Monetary Policy: What it means for us

The Monetary policy can be termed as "The annual RBI vision document" for the coming year. It is basically a synopsis of what has been done by the central bank in the preceding year and clear indication of what it plans to do in the coming year in the domains under its purview.

The monetary policy for 2010-11 has been announced on 21st April 2010. This article will try to decipher its contents for the common man.

Monetary measures
-Bank rate has been maintained at the earlier level of 6%
-Repo rate has been increased by 25 basis points to 5.25
-Reverse repo rate has been revised to 3.75% from 3.5%
-Cash reserve ratio has been increase to 6% from 5.75% effective 24 April 2010

The above actions in effect will mean that almost close to Rs 12500 crores will be taken out of circulation. Meaning there will be a reduction in loans being given out at least at the lower spectrum or alternatively and practically this could lead to increase in interest rates, more competition among banks to get customers (better rates, better service). The net effect is expected to be that inflation will be contained and more stability in prices can be expected.

From the economy point of view too this will support the recovery of the economy meaning better salaries and employment opportunities in the medium term. The actions also don't seem to be detrimental to meeting the requirements of government and private credit demand.

Financial Stability Report:
As a fall out of the financial crisis the RBI came up with the idea of a Financial Stability Unit to monitor the economy and carry out regular stress testing and creating related reports. The current report has mentioned that the first FSR has indicated concerns relating to rising inflation, government borrowing and capital flows. The good news is that the banking sector has been indicated to be stable and have a high ability to withstand stress. (For the common man this is a sign of relief considering the closure of banks in almost all countries across the globe). The central bank adds a word of caution saying financial stability cannot be taken for granted and hence is considering making the FSR a half-yearly exercise.

Base Rate:
The base rate system will be implemented from the 1st of July 2010 and is expected to create a more transparent system of loans, result in better pricing and also ensure that the central bank's monetary policies are well transmitted to the common man.

Interest rate futures
The central bank has proposed to introduce Interest rate futures on 5 year and 2 year notional coupon bearing securities and 91 day treasury bills.

No collateral for SME loans
The RBI has announced its intention to mandate banks not to ask for any collateral for loans of upto Rs. 10 lakh when availed by Micro and Small enterprises. This will result in a boost to entrepreneurship and probably boost more cheaper services and better products in the market. Employed individuals can now take that important step towards becoming 'employer' and thus add to the growth of economy.

Focus on Financial inclusion at the rural level
The bank has indicated its commitment to revive rural co-operative banks and also facilitate more Large Adivasi Multipurpose Co-operative societies (LAMPS) and Farmers Service Societies (FSS) to enable the broader idea of financial inclusion of the farmers. For us this could mean that over the long term farmers will have more and easy access to cheap credit thus helping them boost productivity and maybe finally lead to a reduction in food inflation.

Spreading the net of banking
Continuing its intention of increasing banking penetration the RBI is putting pressure on Private and Public banks to have a clear Financial Inclusion Plan. It is also relaxing norms relating to Business Correspondents. This could mean that there will be more access to banking services in each nook and corner resulting in better cash flow and improvement in the standard of living of all citizens at the lower end of the financial spectrum. For us this could mean more contribution from the agriculture and rural sectors resulting in a long term stabilizing of prices.

Urban Sector co-operative banks (UCB)
After over 6 years of banning the setting up of UCBs the RBI is considering revisiting the ban to improve penetration of UCBs and also allowing them to enter new areas of business. This could mean more choices in banking for the urban customer looking at alternatives to the Commercial banks. This would also lead to more off-site ATMs so you don't have to travel long distances in your car to withdraw cash from an ATM.

Customer Service
The RBI is seriously looking at issues relating to levying excessive interest rates and charges of loans and advances. The central bank is looking at mandating banks to pull up their socks vis-à-vis customer service especially as the banks are considered privileged institutions and a special public utility service. It is looking at brining in regulations relating to issuing guidelines on customer service and also ensuring the implementing the same through on-site and off-site inspections and making it mandatory for board meeting to discuss and deliberate on customer service. We could expect more smiling banking executives and also have reasonable rates of interest on loans.

The other announcements relate to Regulatory and Supervisory measures for Commercial Banks and Institutional developments which will not have a very direct effect on the common man, yet, will be discussed in a separate article as it has high relevance for the banking sector.

Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/loans_basics/77/monetary-policy-what-it-means-for-us/