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Rupee may still depreciate The ratings upgrade by Moody’s will bring a new class of investors in the country, so far restricted by their investment mandate of not investing in countries below a threshold.That should strengthen the rupee naturally, but it may not be desirable for the central bank. To maintain the country’s competitiveness, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) might still want to see the rupee a little weak vis-á-vis its export competitors, revealed a Business Standard poll of 10 senior treasury heads and economists.That usually means the central bank will have to intervene in the market to keep the rupee weaker than its actual strength. Foreign exchange reserves, which recently crossed Rs 400 billion but have come off since then a bit, should get a strong boost as a result of the intervention, they said.However, in the short term, the rupee will maintain a strong bias. Ultimately the rupee’s fate is still tied to what happens to the dollar globally. The dollar index,

Sebi to investigate possible leak of company earnings Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi says the market regulator will investigate possible leaks of company earnings in social media chatrooms India’s market regulator will investigate possible leaks of company earnings in social media chat rooms, its chief Ajay Tyagi said on Friday, following a Reuters report this week that revealed prescient messages being posted in private groups.The Reuters investigation documented at least 12 cases of prescient messages about major Indian companies being posted in WhatsApp groups limited to traders. “We will certainly investigate the issue. It is a work in progress,” Tyagi, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), told Reuters, when asked what action the regulator was considering.India beefed up insider trading rules in early 2015, expanding what constitutes “unpublished price-sensitive information” to include “any information” that is not “generally available” and that could have

RBI wants leading rates to be linked with external benchmark rates Those who avail of home loans and personal loans could soon be on par with the big corporates when it comes to how banks calculate interest charges on borrowers. Interest rates on loans across the board would soon be benchmarked to external market rates as the banking regulator aims to put an end to opacity of loan pricing by banks. A Reserve Bank of India committee headed by Dr Janak Raj has suggested that interest rate on loans be pegged to anyone of the three benchmark rates such as T-bill, certificate of deposit rate or the RBI's repo rate rather than leaving it to the discretion of each bank. It also suggested a ban on banks charging a conversion fee whenever the bank resets the rate of interest. "Arbitrariness in calculating the base rate and MCLR and spreads charged over them has undermined the integrity of the interest rate setting process,'' RBI said in a statement.such as T-bill, certi

Chinese firms raise interest in Indian durables Chinese appliances maker Haier on Thursday inaugurateda Rs 600crore industrial park in Pune, becoming the second Chinese company after the Guangdongbased Midea Group to increase its India bet in the sector. In June, Midea, which hasajoint venture with air conditioning major Carrier in India since 2012, had announced an investment of Rs 800 crore for the domestic market. This included setting upamanufacturing plant in Pune, which would come up by the end of 2018, to produce refrigerators, washing machines, andwaterheaters. WhileHaieralreadyhadaplant in Pune producing mainly refrigerators, the latest investment would allow the firm to increase capacity from 0.8 million units to 3.8 million units, covering not only refrigerators but also washing machines, air conditioners, water heaters, and LED TVs, said Eric Braganza, president, Haier India. The current round of investment also supported the firm´s growth plans, he said. The

Tepid GST receipts may not impact fiscal math All states barring Delhi reported revenue losses in October on account of the goods and services tax (GST), requiring Rs 7,500-crore compensation from the Centre during the month. This may not affect the Centre’s fiscal deficit as it will be taken care of by Rs 8,000 crore collected as compensation cess in October. The tax revenue was collected in the month of October and not for October, for which the last date for paying tax is November 20. The Centre’s revenue collection target may come under slight strain after the GST Council last Friday decided to lower rates on over 200 items. Besides, revenue collected from the Integrated GST (IGST) may be used as credit for paying tax later. “It is early to predict the impact on the fiscal deficit. Looking at the trend so far, the compensation cess collected is more than the revenue loss of states. Once the GST stabilises, states’ collections will improve," an official said. Consum

SEBI probing into sharing of listed companies info on social media Markets regulator Sebi will look into the complaints of some individuals allegedly circulating key financial details and other information about listed companies on social media groups before they are made public, an official said. Sebi will also seek clarification from brokerages and listed firms if such individuals are found to be associated with them, the official said on the condition of anonymity. The information about the listed companies are mostly being made through SMSes, WhatsApp and various social media platforms, wherein names of some established brokerage houses and exchanges are also being misused. While the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has already taken action in several such cases so far, it is investigating a number of others involving similar activities, the official said. Citing an investigation, Reuters reported today that messages are being circulated on private WhatsApp

RBI Likely to Zero In on 50 More Stressed A/Cs The Reserve Bank of India is likely to come up with a fresh list of around 50 loan accounts that are either under stress or close to being classified as nonperforming assets. The regulator may set a March 31 deadline for banks to find a resolution on these or commence bankruptcy proceedings against the borrowers, a finance ministry official said. These accounts are in addition to the 41 that the central bank has already identified, including several against which banks have now started bankruptcy proceedings. This new list of accounts had come up during discussions on the recapitalisation of state-run banks. These assets identified by the RBI have been accounted for in the ? 2.1-lakh crore bank recap ? plan announced last month, and so will not bloat the capital requirement of lenders beyond what has been estimated, the official said. But classifying the loans as NPA will dent the profitability of banks, as they must set aside more