ECB

The Government of India has decided to raise the limit for external commercial borrowings to $30 billion from $20 billion before, a senior finance ministry official said on Friday. The government has decided not to raise the foreign institutional investor limit in government bonds, said the official, who did not wish to be named. FIIs can invest up to $10 billion in government bonds currently. Full Article

BERLIN: Speculation is growing that India-born Anshu Jain may take over as the co-head of Deutsche Bank , Germany's largest private bank, together with Bundesbank President Axel Weber, when the incumbent Josef Ackermann retires in early 2013. Full Article

THE banking regulator has questioned deals that foreign investors often strike with Indian companies to protect their money. Foreign strategic investors regularly enter into an arrangement where local firms and promoters keep aside some assets that c Full Article

Hitherto, Indian corporates in the services sectors viz., hotels, hospitals and software were allowed to avail ECB upto USD 100 million per financial year under the automatic route for permissible end-uses. ECB beyond USD 100 million was arguably not permissible even under the approval route. Full Article

Indian corporate sector has raised significant funds through foreign currency loans like FCCBs, ECBs, etc., during FY07 and FY08. The corporate sector had preferred to keep its forex payable positions un-hedged in anticipation of appreciating INR trend to continue wherein FCCBs would eventually get converted into equity. While at the same time exports were hedged using various derivative instruments. Full Article

India's central bank on Tuesday eased oversees borrowing rules for Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFC). The IFC's will not need the central bank's nod to raise overseas funds equivalent to or less than half of their own funds, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement. Full Article

Yesterday the Parliament of India have created a history by making a walkout even before the budget was yet to be finished. The opposition parties made the walkout once it was declared in the budget that petrol prices to go up. To levy excise duty of Re1 per liter on petrol and diesel have made the whole of India to think about the probable price they will have to pay for every commodity. Full Article

As per the extant policy, eligible borrowers in the telecommunication sector are permitted to avail of ECB for the purpose of payment for spectrum allocation, under the automatic route. Keeping in view the large outlay of funds required to be paid directly to the Government within a limited period of time, it has been decided to make a one-time relaxation in the end-use conditions of the ECB policy. Full Article