year, the stock market started falling. In the following six months, it has lost over 30 per cent. The data on open-ended equity funds show that only a small cluster has managed to wriggle out with very little loss (See table). From a thematic point of view, only global funds have given returns.

Oil firms still hunt for cash

Oil firms still hunt for cash

Rediff.com   25 Jul 2008

Global crude oil prices have dropped 14 per cent in less than a fortnight, but the three public sector oil marketing companies could still end up borrowing more in the domestic market and put further pressure on liquidity. With the three OMCs still saddled with under-recoveries, estimated at Rs 820 crore (Rs 8.2 billion) a day, they have no option but to use bank credit lines in the coming days as they have run out of their stock of oil bonds.

Equity-linked FMPs too complex for retailers

Equity-linked FMPs too complex for retailers

Rediff.com   18 Jul 2008

This product was first introduced by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund (ICICI Prudential FMP Series 33) and Deutsche Mutual Fund in February. Recently, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has also floated a similar fund. The Nifty return, multiplied by the participation ratio (that is pre-decided by the fund) is the final returns. In Aviator, the participation ratio is 140-145 per cent, leading to returns of 43.14-44.5 per cent in our given example.

Banks go slow on aviation study loans

Banks go slow on aviation study loans

Rediff.com   14 Jul 2008

Banks are reluctant about disbursing loans for aviation studies on fears that a slowdown will hamper the job prospects in the aviation sector. The move, say analysts, may affect the fortunes of aviation training institutes.

Here's some relief for home loan customers

Here's some relief for home loan customers

Rediff.com   4 Jul 2008

With rising interest rates and inflation taking a toll on home loan customers, banks are beginning to encourage them to partly prepay their loans. Many of them are doing so without charging them prepayment penalty.

How are SIPs taxed? Here's help

How are SIPs taxed? Here's help

Rediff.com   23 Jun 2008

Investors in SIPs should be especially careful because the taxation is done according to the first-in-first-out basis

Banks turn choosy on realty loans

Banks turn choosy on realty loans

Rediff.com   18 Jun 2008

Sensing a correction in the real estate sector, commercial banks have become selective in lending to new residential and commercial real estate projects.

Don't exit SIPs in a falling market

Don't exit SIPs in a falling market

Rediff.com   11 Jun 2008

When the NAV falls, you are going to get more units of the fund. That means when the market turns around, you will get much more returns

Oil companies take credit flow to positive zone

Oil companies take credit flow to positive zone

Rediff.com   10 Jun 2008

The oil marketing companies are driving credit growth. The banking sector -- which typically sees credit contraction in the initial months -- has managed to buck the trend and has added nearly Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion) of advances in the first seven weeks of the current financial year thanks to the demand from the two sectors.