Saying yes to Financial Inclusion

I won't be at town for a while, so no blogging this week. So thought of posting this one article published in Business standard. If you remember, I had published an article on Financial Inclusion in one of my earlier blogs (Why be excluded?). Well, banks in India seem to be taking steps towards this direction. Lots of MFI's (Micro Finance Institutions) exist in the market but because of the meagre portfolio they can afford, banks seem to be interested in taking a piece of the pie.

Already, banks like Yes Bank are entering into the foray, with a pilot plant set up in Mumbai. Its Micro Finance wing Sampann, has started operations in 3 areas of Mumbai. It has adopted the strategy of giving loans to individuals directly, instead of Groups of Individuals, as is the case of Grameen Bank.

All said & done, the only limiting factor on banks is that they can keep a variable uinterest rate as long as RBI doesnt put any cap on the interest rate, as explained by Sitaram Rao, consultant to SKS, a micro finance institution.

Frequent defaults could also cause banks unable to keep up with the rest of the business. Alltogether, it also seems as a strategy by banks to offer customers free accounts for taking the facility. The banks anyway gain here, because the risk of default, if nil can earn the bank considerable profit. As I mentioned in one of my blogs on the Inverted Curve. During such a period, banks provide loans for a high interest rate for short periods. This helps the banks in earning huge profits in no time.

Only time will tell how the plan goes. Financial inclusion Zindabaad!!!

Global Financial Crisis-Asian View

I was just browsing through several articles at Business standard thinking what to present to you guys (I was afraid I would run out of topics soon!) when I came across this article by Prof. Shankar Acharya, Honorary Professor at ICRIER Delhi, and Chief economic advisor to the Government of India.

In his article, Prof. Acharya describes about a lecture conducted at ICRIER by noted economist Mr. Andrew Sheng. As rightly explained by Prof. Acharya, the market now is full of articles on the crisis, most of them being works of western economists. But there is few literature available on its affect on the Asian markets. Mr. Sheng's lecture describes about the very historical facts that led to build up the atmosphere for this crisis (Yes, according to Mr. Sheng, it had started as the fires of the previous downturn of 1929 was cleared up).


Click the Link below to read the whole article-

Global Financial Crisis-Asian Perspective

And needless to say, constructive criticism is invited on the article. Do post your comments.

Interim Budget speech 2009

The Interim Budget speech as presented by Hon. Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee.

Contributor: Mr. K.P. Nagashrith, BSIM-Bangalore


FM's Budget Speech

Money Kr. & Monetary Policy

What is the RBI? How does it affect me? Want to find out? Check out this very simple document describing in very easy terms what the RBI does. I would recommend you to study about the different types of RBI rates while going through the PDF to get a thorough understanding (Like SLR, CRR, Bank rate, Repo rate, Reverse repo etc.)

Share this document with your friends as well. Money Kr & Monetary Policy

Courtesy: RBI Financial education

BUDGET BASICS

A lot of People gather at the hall and discuss matters that mean most to the nation, followed by occasional 'booing' by the opposition and claps from the ruling party. So which side do you take? The following data gives a simple description of what the budget is all about and how to interpret it.

1. What is a Budget ?

Budget is Estimate of inflows and outflows of the Government during a year. Budget is presented for the ensuing Financial year.

2. What does Budget consist of?

Every budget consist of Actual figures for preceding years, Budget and revised figures for the current year, Budget estimates for the following years

So the Budget presented in March 2001 will be estimate of Inflows and outflows of the Funds for the period beginning from 1st April 2001 to 31st March 2002.

3. When is Budget presented?

Budget is to be presented in Lok Sabha on a day as the President directs. By convention, the Budget is presented in Parliament on the last working day of February.

4. Who draws the timetable for Budget?

Timetable is drawn by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of Parliament. In the schedule drawn up by the BAC, there is a fixed period of discussion for each ministry.

5. Who has the responsibility for Budget?

Budget Division in the Finance Ministry has the overall responsibility. It prepares the budget on basis of proposal received from various departments and ministries and the availability of funds. However, final approval is from the Prime Minister.

6. What if Budget is not approved by 1st April?

The Constitution empowers Lok Sabha to grant a Vote-on-Account (Article 116) so that the government can continue with the necessary expenditure into the new fiscal, before the Budget proposals actually get passed after necessary discussions. The vote-on-account normally covers the expenditure requirement of the government for two months.


7. Is it compulsory to have budget for every year?
click here

8. How to understand the Budget Document?
click here

9. What is the process of Budget approval?
click here

Courtesy: http://www.banknetindia.com

FDI: To be or not to be??

Times of India, Feb 12, 2009: With the Government decision to ease the entry modes of FDI into the country, a great leap is expected in the areas of the already hyped retail sector, telecom, insurance etc. Earlier when a company invested in a company in India, it had to enter into a joint venture with an Indian partner. Suppose the contribution of the Foreign partner in this JV (Joint Venture) was 49% and that of the India Partner was 51%, and this JV started its own subsidiary in India, this subsidiary was supposed to be constituted of 49% FDI.

Now, with the cabinet decision on wednesday, a subsidiary from the above example would be considered as a 100% Indian entity.

It seems India has started changing much of its tactics, keeping in mind the fact that most of the past stock trends have been affected due to FII's instability.

India now seems to be locking horns with China, which has less FDI restrictions, but has more restrictions over the equity market. As a result, FII's find it very hard to enter China.

