1. RBI CLARIFIES REGARDING OLD NOTE DEPOSITS: The Reserve Bank of India has issued clarification after various news agencies, citing sources, had come out with estimates of old notes deposited in the banking system. Neither the RBI nor the government has come out with a final official figure in this matter. The Reserve Bank of India in its last official release said that till December 10^th, Rs 12.44 lakh crore worth of old notes were returned to the banking system. RBI has already initiated the process and the final figure will be announced soon.

2. GOVERNMENT TO FINALISE SECOND TRANCHE OF CAPITAL INFUSION IN STATE-RUN BANKS: Finance Ministry is likely to finalise the second tranche of capital infusion in public sector banks in the next few days and the decision will be crystallised before the budget. The government has already announced a fund infusion of 22,915 crores, out of the 25,000 crores earmarked. Of this, 75% has already been released. The remaining amount will be linked to performance with particular reference to greater efficiency, growth of both deposits and credit in addition to the reduction in cost of operations.

3. PM MODI ANNOUNCES SOPS FOR MSMEs, RURAL INDIA AND HOUSING SECTOR: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has announced new schemes for rural and urban housing, farmers, senior citizen and MSME sector. The Prime Minister has announced a 60 day waiver of interest on farm loans. Home loans up to Rs 2.00 lakhs, Rs 9.00 lakhs and Rs 12 Lakhs will now be eligible for interest relief of 3%, 4% and 3% respectively. The government has also waived interest on existing farm loans for the latest kharif and rabi crops. Under MSME the CGTSME coverage has been increased to Rs 2.00 crore from the existing 1.00 crore. Besides this, the cash credit limit for small businesses has been raised to 25% from 20%. The Senior citizens will now be eligible for 8% interest on their deposits up to 7.5 lakh for 10 years.

4. RBI IMPOSES RESTRICTIONS ON WITHDRAWAL FROM CERTAN ACCOUNTS: Tightening the noose around the people who misused banking channels to park their un-accounted money, the Reserve Bank of India has now imposed restrictions on withdrawal of more than 2.00 lakhs from bank accounts. Withdrawal/transfer will not be permitted without quoting PAN or submission of Form 60. These restrictions have come in effect after the misuse of Jan-Dhan and dormant accounts. As per RBI notification, withdrawal and transfer of funds (more than Rs 2.00 lakh) will not be permitted in account without quoting PAN or submission of Form 60.

5. SBI’S NEW HOME LOAN SCHEME—“HAMARA GHAR”: In an effort to push home loans, SBI has floated a new scheme offering fixed rate for first two years at 8.50% for women and 8.55% for men. In this new schematic “Hamara Ghar“ housing loan, once the fixed tenure of two year ends, the interest rate will be linked to the prevailing one year Marginal Cost of Lending rate ( MCLR) with a normal spread over MCLR, which is 50 basis points.

6. TWO LARGE PSU BANKS MAY MERGE: The Centre may merge two large state-run banks in the coming financial year once a clean-up of bad assets is completed. Consolidation of India’s public sector Banks (PSBs) would be the final step of the government in rebuilding a financial system capable of underwriting credit growth and job creating investment in Asia’s third largest economy.