Rupee steady
Mumbai: The rupee ended steady at 44.73/74 in its value against the dollar, marginally firmer than Wednesday's close of 44.75.
Forwards- The six-month premium ranged between 0.62 per cent and 0.71 per cent, while the one-year premium ranged between 0.62 per cent and 0.68 per cent.
G-Secs - The 10-year benchmark, 7.37 per cent 2014 paper closed at Rs117.12/15 against its previous close at Rs117.03 (5.17 per cent YTM). The 8.07 per cent 2017 paper closed at Rs125.02 against its previous close at Rs124.84/90.
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RBI rationalises overseas borrowings of banks
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has decided to rationalise the existing facilities for commercial banks to borrow overseas. It will also introduce a monitoring and reporting system for the same, starting this fiscal.The central bank now prescribes that banks can borrow up to 25 per cent of their unimpaired tier-I capital as at the close of the previous quarter, or $10 million (or its equivalent), whichever is higher. Any fresh borrowing above this limit shall only be with the prior approval of RBI.
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IRDA restores special discount
Bangalore: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has reinstated the five per cent special discount, which it had discontinued in July last year, with rigorous restrictions. The discount would be available only for companies with a paid-up capital of above Rs. 3 crore, without any distinction between private and public sector entities.

The regulator's notification clearly indicates that the discount could be extended by the insurers in lieu of agency commission or brokerage and cannot be clubbed along with either of these elements.This special discount would be available only for tariff-driven business, according to the notification.The notification corrects certain anomalies. Since none of the public sector companies were in a position to load commission or brokerage for discounting premia, they were at a disadvantage against the private sector.
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FIEO says appreciation of rupee is frightening
New Delhi: The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has described the continuing appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar as "frightening" for exporters as "it has brought down their profit margins to less than 5 per cent."The FIEO claims that the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar threatens to eliminate their competitive edge over other Asian and South Asian countries, particularly China and Vietnam, which have pegged their currencies to the dollar.FIEO has also cautioned that export growth figures for April-June 2004 might fall sharply to a single digit if no remedial measures are initiated immediately.
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RBI to issue bonds and T- bills for Rs 35,500 crore
Mumbai: The RBI has released the borrowing calendar for the initial part of the coming fiscal. The bank will issue bonds and treasury bills for Rs 35,500 crore under the market stabilisation scheme in the first quarter of the next fiscal year starting in April. This will be in addition to the Rs 59,000 crore that the Central Government will raise in the first half of the coming fiscal.These bonds will have all the characteristics of g-secs including that of SLR status. These funds when raised will be held in an account maintained by the RBI. This amount can be revised later to include more issuances depending on the liquidity condition, said the RBI.
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RBI to scrap one-day repo
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has revised the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) to do away with the one-day repo and substitute it with 7-day ones. The new scheme will start on March 29. In order to achieve a smooth transition to the revised scheme, the existing overnight variable rate repo auction facility would also be available till April 2, the RBI has said in a notification.
Subsequently, the overnight repo auction will be discontinued and only the 7-day repo auction will be available.Further, in order to enable market participants to meet their prior commitments based on their existing operations, the 14-day repo, conducted on a fortnightly interval would also continue. The 14-day repo will, however, be phased out in due course.
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