Banking & Financial Services

Fixed deposit rates: A special type of term deposit or fixed deposit (FD) is eligible for deduction under the ambit of Section 80C. From state-run State Bank of India (SBI) to private sector peers HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, major banks today interest rates to the tune of 6.25-7.75 on the five-year income tax-saving fixed deposits. These bank fixed deposits as well as the five-year time deposit (small savings scheme) in the post office are eligible for Section 80C income tax benefits.

While SBI has set certain rules for its regular savings accounts - wherein the account holder is required to maintain an average monthly balance to the tune of Rs 1,000-3,000 in the account, it also offers special savings bank accounts which are free of any such requirement. SBI's small and basic savings bank deposit accounts do not restrict the account holder to maintain a specific average of daily balances in a month.

The RBI, which tracks consumer inflation primarily to formulate its monetary policy, earlier this month announced its decision to reduce the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6 per cent - a level last seen in May 2018.

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender by assets, has reduced its interest rate by 10 basis points or 0.10 per cent on home loans of up to Rs 30 lakh, a move which is likely to provide some respite to home loan borrowers. The revised rates on home loans or housing loans are applicable from Wednesday, April 10, according to a statement from the bank. SBI's reduction in home loans rate comes nearly a week after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the repo rate by 25 basis points from 6.25 per cent to 6 per cent. Repo rate is the interest rate at which the central bank lends money to commercial banks such as SBI.

This move comes after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slashedits key interest rate by 0.25 per cent to 6 per cent in its second policy review under Governor Shaktikanta Das.

SBI, the country's largest lender, has been active as well on NPA recovery channels outside the insolvency process.

The report said that it estimates the sale will increase PNB's Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio by about 40 basis points.

HDFC Bank Ltd said on Monday it plans to raise up to Rs 50,000 crore ($7.19 billion) by issuing debt over the next 12 months.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank had total assets worth Rs 40,429 crore, as of March 31, 2018, while Indiabulls Housing had total assets of Rs 1.32 lakh crore, as on December 31.

Sources said the major contention in the controversial February 12, 2018, circular that got challenged in the court leading to its quashing, will be done away with in the new circular.

State Bank of India, the country's largest bank, which has a network of over 13,000 branches and five associate banks along with over 43,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) is offering among other services linking PAN Card and Aadhaar card with their State Bank of India accounts.

Bank of India has a 28.96 per cent stake in the joint venture, while Union Bank of India and Dai-ichi Life owns 25.10 per cent and 45.94 per cent, respectively.

FD interest rates: Small finance banksoffer maturities comparable with those in fixed deposits in major commercial banks. However the interest rates offered by small finance banks are often higher in comparison to major commercial banks. Small finance banks, including Ujjivan, Equitas, Utkarsh, Jana and Capital, offer interest at the rate of 5-9 per cent on fixed deposits up to Rs 2 crore.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared the central bank's February 12, 2018 circular as ultra vires of Section 35AA of the Banking Regulation Act, saying the RBI can only issue order on "specific" defaults but cannot direct "generic insolvency" proceedings.

The central bank said the task force would submit its report by the end of August 2019. The RBI statement has brought out an 11-point agenda of regulatory policies.