The Indian central bank has not made any official comment in this regard. Since the beginning of this financial year, the rupee has fallen by 2.3 per cent or 97 paise vis--vis the US dollar, though foreign portfolio investments into the stock markets haev been positive in this period.

G G Vaidya, chairman of the State Bank of India, said at Indore that he expects the rupee to remain stable against the US dollar in the short term, and a lot depends on exports which are seen to be picking up. He also said that the bank was in the process of restructuring its loan portfolio.
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Policy change on payment to private road builders
Mumbai: According to the Economic Times, a committee headed by Deepak Parekh under the infrastructure task force has recommended dropping the current method of direct tolling as it faces operational difficulties. It has recommended an annuity-based payment system, which will allow the government to pay project operators on a deferred basis annually. The precursor to this was the creation of the road development fund. The levy of cess on petrol and diesel would also help the new system work.
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LPG prices worldwide touch $275 per tonne
Mumbai: Global LPG prices, which were in the region of $175 per tonne in July 1999, have moved up by more than $100 per tonne. The price rise will be taken care of by the oil pool account. Private LPG importers have stopped imports since the price has risen sharply.

One of the reasons for this is the increase in the f.o.b. Saudi LPG prices from $129 per tonne in April to $275 per tonne in August.
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DD I, DD II  to run all day
New Delhi: The government-owned Doordarshan will be making its channels I and II available throughout the day from 15 August 1999. The transmission system will also be changed from the current terrestrial transmission mode to analog and digital mode.

R R Shah, chief of Prasar Bharti, called on the cable operators to air at least two DD channels, and warned them of dire consequences if they failed doing so.

DD International, a channel beamed 18 hours per day to two million US, Canadian and European homes, and DD Sports, will also be changed to the digital mode using the PAS 4 satellite.
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3 Indian public sector banks to reject wage pact
Mumbai: Indian Bank, Uco Bank and United Bank of India may not adhere to the industry-wise wage pacts signed for public sector banks. The pay hike is supposed to be around 12.25 per cent, with retrospective effect from 1 November, 1997.

According to a report in the Economic Times, these banks, which were party to the MoUs signed between the unions and the Indian Banks’ Association, may oppose the move. The non-performing assets and losses suffered by these banks have been huge, and they also carry a huge salary burden for staff.
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Gold import policy not to be changed
New Delhi: Regulation of gold movement has been ruled out by finance minister Yashwant Sinha, even though its supply has increased by over 200 per cent in June. The duty on gold was increased in the last budget, but this has not affected the inflow of gold into the country, said Mr.Sinha.

Imports were around 287 tonnes during the first three months of the current financial year, compared to 142 tonnes during the same period in 1998.
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HSBC revamping operations
Hyderabad: The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is relocating some of its branches and also planning improvements in its range and quality of services, according to HSBC’s Indian CEO, Dyfrig John. He was in Hyderabad inaugurating the bank’s 23 rd branch, which has ATM facilities.

Some of its branches in Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai and New Delhi have already been relocated at a cost of Rs.8 crore. The bank has also spent Rs.6 crore in setting up three branches in New Delhi, Gurgaon and Hyderabad.

The bank is also considering acquisitions globally to retain its leadership position. Currently it is in talks with a bank each in Thailand and South Korea.
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IDBI entering securitisation
Mumbai: The Industrial Development Bank of India  is planning to enter the securitisation market with a Rs.2,000 crore corpus, according to a report in the Business Standard. The institution is in the process of finalising the fund-raising method and is also looking at the legal documentation involved, the stamp duty and the tax structure.

IDBI will enter this business as soon as the Reserve Bank of India issues guidelines in this regard. This move would help the institution diversify its product portfolio.
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