The ensuing weeks can bring some relief for the home loan borrowers. It is because, it is expected that the concept of mortgage guarantee may be rolled out in next few weeks.

 It is a four-way joint venture and has been christened as India Mortgage Guarantee Company. National Housing Bank, US-based Genworth Financial, the Asian Development Bank and International Finance Corporation being the four partners.

Mortgage Guarantee will ensure proper availability of home loans as well...

In order to make the defaulters pay their dues in the earliest possible way State Bank of India will follow an innovative strategy. The largest lender in the country will publish the names and photographs of deliberate defaulters in leading publications.

A senior bank official said, "The idea is to discourage the public from defaulting on loans. We will send them notices before going ahead with such measures," he said. The bank will further ensure...

In order to give boost to its credit expansion, the largest lender of the country,  State Bank of India may soon announce reduction in its interest rates. Former holds the reputation of being the largest lender in the country.

The Chief Financial Officer at SBI, Mr. Diwakar Gupta said, "All sentiment is building towards it (an interest rate cut)...we are keen to do it."

In the latest monetary policy review, the Reserve Bank of India...

There have been indications from the Reserve Bank of India that there may be further decline in the Cash Reserve Ratio in the next monetary policy review. The next policy review is scheduled for 15th March.

In the recent monetary policy review, the apex bank reduced CRR by 50 basis points. However, the policy rates were kept constant. The fall in the CRR is in view of the liquidity situation persisting in the markets. The reduction...

The lenders in the country are acting very cautiously while lending to the customers. The banks are very much concerned about the credit score of the applicant and prefer lending to those with a sufficiently high credit score.

The Managing Director of leading credit agency, CIBIL, Mr. Arun Thukral said, "The trend indicates that banks are becoming more diligent in acquiring new customers."

In a study conducted by CIBIL, it was found that over 88% of the...

The Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI) has asked Finance Ministry to increase the tax exemption limit for home loan borrowers. It has asked to double the limit from 1.5 lac to 3 lac on home loan repayment.

The lending rates escalated to a great extent during the previous year. Among other borrowers, home loan borrowers also had to bear the heat of the rate hike by shelling out extra money on their...

In the recent monetary policy review, the Reserve Bank of India reduced the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points but kept the interest rates unchanged. Leading foreign sector lender in the country, Barclays does not expect any rate cut before April.

In its "The Emerging Markers Weekly" report, Barclays Capital said, "We continue to see risks of a 25 basis points repo rate cut at the March mid-quarter policy review, while maintaining our base...

The hike in the policy rates by the Reserve Bank of India during the last year lead to a reasonable increase in the home loan rates. Though, there was no dearth of the home loan borrowers during that period also.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Overseas Bank, Mr. M. Narendra said, "Most banks have not applied the normal spread mechanism on the retail loans. We are keeping the retail rates attractive so that...

The second largest private sector lender in the country, HDFC Bank has opened its branch at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. Including the recent one, the total number of branches of the bank in the state has reached the figure of 150.

The country head, branch banking of HDFC Bank, Mr. Navin Puri said, "With this branch, we have strengthened our presence in Andhra Pradesh. Our rapidly expanding branch network has ensured that we are now...

The Reserve Bank of India has announced monetary policy review. The policy rates have been kept unchanged. To some relief Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) has been reduced by 50 basis points or 0.50%. The CRR now stands at 5.50%.

The apex bank expects that the reduction in CRR would assuage the liquidity in the market. The move is also expected to support the growth rate as well as to rein the medium-term inflation.

"The reduction...

The Reserve Bank of India is to announce quarterly monetary policy review today. The ease in inflation in the recent times has raised the hopes that the policy rates may be reduced in the review.

However, there has been no such indication from the apex bank about the lowering of policy rates in this policy review. Policy rates were kept unchanged in the last monetary policy review held in December. The decision was considering the visible...

The inflation rate in the country has come down, which means that any further hike in policy rates is unlikely. However, after the slide in inflation experts have been making speculations about the lowering of policy rates.

"We expect Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation to cool a little in the coming months... We expect WPI inflation to ease toward 6.5% by mid-2012," said Moody's Analytics. Moody's is a leading global ratings agency.

"We were honing in on...

Public sector lenders, Corporation Bank is considering several moves to boost the SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) sector.

"We want to reach a figure of Rs 15,500 crore in SME lending this fiscal," said Mr. Ajai Kumar, the Chairman and Managing Director of the bank.

To support the SMEs, the bank has adopted cluster-based approach. It has also signed an agreement with SIDBI for financing SMEs.

The responsibility of leading Bank of Maharashtra, a public sector bank is to be passed on to Mr. Narendra Singh. He has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of the bank.

He started his career in the capacity of an officer at Allahabad Bank and then eventually ascended to the post of Executive Director. In 2009, he was appointed as Executive Director at Corporation Bank.

He will assume his new post of responsibility on...

The Reserve Bank of India has directed private and foreign sector banks to get approved the salary that they offer to their CEO's. RBI has announced that the private sector bank officials can not get excessive salary.

No specifications have been mentioned by the apex bank on the matter. However, the private sector banks have been asked to keep a proper balance in the fixed and the variable salary offered.

In a notification, RBI said, "As hitherto,...

The banks are using various methods to attract people. Social Networking sites have proved to be of extensive use to the banks for the purpose. Majority of the young population in the country is on these sites and it provides an opportunity to the banks to attract their attention.

Through the channel, banks share information about the products and facilities that they offer. However, the reputation of the bank is on stake as well because any...

The largest lender in the country, State Bank of India has reduced the processing fees on the home loans to half. The move will definitely be appreciated by the home loan customers.

SBI being a bellwether in the industry has the potential to bring upon new trends in the space. The move from the bank is bound to attract attention of the borrowers and it also will heat up the competition.

A senior bank official...

The top bank officials yesterday suggested Reserve Bank of India to cut the policy rates in a meeting. The proposal is in the light that the inflation rate has lowered down recently.

The Chief Executive of Indian Banks' Association, Dr K. Ramakrishnan said, "If growth has to happen and investments have to take place in the economy, then the RBI should send a signal by cutting policy rates."
The decision upon the issue is to be...

A lot of developments are taking place in the banking space. Many new facilities have been introduced by the banks that have made banking an easier affair. Along with the improved facilities there are a few new penalties that the banks have started to levy in ensure that their margins do not get hurt in the scenario of continuously stiffening competition.

Many banks now levy penalty on duplicate statements or if the number of cash transactions...

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, the associate bank of State Bank of India has launched a new platform to sanction home loan applications online. The process will take around 20 minutes.

For the purpose the interested customers can visit the web site of the bank and can fill the online application form. An automatic eligibility check is then run. If the customer stands well on the ground then a sanction letter and reference number...