Stern spots 3 focus issues to achieve 8 per cent GDP growth
Bangalore: World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern has said that India’s increasing public debt may hamper the country’s goal of achieving eight per cent GDP growth in the Tenth Plan period by squeezing out investments. Making his presentation on ‘Opportunities for India in a Changing World’ on the second day of the three-day World Bank’s Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) on Thursday, Stern said India needs to hasten the reform process to reach the targeted eight per cent growth rate. Stern also said that rich countries should back their pledges to help reduce poverty by removing trade barriers on exports from developing countries and increase aid. Rich nations should “ease trade restrictions, increase aid flows to countries engaged in fundamental reforms and support enhanced capital flows to developing countries”, he said.
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ABN Amro to offer home loans
Kolkata: Dutch banking major ABN AMRO will take two major initiatives in 2003. First, it will launch its housing loan business. Second, its newly formed asset management company will offer a public issue. The announcements were made by Ramesh Sobti, executive vice-president and country representative of ABN AMRO Bank NV (India), at a press conference here. He was in the city for the opening of ABN AMRO's new branch which has a ``Bancafe''.
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Time to review FCI funding norms
Mumbai: The first moves to alter the style and substance of bankrolling the Food Corporation of India have been made with the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry setting up teams to look into details. Perhaps, the best way to trim the financial load on banks is to get over the habit of a yearly mark-up in minimum support prices for rice and wheat. This has distorted price trends; but bankers know it will not happen as politicians have to keep farmers in good humour. The alternative, which can be made to work, could be to go for differential pricing of funds given to FCI for conducting food security operations. Banks could be told by RBI to price funds at around 10 per cent for FCI to run a minimum buffer stock operation. For holding stocks anything above the minimum, banks could be given the freedom to mark up the price of money, which could force FCI to turn a bit more efficient. Reluctant banks could be given the freedom to opt out.
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ABN Amro to expand Chennai back office
Chennai: ABN Amro Bank is all set to expand its back office operations based in Chennai by taking an additional 30,000 sq ft of space and hiring 300 more persons. This decision has been taken after the success of the Global Support Centre (GSC), which the bank established a year ago, Douglas Maclean, Global Head of Cash & Payment Operations, said on Thursday.
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LIC entry may change card business rules
Coimbatore: The report that LIC is toying with the idea of entering the credit card business offering low interest rate for carried forward balance has come as a boost to millions of cardholders groaning under the impact of high interest levied by most of the card issuers in the country. LIC's plan, once it materialises, is set to re-write the way the credit card business is run in the country with the highest interest rate being charged despite the liberalised interest rate scenario.
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Ministry halts IRDA move on motor tariffs
New Delhi: Dealing a potentially debilitating blow to the plans to detariff motor insurance, the ministry of finance has asked the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) to put a halt to the ongoing process. The ministry has suggested that in view of the serious disagreements over the issue, IRDA should instead initiate a fresh round of discussion by preparing a `consultation paper' to evolve a wider consensus before concrete steps are taken towards dismantling the present system.
The Finance Ministry has backed its suggestion citing the serious disagreements within the Committee on Detariffing that had recently submitted its report to IRDA. Though the finance ministry did not find a representation in the 20-member detariffing panel headed by Justice T.N.C. Rangarajan, the final report had been forwarded to it for its comments.
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