Aadhaar is adequate to open a bank account: RBI
It would have crossed USD 25 billion as on date, RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan said on the sidelines of an event organised by the National Housing Bank.
The Reserve Bank announced the swap windows for foreign currency non-resident (bank) deposits and overseas borrowings by banks on September 4, after the rupee declined about 30 percent against the dollar between April and August. The facility is open till November 30.
The special window allows banks to swap fresh FCNR (B) dollar funds, mobilised for a minimum tenor of three years, at a fixed rate of 3.5 percent per annum.
The RBI also allowed banks to borrow up to 100 percent of their tier-I capital from overseas, which can be swapped with the central bank at a concessional rate of 100 basis points below the rate prevailing in the market.
Khan said the RBI had recently clarified that banks can get disbursement from multilateral agencies till December 31.
"There are some multilateral institutions who have taken some time to sanction the loans and release it. What we have said is that there is a commitment that they will be releasing so we have given time up to December 31 for the banks to take loans under tier-I from international financial institutions, multilateral financial institutions," he said.
"The transaction has to be booked before November 30. Forward to forward can be done up to December 31. This is limited only to banks who are on the process of negotiations with international financial institutions. We have issued a circular on this," he said.
Asked if the RBI is considering an extension of the dollar-swap facility for oil marketing companies, Khan said, "In a calibrated manner, it is happening. And quite a big chunk is already there in the market...We don't foresee any problem."
The swap windows have helped the rupee to gain almost 11 per cent since they were announced.
Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said last week, "Till November 30, the FCNR-B window is open. We might even touch USD 25 billion."
The Reserve Bank of India, on Friday, imposed a monetary penalty on 12 banks for violating central bank rules in the case of Deccan Chronicle Holdings.
The central bank has imposed a penalty of Rs.40 lakh on ICICI Bank and Rs.15 lakh each on Axis Bank and IDBI Bank. A penalty of Rs.10 lakh each has been imposed on Andhra Bank, Canara Bank, Corporation Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of Hyderabad and Yes Bank. HDFC Bank and Ratnakar Bank were fined Rs.5 lakh each.
The RBI said that it “came to the conclusion that some of the violations were substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty.’’
The central bank carried out a scrutiny of the loan and current accounts of Deccan Chronicle Holdings in certain branches of these banks in late 2013.