FDI entry and exit is a very difficult affair. First of all, there are the limitations which a foreign company can't exceed. Exit is also difficult, as Industrial laws mention that diluting a company employing more than 100 companies needs prior Government approval.

Now that the entry has been made easy, Indian's can expect more increase in FOREX levels. But there are also problems associated with this. Remember my earlier blog on Mao's cookie crumbling (http://fingertipfinance.blogspot.com/2009/02/renminbi.html)? Well, India could loose its cookie too, as more FDI in makes the value of Indian Rupee appreciate against the US dollar. This happens because the supply starts exceeding the demand. Imagine a shopkeeper holding excess of a particular product which he has to sell before it reaches the expiry. What does he do?? He lowers the rate of the item. That's what will happen with the dollar. 1$ that I used to get at Rs. 50 will now be available say at Rs. 42. So an American can now only get Rs. 42 of work done out of me for his 1$. Now he has to look for cheaper substitutes. That's where India looses.

Also, Indian goods could loose out their competitive value. Interest rates start coming down.

So even I am puzzled....Should we or shouldnt we....the choice is yours.

Your comments on this article are invited. Do participate.

Industrial opportunities in North-East India

If I were to be rich,
If I were to be sucessful,
If I were to be grateful,
I would return to this wonderful land,
and give back whatever it had given me
to make me what I am today

It has been a long while since I gave this presentation. Hope that my readers get to know about the industrial scenario of the North-East from this presentation. The document can be downloaded from the following link- http://www.scribd.com/doc/2462921/Industrial-Opportunities-in-the-Northeast

Good Morning North-East

It seems good days are back at the doorsteps of this once forgotten land of ours. Companies seem to have taken a new step in selecting MBA students from far fledged IIM-Shillong, located in Meghalaya, North-East India.

A delighted Director of the new IIM, Prof Ashoke K Dutta said, "When we approached the companies, initially they were hesitant. The challenge was to convince them as to how the products would be of help to them."

It seems being from IIM itself is not an advantage after all. The students as well as the administration have to also position themselves to grab the attention of the Corporates. Proper positioning must also be done to convince the biggies that the students have the basic skills in them to hold back major repercussions during the inverted curve period.

What the North-East needs is to make itself open for more opportunities pour in. Conditions like extremism are still prevalent and fresh in the minds of investors. Companies must convey their message to the people of the North-East that instead of feeling insecure, more opportunities would be coming at their doorsteps.

Let us hope this year ushers in a new spirit of hope to the region.

The New Curriculum

MBA aspirants joining this year & in the future may get to read a lot about the Satyam Scam & the fallen IT Czar Ramalinga Raju.

The question now being debated is whether fresh MBA grads ought to have their attention focussed on such a topic. There are some who feel that MBA's should know a thing or two about business ethics, and keeping that in mind is much more important than earning profits. Others say that such cases should be left to students doing CA courses and law firms as they are more involved directly in such cases.

According to me, a businessman needs to be aware of all his surroundings. People would think twice before they do something foolish or the other.

An MBA grad should know what has to be followed. There are many ways a company can earn its profits. Proper management happens when you take the right path of earning this profit. India is already dependent on FDI's & FII's on maintaining its stock market movement. Any similar mishap can make such investors loose their confidence in the Indian business environment, ultimately leading to more disaster.

Let us hope that there wont be another 'Enron' or 'Satyam' for us to study.

New Satyam CEO A S Murty says 'Yes! We Can'

TOI: Employees of Satyam, on Thursday welcomed the appointment of global delivery head AS Murty as the new CEO by the government appointed board of the crisis-hit company.

The move went down well with Satyam employees, who see him as a neutral executive and one who is not part of disgraced Satyam founder, Ramalinga Raju's coterie.

These employees earlier expressed dissent when Ram Mynampati took charge as interim CEO of Satyam, following Raju's confession of perpetrating a Rs 7,000 crore fraud.

Following his appointment as CEO, Mr Murty addressed tens of thousands of Satyam employees at different locations through a web cast that lasted over half an hour. The speech was aimed at motivating and reassuring employees, who have had to cope with social stigma and insecurity after news of the Satyam fraud came out last month.

"If an internal person, has to head Satyam, Murty is the best. He has good knowledge of delivery, HR and associates(employees). I would say that of the over 50,000 Satyam employees, Murty would be familiar with at least 10,000. I am sure he would know the top 500 leaders by name," said a long-time employee of Satyam, who did not wish to be named.

About Murty's association with Raju, the same employee said, "Raju did not accord him any special place or promotion. He is like the Pranab Mukherjee of Satyam, an effective troubleshooter, who can keep the employees together."

AeroIndia 2009

Bangalore would soon be witnessing the much awaited AeroIndia 2009 to be held between February 11-15 2009 at Yelahanka Air Force Base.

The 7th Aero India is being organized by the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It is managed by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Aero India has already carved a niche for itself globally as a premier aerospace exhibition, with six successful editions organized between 1996 and 2007.The show aims at bringing under one roof, exhibitors from all around the globe to showcase the best in aviation.

Make sure that you get your tickets in time which are being distributed at select SBI Branches. The tickets are pretty expensive (least being Rs.300 per adult), but for those who are mad about machines and flying it is worth the deal.


For more information, do visit- http://www.aeroindia.in/