India

Japan isn’t the only country looking to strike M&A fortunes in Europe.

While Pakistani banks are earning profits, they failed to mobilise deposits which fell between June and November 2011 and in January 2012. There was a marginal rise in December.

Government-owned State Bank of India reported a welcome 15% rise in new profit during the quarter up to December 2011. But this was the only bit of good news for the quarter.

Bank of Baroda plans to expand its African business with ten new branches in the next four to five months.

The Reserve Bank of India ordered all commercial banks to refrain from overvaluing houses while providing loans.

The government of Pakistan will pick up 50 percent of the outstanding loans including mark-up of rice millers/traders.

JBIC will provide $180 million, while SMBC and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ are funding $120 million to ICICI Bank.

Indian banks should be able to absorb loan-losses stemming from the cancellation of second-generation mobile licenses without materially impairing credit quality.

Andhra Bank witnessed a decline of 8.45 per cent in its net profit at US$61.7 million for the third quarter ended December 31, 2011.

Corporation Bank posted a marginal 5.2 per cent increase in its net profit at US$81.9 million for the third quarter ended December.

Indian Overseas Bank is hoping to recover around US$302.8M this fiscal to reduce its non-performing assets, said a top bank official Saturday.

Fitch revised Andhra Bank's outlook to negative.

The lender invokes right to secrecy on its details and strategy on the deal.

Citigroup Inc. will cut about 100 jobs in India while reiterating that the country remained among its highest priority markets.

Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on Allahabad Bankto Stable from Positive.

The 50 basis points cut in the cash reserve ratio by the RBI was described as "dovish" by a senior bank official.   "The RBI has adopted a more dovish policy stance than anticipated by most in the markets by cutting the CRR by an aggressive 50 basis points to 5.5 percent. Recent comments by senior RBI officials seemed to emphasize that the CRR is not only a liquidity management tool but also an anti-inflationary instrument. A cut would, therefore, prima facie mean an easing of the vigil on prices," said Abheek Barua, chief economist at HDFC Bank. The CRR is the amount against deposits which commercial banks have to keep as liquid assets such as cash. "The fact that the RBI governor chose to go the whole hog and cut the CRR not just by a token 25 bps but by a full 50 bps despite the fact the December core inflation print was a rather high 7.7 percent is an indication of the RBI's growing concerns over liquidity and growth," he said. According to Barua, the Reserve Bank of India has conveyed that CRR cut is not a liquidity enhancing move but a signal instrument that more easing lies ahead.