1. 17th session of India- Iran Joint Commission, held in Teheran
i. The 17th session of India- Iran Joint Commission, was held in Teheran today. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid co-chaired the meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi.
ii. Later Khurshid called on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He also met the Speaker of the Iranian Majlis Ali Larijani and the Advisor to the Supreme Leader, Ali Akbar Velayati.
iii. India and Iran have also reiterated the importance of greater connectivity between Russia, Central and South Asia through the International North South Transport Corridor.
iv. The two sides reiterated importance of enhancing cooperation in expanding trade and banking relations.
v. Both agreed to study the prospects of joint investment in both countries. India and Iran strongly expressed deep concern on the continuing and unabated violence in Syria and called upon all sides to abjure violence and resolve all issues peacefully through discussions taking in to account the aspirations of people of Syria.
vi. Three Memorandum of Understanding on collaboration in management of water resources, Quality Standards and Foreign Services Instiute were signed between the two sides at the meeting today.
2. India has met bud deficit target; fiscal position weak: Moody's
i. Global rating agency Moody's on Tuesday said India's interim budget is in line with the policy assumptions that underpin the government's Baa3 rating with a stable outlook.
ii. The global rating agency has, however, cautioned that India's fiscal position remains "weak".
iii. Moody's stable outlook on India's Baa3 sovereign rating incorporates the macro-economic risks posed by the government's high deficit and debt ratios as well as its recent efforts to control the fiscal deficit through ad hoc measures," it said in a statement on Tuesday.
iv. The rating also incorporates the medium-term credit support provided by the government's favourable access to domestic savings for the purposes of financing its large borrowing requirements, the statement added.
v. "Moody's notes that India's fiscal deficit ratios have declined over the last two years, but its general (central and state) government fiscal deficits remain higher than those of similarly rated peers," it said.
vi. The fiscal deficit, which is the gap between expenditure and revenue, was at 4.9 percent of GDP in the previous financial year.
vii. According to Moody's, while demonstrating a commitment to meeting its deficit targets, the Indian government's spending cuts are also likely to constrain GDP growth in the current year.
3. RBI to launch interest rate futures on 10 year govt bonds
i. The Reserve Bank of India will soon introduce cash-settled interest rate futures on 10-year government bonds and has also permitted exchanges to launch these derivatives in other smaller tenure securities in the future.
ii. The RBI has twice attempted to launch the interest rate futures (IRFs), in 2003 and 2009, but both attempts failed largely due to what participants called faulty product design.
iii. The central bank has permitted exchanges to offer both physical and cash settled IRFs on the notional 10-year government securities. The RBI stated in a notification that the physically settled 10-year IRF would have a semi-annual coupon rate of 7 percent.
iv. The cash-settled 10-year derivative would be based on either a 10-year government bond with residual maturity between 9 and 10 years, or a basket of 10-year bonds that have residual maturity of between 9 to 11 years.
4. Disapprove of ATM charges: RBI Dty Governor
i. RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty has said that he disapproves the demand made by banks to charge their customers for using ATM services.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Mr. Chakrabarty said it is a little bit ridiculous that bank will charge customers for using an ATM.
ii. He said that instead banks must compare the charges of serving a customer at a branch as against at the ATM.
iii. He further informed that RBI does not decide on service charges, and it was up to the banks to decide their charges.
iv. After a near-fatal attack on a Corporation Bank employee at an ATM in Bangalore last November, many states have made it mandatory to have round-the-clock security at ATMs, pushing up banks' costs. Banks' umbrella body IBA has requested RBI to cap the number of free transactions to five per month across any ATM network.
i. The 17th session of India- Iran Joint Commission, was held in Teheran today. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid co-chaired the meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi.
ii. Later Khurshid called on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He also met the Speaker of the Iranian Majlis Ali Larijani and the Advisor to the Supreme Leader, Ali Akbar Velayati.
iii. India and Iran have also reiterated the importance of greater connectivity between Russia, Central and South Asia through the International North South Transport Corridor.
iv. The two sides reiterated importance of enhancing cooperation in expanding trade and banking relations.
v. Both agreed to study the prospects of joint investment in both countries. India and Iran strongly expressed deep concern on the continuing and unabated violence in Syria and called upon all sides to abjure violence and resolve all issues peacefully through discussions taking in to account the aspirations of people of Syria.
vi. Three Memorandum of Understanding on collaboration in management of water resources, Quality Standards and Foreign Services Instiute were signed between the two sides at the meeting today.
2. India has met bud deficit target; fiscal position weak: Moody's
i. Global rating agency Moody's on Tuesday said India's interim budget is in line with the policy assumptions that underpin the government's Baa3 rating with a stable outlook.
ii. The global rating agency has, however, cautioned that India's fiscal position remains "weak".
iii. Moody's stable outlook on India's Baa3 sovereign rating incorporates the macro-economic risks posed by the government's high deficit and debt ratios as well as its recent efforts to control the fiscal deficit through ad hoc measures," it said in a statement on Tuesday.
iv. The rating also incorporates the medium-term credit support provided by the government's favourable access to domestic savings for the purposes of financing its large borrowing requirements, the statement added.
v. "Moody's notes that India's fiscal deficit ratios have declined over the last two years, but its general (central and state) government fiscal deficits remain higher than those of similarly rated peers," it said.
vi. The fiscal deficit, which is the gap between expenditure and revenue, was at 4.9 percent of GDP in the previous financial year.
vii. According to Moody's, while demonstrating a commitment to meeting its deficit targets, the Indian government's spending cuts are also likely to constrain GDP growth in the current year.
3. RBI to launch interest rate futures on 10 year govt bonds
i. The Reserve Bank of India will soon introduce cash-settled interest rate futures on 10-year government bonds and has also permitted exchanges to launch these derivatives in other smaller tenure securities in the future.
ii. The RBI has twice attempted to launch the interest rate futures (IRFs), in 2003 and 2009, but both attempts failed largely due to what participants called faulty product design.
iii. The central bank has permitted exchanges to offer both physical and cash settled IRFs on the notional 10-year government securities. The RBI stated in a notification that the physically settled 10-year IRF would have a semi-annual coupon rate of 7 percent.
iv. The cash-settled 10-year derivative would be based on either a 10-year government bond with residual maturity between 9 and 10 years, or a basket of 10-year bonds that have residual maturity of between 9 to 11 years.
4. Disapprove of ATM charges: RBI Dty Governor
i. RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty has said that he disapproves the demand made by banks to charge their customers for using ATM services.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Mr. Chakrabarty said it is a little bit ridiculous that bank will charge customers for using an ATM.
ii. He said that instead banks must compare the charges of serving a customer at a branch as against at the ATM.
iii. He further informed that RBI does not decide on service charges, and it was up to the banks to decide their charges.
iv. After a near-fatal attack on a Corporation Bank employee at an ATM in Bangalore last November, many states have made it mandatory to have round-the-clock security at ATMs, pushing up banks' costs. Banks' umbrella body IBA has requested RBI to cap the number of free transactions to five per month across any ATM network.
