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Rupee weakens further — G-Secs flat
Mumbai: The rupee weakened further against the dollar on Friday closing at 43.58, down from Thursday's 43.57.

Forwards market: The 12-month premium was at 0.83 per cent (0.85 per cent) and the 6-month premium at 0.81 per cent (0.87 per cent).

G-Secs: In the bond market the most active security was the 7.37-9-year 2014 paper, which closed at Rs102.18 (7.03 YTM), unchanged from the previous level of Rs102.18 (7.03 per cent YTM). The 10.25-16-year 2021 paper ended trade at Rs125.61 (7.46 per cent YTM), against Thursday's close of Rs125.40 (7.48 per cent YTM). The 7.38-10-year 2015 benchmark paper was dealt at Rs102.10 (7.08 per cent) against the earlier level of Rs102.19 (7.07 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The inter bank rates were dealt at 6.25 per cent as it was reporting Friday. It closed at 6-6.10 per cent (5 per cent).

Reverse repo: In the three day auction, the RBI received and accepted 43 bids amounting to Rs25,935 crore.

CBLO market: 225 trades, for Rs7,024.30 crore in the rate range of 3-6.25 per cent, were realised.
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RBI: Rs.2,500 crore to be raised under MSS
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has proposed to raise Rs2,500 crore through the auction of 91-day and 182-day treasury bills, under the Market Stabilisation Scheme, said an RBI press release.

Of this, Rs1,500 crore will be raised through the auction of 91-day T-bills, while Rs1,000 crore will be raised through the auction of 182-day T-bills. The RBI also proposes to raise Rs1,000 crore through the regular auction. Through the auction of 91-day T-bills and 182-day T-bills, Rs500 crore each will be raised.

The auction will be conducted using the Multiple Price Auction method.

Tenders should be submitted on August 24 before 12 p.m. Successful bidders have to make payment on August 26.
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Home loan penetration in India very low
Bangalore: India is among those countries that register a very low housing loan penetration rate, according to Keki Mistry, managing director, HDFC. The country's outstanding housing loans to GDP are just 3% as against 51% in the US, 54% in UK and around 10-12% in other Asian countries, Mistry said at the inauguration of HDFC's 'Budget Homes of Bangalore' property exhibition here.

However, with increasing income, tax concessions on housing loans and easy-to-avail-and-repay housing loans, the scenario is expected to change significantly, Mistry said. According to Mistry, the potential in the home loan market sector is immense if India touches the average 12% (outstanding loan to GDP) like in several other Asian countries.

"With more and more middle class families able to afford to buy homes, the sector is steadily growing", he said, adding HDFC loan disbursement is growing at the rate of 25-30% annually.

The company, which had cumulatively disbursed in excess of Rs75,000 crore so far, is aiming at a future disbursement target of close to Rs20,000 crore.

"The growing tax concession benefits had prompted more and more people to go in for home loans. As opposed to the Rs15,000 tax benefit on interest in the '90s, the same has grown to Rs 1.5 lakh now. The tax deduction on principal repayment also provided a spurt to people availing home loans." Mistry added.
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HDFC to list BPO and other joint ventures
Bangalore: HDFC plans to list its associate company, Intelenet Global Services Ltd, on the stock exchanges. According to Keki M. Mistry, managing director, HDFC, the listing of Intelenet would be made in about two years.

Intelenet is a BPO joint venture of HDFC along with Barclays Bank in which HDFC holds 50 per cent.

Mistry said that HDFC would also have its other subsidiaries and joint ventures, HDFC Chubb General Insurance Company Ltd and HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, listed on the domestic stock exchanges. Depending on the market conditions and the capital requirements of these companies, HDFC would consider stake dilution, he added.

He also said that HDFC had cumulatively disbursed close to Rs75,000 crore of housing loans. Disbursements had been growing at an average of 30 per cent each year. For the current year, HDFC has fixed a target of Rs20,000 crore for disbursal or about 75 per cent of the sanctioned loan. At least 45 per cent of the growth in loan offtake came from non-metros, he added.

