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Corpn Bank ties up with India Post In tune with intensifying its efforts to serve the rural community moreeffectively, Corporation Bank has initiated a process to sell its loanproducts in villages with the help of India Post. Corporation Bank, inassociation with India Post, has launched 'Corp Gram Mitra Yojana' asecurity-free consumption loan scheme for rural beneficiaries. To beginwith, the scheme has been introduced on a pilot basis in Goa. This tie-upbrings benefits to all stakeholders post office by way of fee income,borrowers by way of credit on easy terms, and the bank by way of newbusiness. The maximum amount of loan will be Rs 20,000, repayable along withinterest within two years in the form of monthly instalments. Applicationand documentation of loans will be done through the designated post officesin the respective places. Ms Noorjehan, Principal Chief Postmaster General,Maharashtra Circle, formally launched 'Corp Gram Mitra Yojana', at Nagoa inGoa. Mr K.L. Gopalakrishna, Executive Director of the bank, presided. Bank of Rajasthan plans insurance foray Private sector Bank of Rajasthan plans to get into life and generalinsurance businesses, after shoring up its net worth to Rs 1,000 crore in 18months, Director Mr Pravin Kumar Tayal said. The bank, he said, would set upseparate subsidiaries for the new ventures, joining many other banks vyingfor the country's fast growing but underserved life insurance market. Bankof Rajasthan now has a net worth of Rs 450 crore. BoJ rate hike 'any time now' The Bank of Japan Governor, Mr Toshihiko Fukui, reiterated that an interestrate hike could come at any time amid a strong economic recovery. The Bankof Japan's Policy Board voted unanimously to keep interest rates at 0.25 percent on November 16. The market is braced for a rate hike next month or inearly 2007. New norms to boost foreign bank lending Barclays Bank's total lending in India is just over Rs 4 crore, but itsoff-balance sheet liabilities are over Rs 2,50,000 crore. If the RBI goesahead and implements its revised priority sector lending guidelines fromApril 1, 2007, then the British bank will have to lend over Rs 1,200 croreto priority sectors. That's because the draft guidelines propose to useeither the net bank credit or credit equivalent of off-balance sheetexposure as the base for calculating bank's priority sector lendingobligations. The average credit equivalent of OBS for the entire bankingsystem about 1.9 per cent of the total contingent liabilities. The number ofbanks which are actively involved in these activities in India are only 15,most of which are foreign banks. The combined share of these 15 banks intotal off-balance sheet exposures steadily increased from 73.8 per cent inMarch 2002 to 82.3 per cent in March 2006. The growth in OBS exposures inIndia has been fuelled by the phenomenal increase in derivatives segment.