Allianz, Bajaj Auto to offer retail loans
New Delhi: German finance company Allianz SE and Indian two-wheeler major have entered into joint venture for the distribution of financial products.

The new entity, Bajaj Allianz Financial Distributors, will offer consumer financial products like mutual funds, credit cards, home loans and personal loans.

According to Rahul Bajaj, chairman, Bajaj Auto the JV would be an independent company and had no plans to list on the stock exchange for the present.

It will provide quality service to the masses, especially in non-urban areas where they will now get the best financial products right at their doorsteps. He said the new company would also create employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for lakhs of people across the country.

Dr Werner Zedelius, member of the board of management of Allianz SE - Insurance Growth Markets, said,"India is a key growth market for Allianz, and the new distribution company will help us strengthen our leadership position in India."
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HDFC hikes home loan rate
Mumbai: Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) has raised interest rates on home loans for existing and new borrowers. Floating rates will go up by 75 basis points while interest rates for customers seeking fixed loans have been increased by 100 basis points from 11 per cent to 12 per cent with effect from March 1, 2007.

HDFC's revised prime lending rate (PLR) will be 13.5 per cent against 12.75 per cent. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

Housing Development Finance Corp raised its rates as the cost of borrowing funds and attracting deposits rose after the central bank raised rates to contain inflation that accelerated to the fastest pace in more than two years last month.
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Forex reserves up at $194.634 billion on 2 March
Mumbai: Indian foreign exchange reserves rose to $194.634 billion on March 2, from $193.124 billion a week earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its weekly statistical supplement on Friday.

Analysts said the part of the increase in the reserves was due to the central bank's aggressive dollar purchases to protect the rupee's export-competitiveness against other currencies.

The central bank said foreign currency assets expressed in U.S. dollar terms included the effect of appreciation or depreciation of other currencies held in its reserves such as the euro, pound sterling and yen.

The foreign exchange reserves include India's Reserve Tranche Position in the International Monetary Fund, the central bank said.
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P Chidambaram introduces Banking Regulation Bill in parliament
New Delhi: A bill to give more operational flexibility to the Reserve Bank of India in the conduct of monetary policy was introduced in Lok Sabha on Friday by the finance minister, P Chidambaram.

The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill proposes to replace an ordinance promulgated on January 23 this year.

The ordinance seeks to amend section 24 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to enable the RBI to specify the Statutory Liquidity Ratio without any floor rate.

Chidambaram said it was necessary that the RBI, as the regulator and the authority vested with the powers to conduct monetary policy, has the necessary flexibility regarding stipulation of holding of liquid instruments by banks.

Hence, it was felt that the existing floor rate of 25 per cent be removed keeping intact the ceiling of 40 per cent as the guidance for RBI.
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