Mistry also said that HDFC had contained its delinquency ratio, indicating that its loan portfolios are high-quality. The NPA ratio for HDFC is 1.1 per cent of the advances on the basis of the 90-day overdue norm or 0.84 per cent on the basis of the 180-day overdue norm.

Referring to the Rs 1,000-crore realty fund, he said that the proceeds would also be used for powering growth of its assets. No disbursement from the fund had taken place so far, he added. Discussions and due diligence on some real estate projects were still under way.

Moreover, he said, HDFC was open to buying out housing loan portfolios of banks and other financial institutions.
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UCO Bank to raise Rs.150 crore Tier II capital by September
Kolkata: UCO Bank may raise Rs150 crore of Tier II capital by September, 2005. It is also planning to infuse Tier I capital into its operations in order to meet the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) norms for Basel II compliance.

The bank, which had a CAR of 11.25 per cent in March, 2005, would need fresh infusion of capital in view of the business growth expected this year and the Basel II norms.

Bank officials said that they had targeted a 30 per cent growth in business, to over Rs1,00,000 crore in 2005-06. As this would bring the CAR level down, the bank would need fresh infusion of capital to maintain the current levels. The bank, therefore, would also look at raising Tier I capital and seek approval from shareholders, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Centre in this regard.

Meanwhile, the bank has short listed vendors for its Rs170 crore core banking solutions project to be implemented in 250 branches in the first phase. The bank had short listed two vendors, i-Flex and Infosys, for its core banking solutions project, which would be implemented over next three years. The vendor is to be selected by the end of this month.

UCO Bank has recently completed computerisation of all its 1735 branches across the country.

The bank had also entered into ATM sharing arrangements with State Bank of India and a consortium of banks called 'Mitr' giving its customers access to 8,200 ATMs all over the country.
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HDFC bank to sell gold bars through 'Mudra' service
Mumbai: The HDFC Bank is to sell gold bars with the launch of a new service, 'Mudra' where it would offer customers and non-customers branded five gram gold bars with a purity of 99.9 per cent.

The gold bars will be available in tamper proof packing along with the Assayers certification, the bank said on Friday.

The service launched to coincide with the beginning of the festive season will be sold through 160 branches in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad from August 27, it said. HDFC plans to expand this service to other cities as well.
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Exim Bank gets BBB rating from Japan rating agency
Mumbai: The Exim Bank has obtained 'BBB' sovereign credit rating from Japan Credit Rating Agency Ltd (JCRA) for its foreign currency long-term debts, according to a release from the Exim Bank.

The rating 'BBB' (flat) is one notch above the minimum investment grade rating (BBB-) given by JCRA. In 2004, Moody's had conferred `Issuer Rating Baa3 - Investment grade' rating for Exim Bank's long-term debt.

Issue of Samurai bond in Japanese capital markets is one of the alternatives Exim Bank is exploring for raising foreign currency resources in the current financial year. The bank raises foreign currency resources by way of bilateral or club or syndicated loans and by issue of international bonds/notes.

During 2004-05, Exim Bank raised US$300mn by way of foreign currency bonds and notes and US$200mn through syndicated and club loans.

As on March 31, 2005, Exim Bank's foreign currency resources with maturity ranging from one year to 24 years stood at US$1.4bn. The bank's current loan assets portfolio includes 43 per cent in foreign currencies.

The Exim Bank is also diversifying its rupee resource base by re-launching its term deposit (TD) scheme. The bank accepts TDs for tenors ranging from one year to five years and offers 0.5 per cent additional interest for senior citizens, the release said.
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Nabard hikes rates on Capital Gains Bonds issue
Mumbai: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has increased the rates of interest offered on its Capital Gains Bonds Issue from 5.2 per cent to 5.5 per cent for bonds with three years' tenure and from 5.3 per cent to 5.6 per cent for bonds with five years' tenure with effect from August 22, said a press release from Nabard.

This year, it has mobilised over Rs1,000 crore from the market under Nabard CGB Issue.

Further, an amount of Rs875 crore was mobilised under Non-Priority Sector Bonds Issue on August 8. The issue was oversubscribed by four times, the release said.
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