By IANS,
New Delhi : In a bid to calm nervous markets amidst growing global turmoil and improve domestic liquidity conditions, policy makers have taken a number of measures since Sep 16.
A quick re-cap:
* Sep 16: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raises interest rate ceilings on NRI deposits and provides additional liquidity by (a) permitting banks to avail additional liquidity support under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) up to 1 percent of their net demand and time liabilities, and, (b) extending the secondary LAF to a daily basis.
*Sep 22: The finance ministry raises overseas borrowing caps for infrastructure companies for rupee expenditure from $100 million to $500 million. Also raises all-in-cost ceiling from Libor +350 to Libor +450 basis points (bps).
*Oct 6: Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) lifts the curbs on P-Notes. This implies that: (a) Cap on issuance of P-notes in the cash segment removed, allowing unregistered foreign funds to invest in Indian securities and infuse much-needed liquidity.
*Oct 6: RBI reduces the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 bps to 8.5 percent – first cut since June 2003. Move expected to infuse Rs.200 billion into the system.
*Oct 7: Finance ministry expands definition of infrastructure companies to include mining, exploration and refining companies for ECB purposes.
*Oct 10: RBI once again reduces CRR by 100 bps to 7.5 percent.