Full rupee float not yet, says RBI

Talking to r

eporters on the sidelines of a Corporation Bank function here, Chakrabarty said as of now, there is no talks in this regard.  As to  “whether it’s desirable or not, that we have to examine and whether we have capability,” he said.

On whether Bharti-MTN deal failure would hasten it, he observed nothing would impress the RBI to go in for capital account convertability. He also indicated that RBI is considering plea of banks for a hike in “held-to-maturity” (HTM) limit. Refusing to comment on inflation,   he said the RBI Governor would release the policy statement on October 27.

“We don’t predict about inflation every day. It will be known on October 27,” he said.
Earlier, Chakrabarty exhorted banks to change their mindset towards taking banks to remotest villages as part of the financial inclusion initiative. Stating that technology is a key enabler to achieve this ambitious task, Chakrabarty said this would help take banking to the poor and still make it a viable banking programme.

Grameen Vikas Kendras

Chakrabarty launched the Corporation Bank’s 150 Grameen Vikas Kendras — the branchless banking units spread across five states of financial inclusion initiative across the country.

Under the programme, customers are provided with a smart card which acts as an e-purse and e-passbook and holds multiple accounts of customer like savings account, loan account, general credit card and recurring deposits.

The programme covers 59 villages in Karnataka, 38 in Andhra Pradesh, 10 in Kerala, 36 in Tamil Nadu, 5 in Gujarat and 2 in Harayana.

Corporation Bank is also planning to roll out micro-insurance and facilitate transcations using mobile phones through business correspondents.