Interest rates would move upwards though marginally from December 1997 as the fall witnessed for nearly a year bottoms out and credit offtake picks up, says a PTI report quoting money market analysts and bank treasury managers.

The first indication of northward movement of interest would be the rise in rates in the inter-bank call money market and on commercial paper issued by corporates, they said. ``Short term rates are very low and they should go up.

Longer term rates will climb slowly,'' an analyst with the merchant banking arm of a leading commercial bank said. Mutual funds fare well: The mutual fund industry has performed well in 1997 with all the 37 funds launched this year giving positive returns, says a study. DSP Merill Lynch equity fund is heading the list of various mutual fund schemes launched in 1997 with net assest value (NAV) return of 25.7 per cent. The DSP fund launched in April this year with corpus of Rs 82 crore has current NAV of Rs 12.57 and on annualised basis the return works out to be 77.1 per cent.

Sebi nod for Corporation Bank issue:

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has cleared the Corporation Bank's initial public offer of equity shares. The bank chairman and managing director, RS Hugar, told reporters that observations made by Sebi would be incorporated in the offer document and the final version would be submitted to Sebi and the regional stock exchanges next week.

Karur Vysya Bank scheme:

The Karur-based private sector bank, Karur Vysysa Bank Ltd (KVB), has announced a new fixed deposit (FD) scheme, called the KVB Pancharatna.``This is a highly flexible FD scheme which allows depositors to withdraw part of their money and still be able to earn interest on the balance,'' a senior manager at KVB said. `KVB Pancharatna' deposits are accounted for in units of Rs 1000 each and would attract simpleinterest. FDs are accepted for a minimum period of six months and a maximum of four years from individuals, corporates and other institutions, an official with the bank said.

Hawala racket unearthed:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today unearthed a big hawala network and seized Rs 1.18 crore from a South Delhi house meant for conversion to pound sterling for a secret account in a Swiss bank. The ED deputy director of Delhi zone A K aggarwal said no arrests have been made so far but interrogation of several persons, including some British passport holders of Indian origin, is on in connection with the seizure.

Export Promotion Board meet:

The Export Promotion Board (EPB) will take up issues relating to export of electronics and readymade garments at its second meeting here tomorrow. The EPB will take up these issues as part of its sectoral strategy to impart requisite focus to exports, official sources said. Representatives of the respective sectors would also take part in the meeting to present their views before the board for consideration. The problems related to raw material availability, designs and quality would be raised by the readymade garment exports.

Banking education:

The emerging trends in the field of banking education will be discussed threadbare at a three-day conference of chiefs of human resources departments and bank educationists in Chennai on August 18. With the economic liberalisation and attendant banking sector reforms, the banks had been facing an urgent challenge to upgrade the professional competence of their employees so that they could face the twin challenges of competition and technological advancements, according to the Chennai chapter of Indian Institute of Bankers.

Escort Fin cash card:

Escorts Finance, a part of the Rs 3,400-crore Escorts Group, has launched E-Cash, the country's first electronic cash card. It will be initially accepted at the Nanz supermarket at Greater Kailash in New Delhi. This will be followed by similar launches in Khan Market, South Extension and Lajpat Nagar. The card, which is now available at a one-time cost of Rs 250, is likely to be priced lower as sales grow. The company is looking forward to notch up a volume of five to ten million over a period of five years.

A clarification:

In The Financial Express

report published on August 16, the country's forex assets have been wrongly mentioned as $3.9 billion. Actually, RBI deputy governor YV Reddy had said that the central bank had accumulated $3.9 billion of additional assets during the period April 1 to August 8, 1997. The country's total foreign exchange assets as on August 8 stood at $26.19 billion, and not $3.9 billion as mentioned in The Financial Express dated August 16. The error is regretted.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.