Rupee recovers 4 paise
Mumbai: The rupee closed stronger by about four paise to end at 46.04/06 on Wednesday against its previous close of 46.08/10.
Forward Market: The six-month forward closed at 1.64 per cent (1.62 per cent) while the 12-month closed at 1.46 per cent (1.45 per cent).
G-Secs: The 7.38-per cent 2015 paper closed at Rs 111.30. The ten-year benchmark 7.37 per cent closed at Rs 111.20.
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RBI releases forex reserves investment details
Chennai: According to information disseminated by the Reserve Bank of India, about 25% of India's forex reserves of $114 billion as on May 31, 2004 or $28.40 billion was held abroad in the form of currency and deposits with foreign commercial banks.

This is up from about 15% of forex reserves invested in this category, a year ago. About $16 billion have been added to this form of investment over the past year. About 34% of reserves is held in the form of securities (US treasury bills and other securities) while 40% is held with central banks in other countries as well as with institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and BIS.
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Forex reserves: Rise in capital investment inflows
Mumbai: According to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India, there has been a significant rise in net inflows through the capital account heads at $22.7 billion against $12.8 billion in 2002-03. Capital account heads include: Foreign investment, which increased by $14.5 billion ($4.6 billion), short-term credit $1.6 billion ($1 billion), external assistance $-2.7 billion ($-2.5 billion), external commercial borrowings $-1.9 billion ($-2.3 billion), other items $5 billion ($3.6 billion) while banking capital decreased to $6.2 billion ($8.4 billion).

The reserves as a whole surged by $36.8 billion in 2004 fiscal compared to $21.3 billion in the previous fiscal. Major sources of accretion to foreign exchange reserves during the year have been foreign investment (39.4 per cent); comprising FDI (8.5 per cent) and portfolio investment (30.8 per cent), non-resident deposits (9.8 per cent) and short-term credit (4.4 per cent), said a press note from the central bank. The valuation gain in reserves was to the extent of $5.4 billion up from $4.4 billion in the previous year.
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Current account surplus doubles
Mumbai: India's current account was in surplus at $ 3.44 billion in the fourth quarter of January-March 2004, according to the latest Reserve Bank of India figures on the country's balance of payments. The surplus for the financial year to March 2004 grew to $8.72 billion from $ 4.13 billion a year ago. With Merchandise exports and imports rising in tandem in January-March 2004, the trade deficit at $ 4 billion remained stable at the level recorded in October-December 2003, but well below that of the first quarter of 2003, according to RBI.

A steady expansion in net earnings from invisibles occurred through 2003-04, peaking in the third quarter (October-December). Software exports weathered the global IT slowdown and protectionist pressure in major international markets and rose by 27.1 per cent in 2003-04 with the maximum increase recorded in the fourth quarter. According to the central bank, private transfers comprising mainly remittances from Indians working abroad rose steadily through the year with a surge in the third quarter.
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External debt up with dollar depreciation
Mumbai: The country's external debt rose by $7.7 billion to Rs 112.6 billion in the fiscal ended March 2004, according to figures released by the Reserve Bank of India. The major portion of this 7.4 per cent rise in the external debt is due to the currency valuation on account of the depreciation of the US dollar against other major currencies. Adjusted for valuation effects, the stocks of external debt at the end of March 2004 was broadly at the March 2003 level.

In fact, measured in rupees, the stock of debt recorded a decline of 1.9 per cent over March 2003, stated RBI. In terms of components, NRI deposits were the key driver of the increase in external debt during the lat fiscal. This essentially reflects the flow of discontinued non-resident non-repatriable deposits scheme into the repatriable NRE scheme. Among the other debt components, bilateral debt and short-term trade credits recorded an increase during the year.
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IDBI to be full fledged bank
New Delhi: The Ministry of Finance has issued a notification allowing Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) to convert itself into a full-fledged bank with effect from July 1. The notification allows the transferring and vesting of the undertaking of the IDBI that was earlier functioning as a development financial institution into a new company registered under the Companies Act. It also paves the way for the institution to formally seek the approval of the Reserve Bank of India to function under its regulatory framework for banks.

The Finance Ministry notification comes barely days after Law Ministry's clearance was obtained late last week. The new entity would be the only scheduled bank in the country that would be required to maintain its development financial institution (DFI) characteristic by continuing to provide term finance to industry as it had been doing earlier. By converting itself into a bank IDBI would get a major relief by being able to access cheaper funds through retail deposits that it was barred from raising as a DFI.
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IOB to raise Rs 200 crore through bonds
Chennai: Indian Overseas Bank has informed the stock exchange that it intends to raise Rs 200 crore by way of a bond issue on a private placement basis. This would be reckoned with the Tier II Capital of the bank, for calculating the capital adequacy ratio, the notification to the stock exchange says.
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