BUSINESS

Govt may repay more foreign debts

June 03, 2003 15:19 IST

Finance Secretary S Narayan said on Tuesday that the government was considering repaying more of its foreign debts.

Narayan also said that he expected real interest rates to stabilise now.

"As of now, do not expect changes in nominal interest rates. As far as real interest rates go, they are expected to stay in a range," he told reporters on the sidelines of a banking meet.

He further said that the government has not taken any decision on whether banks should return equity to the government at a premium or at par.

"No decision has been taken by the government whether to charge a premium or to take it back at par," the senior most official in the finance ministry told reporters.

Last Friday, the government said it may charge state-run banks a premium if they return a part of their equity capital.

Earlier, a finance ministry spokeswoman said last Wednesday that the government had no plans to charge a premium on equity returned by state-run banks.

Narayan also said no decision has been taken on raising the foreign fund shareholding limit in the State Bank of India, the country's largest commercial bank.

Source: REUTERS
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