US DOLLAR INDIAN RUPEE

Indian government finally wakes from slumber of continuous decline of foreign flows as they take measures for more foreign flows into India.

Foreign funds sold $3.5 billion more of Indian stocks than they bought this year. They bought a net $17.2 billion of equities in 2007, a record, helping the rupee complete its best year in more than three decades, gaining 12.30%, and slowing inflation to a five-year low in October.

Short term global investment pattern changes very quickly. 2007 was a problem of plenty now just the reverse. The reverse foreign flows are just temporary.

SEBI allows NRI to be eligible to be registered as an FII

An asset management company, investment manager or advisor or an institutional portfolio manager set up and/ or owned by non resident Indians (NRIs) shall be eligible to be registered as FII subject to the condition that they shall not invest their proprietary funds. This has been enabled by suitable modification to Explanation II under Regulation 13 of the said regulations.

The type of securities in which FIIs are permitted to invest has been widened to include schemes floated by a Collective Investment Scheme.

RBI liberalises External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) norms

At present, borrowers proposing to avail ECB up to USD 20 million for Rupee expenditure for permissible end-uses require prior approval of the Reserve Bank under the Approval Route.

This limit has been raised as under:

(i) Borrowers in infrastructure sector may avail ECB up to USD 100 million for Rupee expenditure for permissible end-uses under the Approval Route;

(ii) In the case of other borrowers, the existing limit of USD 20 million for Rupee expenditure for permissible end-uses under the Approval Route has been enhanced to USD 50 million .