Rupee down 10 paise
Mumbai: The rupee closed weaker by almost 10 paise at 43.7350/7450 in its value against the dollar. The forex market remained closed on Thursday due to the yearly closure of accounts.
Forwards Market- The six-month premium closed at 0.70 per cent (0.85 per cent) while the one-year premium closed at 0.55 per cent (0.68 per cent).
G-Secs were up by 30-40 paise across maturities. The 7.46 per cent 2017 paper opened at Rs 119.56/57 and got dealt up to Rs 119.87. The 8.07 per cent 2017 opened at Rs 124.67 and got traded up to Rs 124.95. The 7.37 per cent 2014 opened at Rs 117.43/48 and got dealt up to Rs 117.55/60 at the rate of 5.11 per cent.
Call rates remained easy at the 4.25-per cent levels in the interbank market.
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RBI: No ECBs for working capital
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has clarified that external commercial borrowings (ECB) cannot be raised for working capital, general corporate purpose and repayment of existing rupee loan purposes.The central bank has also clarified that the maximum amount of ECBs that can be raised by an eligible borrower under the automatic route is $500 million or its equivalent during a financial year, up from the previous limit of $50 million.

The bank ahs also said that borrowers who had availed themselves of ECBs under the erstwhile $5-million scheme with specific approval of the Reserve Bank of India, may now approach the RBI for elongation of the repayment period.RBI has decided to delegate general permission to the designated bank to approve such elongation, provided there is a consent letter from the overseas lender for such re-schedulement without any additional cost.
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RBI to auction 91-day T-bills on April 7
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has announced a Rs 2,000 crore auction of 91-day Government of India treasury bills to be held on April 7, 2004. Of the total Rs 1,500 crore will be under the Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS), while Rs 500 crore will be under the regular auction calendar, said a press release.

The auction will be conducted using "Multiple Price Auction" method. The allocation to non-competitive bidders will be outside the notified amount, at the discretion of the Bank, the release said.
Tenders should be submitted in the prescribed form on Wednesday, April 7, before 1230 hours. The results will be announced the same evening. Payment by successful bidders will be on Saturday, April 10, 2004.RBI has also announced a Rs 5,000 crore price based auction of the 6.18 per cent government stock 2005, on April 6, 2004. The sale (re-issue) of this security will be done using a multiple price method.
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RBI: No forex accounts for residents in OBUs
Mumbai: The central bank, through a notification has said that "banks are advised to ensure that the OBUs do not accept/ solicit deposits or investments from residents or open their accounts."
The RBI has drawn the attention of all commercial banks to the scheme for setting up of OBUs which stated that the sources for raising foreign currency funds by an OBU would be only external and that funds can also be raised from those resident sources to the extent such residents are permitted under the existing exchange control regulations to invest/maintain foreign currency accounts abroad.Banks without overseas branches had plans to set up OBUs in order to offer foreign currency deposits through its OBU.
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ICICI Bank issue oversubscribed
Mumbai: The public offer of Rs 3,050-crore, with a greenshoe option of Rs 450 crore, from the private sector ICICI Bank has been oversubscribed 109 per cent.According to the BSE, the issue, with a total size of over 11.96 crore shares, has received cumulative bids of over 13.10 crore shares, with the maximum number of bids coming at Rs 280. The public issue closes on April 7, 2004.
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