Bank of Baroda merges two RRBs in UP
Mumbai: Bank of Baroda has amalgamated two of its sponsored Regional Rural Banks in Uttar Pradesh into one "Baroda Western Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank' that will have its office at Bareilly, said a press release from the bank. The new bank will have 116 branches in three districts of Uttar Pradesh - Bareilly, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur.

It will have a three-tier structure with head office, two regional offices and branches. The two banks that have been amalgamated are Bareilly Kshetriya Gramin Bank and Shahjahanpur Kshetriya Gramin Bank.
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Forex reserves decrease $6.1bn
Chennai: There was a decrease of $6.1 billion in forex reserves on account of valuation loss in the April-December 2005 period as against a valuation gain of $4.7 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. This is due to the depreciation of major currencies against the dollar. The Reserve Bank of India provided this information through a statement on sources of accretion to forex reserves. The composition of various currencies in the reserves, however, remains a secret.

Reserves during the April-December 2005 period declined $4.3 billion compared with an increase of $18.2 billion in the corresponding previous period.

Forex reserves stood at $137 billion in December 2005 the sixth largest holding by a country or central bank in the world.

Reserves have since increased over the past three months by another $11 billion. India's forex reserves are exceeded now only by Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China.
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United Bank hopes to achieve 20 per cent growth
Kolkata: United Bank of India hopes to post nearly 20 per cent growth in business in 2005-06 at Rs44,550 crore as compared to 19 per cent in 2004-05 its estimates based on to its unaudited provisional figures.

"We have missed by a whisker the business target of Rs45,000 crore set for the year, mainly due to not-so-satisfactory growth in deposits," said P.K. Gupta, chairman and managing director of United Bank. However he added that growth in advances during the year had been impressive, about 33 per cent at Rs15,800 crore.

Education loan according to him posted nearly 100 per cent growth at Rs155 crore (Rs78 crore in 2004-05). The NPAs in respect of education loans were less than 1 per cent. Retail loans, of which education loan was one, posted 55 per cent growth at Rs2,800 crore, priority sector lending 35 per cent growth at Rs 6,450 crore and agriculture lending 44 per cent growth at Rs2,520 crore.

Gupta did nit comment on profits, which, he felt, might take a hit for a variety of reasons, most important being the depreciation of securities.
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