Monetary policy transmission is a process through which monetary policy decisions affect the economy in general and the price level in particular. It is a complex process, wherein the transmission of policy actions to market interest rates and further to real sector may proceed through several channels. Therefore, monetary policy transmission mechanism is still considered to be a “black box”. In this context, this paper, using SVAR models on quarterly data for 1996-97:1 to 2011-12:1, examines the relative importance of various transmission channels of monetary policy to output growth and inflation in India.

The Mission statement indicates RBI’s renewed commitment towards providing a safe, efficient, accessible, inclusive, interoperable and authorised payment and settlement systems for the country. Payments systems will be driven by customer demands of convenience, ease of use and access that will impel the necessary convergence in innovative e-payment products and capabilities.

The paper Monetary Transmission Mechanism in India: A Quarterly Model examines the impact of monetary policy actions on growth and inflation. Given the volatility emanating from the agricultural sector, the paper models both overall growth and overall inflation as well as non-agricultural growth and non-food manufactured products inflation, i.e., components stripped of the influence from the agricultural sector and which are more amenable to monetary actions. The paper also estimates the impact of oil prices, real exchange rate and fiscal variables on growth and of exchange rate and minimum support prices on inflation.

In an environment of growing integration among the financial markets, volatility in the exchange rate of a currency could not only be attributed to domestic macroeconomic and global factors but also attributed to spillover effects emanating from other volatile markets due to market microstructure in terms of differences in timing of trading activity, bid-ask spreads and risk perceptions. In this context, this paper analyses volatility spillovers from the exchange rates of the Brazilian Real, the Russian Ruble, the South Korean Won, the Singapore Dollar, the Japanese Yen, the Swiss Franc, the British Pound Sterling and the Euro to the exchange rate of the Indian Rupee during 2005-11.

The HLSC was mandated to suggest measures for making the supervisory processes for commercial banks more effective and useful to the supervised entities as well. The terms of reference for the Committee included a mandate for reviewing the extant approach, methodology, processes/tools for onsite and off-site supervision, supervisory rating and stress testing frameworks and recommending measures for a gradual progression to a risk based supervision framework. The Committee has since submitted its Report to the Governor on June 11, 2012.

In order to avoid the last-minute rush for customers paying their income-tax dues, the Reserve Bank on Friday said tax payers may use select branches of some public and private sector banks to remit their dues in advance. Some of the branches of State Bank of India, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of India are authorized to accept payment of I-T dues either by cash or cheque, RBI said in a release.

In view of the fact that The Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank Ltd, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [the co-operative bank] had ceased to be solvent, all efforts to revive it in close consultation with the Government of India had failed and the depositors were being inconvenienced by continued uncertainty, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) passed an order cancelling the banking licence issued to the co-operative bank with effect from the close of business on June 04, 2012. The Central Registrar of Co-operative Societies, New Delhi (CRCS) has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the co-operative bank and appoint a liquidator.

Under the online Application Tracking System (ATS), customers can submit applications online and also track the status of an already filed / submitted application. The applicant would be required to login with email id and password as registered with the RBI website. In respect of those applications, being submitted physically at the counters of the Foreign Exchange Department, a valid email id is required to be indicated in the letter / application. An auto generated information will be sent to the email id given upon receipt of an application and also at the time of disposal of an application by the Department. Status of all letters / applications (other than statements and returns) requiring a reply from the Foreign Exchange Department can be tracked by accessing the ATS. ATS can easily be accessed on the homepage of RBI (www.rbi.org.in).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that it could do little to arrest the fall of rupee if the decline was caused by fundamental weakness of the economy or due to global factors. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Friday, RBI Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty said in such a case, RBI could only take more calibrated steps in the forex market.

What is Electronic Clearing Service (ECS)? It is a mode of electronic funds transfer from one bank account to another bank account using the services of a Clearing House. This is normally for bulk transfers from one account to many accounts or vice-versa. This can be used both for making payments like distribution of dividend, interest, salary, pension, etc. by institutions or for collection of amounts for purposes such as payments to utility companies like telephone, electricity, or charges such as house tax, water tax, etc or for loan installments of financial institutions/banks or regular investments of persons.