Belgium govt rescues local arm of troubled Dexia Bank

Bank of England reduces bank rate by 0.5 Percentage Points to 4.5%
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today voted at a special meeting to reduce the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves to 4.5%. The Monetary Policy Committee held a special meeting on Wednesday 8 October, some hours in advance of its normal schedule.

After that meeting, the Bank of England, in conjunction with the Bank of Canada, the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan, released the following statement:

“Throughout the current financial crisis, central banks have engaged in continuou

Moody’s cut rating of nine Portuguese Banks
Moody has cut credit rating of nine Portuguese Banks. The Agency has expressed concern about the safety of loans the banks have made to the Portuguese Government.

These banks include Banco BPI (BPI), Banco Santander Totta (BST), BANIF - Banco Internacional do Funchal, S.A. (Banif), Caixa Economica Montepio Geral (Montepio), Banco Comercial Portugues, S.A. (BCP), Banco de Investimento Imobiliário, S.A. (BII), Banco Espirito Santo, S.A. (BES), Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD).

Moody's downgraded Portugal to Ba2 with a negative outlook from Baa1" published on 5 July 2011.

Bank shares fall after EU proposes transaction tax, UK said it would resist such move
The British government said a financial transaction tax could only work if it were implemented globally. British Foreign Secretary William Hague told The Spectator magazine, “'I described the euro as a burning building with no exits and so it has proved for some of the countries in it,' he, repeating comments he made in 1998 when he was Conservative leader. You can have burning buildings where they manage to put out the fire or control it or get more room or something. I might take the analogy too far but it (the euro zone) is not built with exits so it is physically a difficult thing to leave

Farm loan disbursal to exceed to touch $105 billion (Rs 5.20 lakh cr) in view of good monsson say NABARD
India's National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, NABARD, said that it expects to achieve farm loan disbursal is of $ 105 billion (Rs. 5.20 lakh crore) rupees against the target of 4.75 lakh crore rupees in this fiscal in view of good monsoon.

Nabard Chairman Prakash Bakshi said in New Delhi that based on the data available for the first four months, it is expected that the farm loans will rise and cross the target. He said, the agriculture credit disbursal had increased to over $ 96 billion (Rs. 4.26 lakh crore) rupees in the

Global stock markets jittery on fears of Greek debt default; Sensex and Nifty end 1 percent lower
After three days of rally, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange lost 1.1 percent and Nifty at the National Stock Exchange fell 1 percent amid weak global trends. India’s uncontrolled inflation and rising interest rates effecting growth rates also contributed to lower investor confidence.


European stock markets plunged on fears of a Greek debt default. In afternoon trading in Europe, London’s FTSE index is down 2.1 percent. The CAC in Paris is off 3.2 percent, while the DAX in Frankfurt is down 3.3 percent.

MoU between IIFCL, LIC and IDFC for ‘Take Out Finance Scheme’ could help fund infrastructure project to the tune of $ 6.3 billion
A MoU was signed today in Mumbai between IIFCL, LIC and IDFC in the presence of the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chauhan today in Mumbai. The scheme will enhance the availability of long tenor debt finance for infrastructure projects. It enables availability of cheaper cost of finance available for the borrower. This will overcome sectoral / group / single party exposure issues of Banks/ Lenders who are providing long term debt financing to infrastructure projects. It also addresses asset-liability mismatch (ALM) of banks arising out