Bank keeps interest rates at 0.5%

The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold at 0.5%, in a widely expected move following a number of rate cuts in recent months.
Rates remain at an all-time low after six cuts since October last year, when interest rates stood at 5%.
The Bank is also continuing with quantitative easing, or creating money to help boost lending. It has so far injected £26.4bn into the system.
The Bank and the government are trying to ease the economy out of recession.
New policies
As well as keeping rates on hold, the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee also voted to continue with "the programme, announced on 5 March, of asset purchases totalling £75bn financed by the issuance of central bank reserves".

With rates already so low, the Bank has been forced to look at other policies to boost the economy.
This is why it introduced quantitative easing - buying assets such as government and corporate bonds to increase the supply of money in the economy, in the hope that banks will eventually find it easier to lend to companies and individuals.
John Cridland, CBI deputy director general, said: "It is too early to judge quite how quickly this will begin to affect the broader economy.
"But the first tentative signs of the impact on gilt yields, corporate spreads and commercial paper issue have been encouraging."
Savers versus borrowers
That may soon begin to flow through to businesses and homeowners, according to Michael Coogan from the Council for Mortgage Lenders.

"There are a number of institutions who are going to make significant commitments to lend money to both to businesses and for home ownership," he told BBC News.
"But what we have also got is a market where there is a large number of lenders who are not as active, such as building societies and specialist lenders."
While low rates are good news for some mortgage holders, they are not so welcome for savers, who have seen the returns paid on their deposits slashed.
"Whilst savers will be pleased that rates have not been cut any further, this will do nothing to help those who have seen the income they earn on their savings diminish sharply in recent months," said Adrian Coles, director-general of the Building Societies Association.
He added: "Leaving Bank Rate on hold allows the impact on the wider economy of the recent rate cuts and the decision to start quantitative easing to be assessed. It will take some time before the effectiveness of these policies becomes more clear."
Producer prices ease
The latest interest rate decision came shortly after economic data showed exporters were benefiting from a weaker pound.
UK's goods trade gap with countries outside the European Union narrowed by more than expected to £3.964bn in February from £5.631bn the month before.
Exports were up 12.8% and imports were down 5.4%, as the weak pound made UK goods cheaper abroad.

Sources: BBC and Bank of England

Satyam Computer buyers wary about price tag

Bangalore: Fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services' search for a white knight could end on Monday, but bidders face an uphill task to put a price tag on the Indian company due to uncertainty about its finances and liabilities. The government-appointed board meets on Monday to receive bids from suitors.
On the same day, it could announce a buyer of a 51 per cent stake in the outsourcing company that had to scramble to raise funding to meet short-term needs this year.
Three months ago, Satyam's founder and chairman shocked investors by saying profits had been overstated for years, and putting in doubt the survival of the company once ranked as India's fourth largest outsourcing firm.
The government quickly stepped in and sacked the board as it sought to limit damage from India's biggest corporate scandal.
Satyam's board met in Mumbai on Thursday, in a move analysts said could be to finalise the procedures for Monday.
Chairman Kiran Karnik told Reuters the due diligence by suitors of Satyam was still going on. Indian engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro, which has a small software services unit, mid-sized outsourcer Tech Mahindra and US private equity firm WL Ross & Co are among the suitors.
Larsen & Toubro, which has built up a stake of about 12 per cent in Satyam, is seen by many analysts as a front-runner.
"For now, our advice could be skewed to a price lower than the current market price, but at the end of the day we want to win. So there can be some room left to go higher," said an investment banker, who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media. Indian media have reported IT services provider Cognizant Technology Solutions has joined the race.
A spokesman for the US company declined to comment to Reuters on market speculation. New York-listed Satyam's market value has plunged to around $600 million from $7 billion in May.
The stock ended at Rs 47.15 (90 US cents) on Thursday, down more than 90 per cent from its last year's high of Rs 544.
Analysts said Satyam looks attractive due to its long list of marquee clients and due to the plunge in market value. However, they are unsure how to value the company due to uncertainty about its accounts and legal liabilities arising from the lawsuits filed in the United States by its shareholders.
Indian media has reported more than 40 clients of Satyam have left the company since the revelation of the $1 billion-plus fraud, but Satyam has declined comment.
No intensive bidding
Tarun Sisodia, head of research at Anand Rathi Financial Services in Mumbai, did not expect bids to top 60 rupees a share. "I don't think the bidding will be intensive. If anything, the market would be disappointed by the outcome of the bidding," he said. "Bidders will be extremely cautious in going overboard given the lack of information."
In October, Satyam had said it had around 53,000 employees and more than 600 clients including General Electric, Cisco Systems, and Qantas Airways.
Investment banking sources with knowledge of the proceedings said bids would be finalised only after due diligence was completed.
The inspection by bidders is being done through access to data containing "certain non-public information", and Satyam's management will provide an overview of operations and strategy.
Forrester said in a report last week while the sale would allay fears about Satyam's survival, clients would still face uncertainty about the acquired outsourcer's direction, service offerings and client relationship.
"Another uncertainty is the risk that the deal falls apart and Satyam goes back to square one," Sudin Apte, country head of the market research firm, wrote in the report.
On Tuesday, India's federal crime bureau filed charges against nine people including Satyam's founder, former chief financial offer, former managing director and two former external auditers.
All of them are being held in jail. Satyam has not reported earnings since reporting July-September in October as its accounts are being restated.

sources: ibn

India may see 7% rise in pay: Hay Group

India is likely to witness a moderate salary increase of 7.25 per cent this year after registering years of double-digit growth as recession is affecting the pay, benefit and job prospects for employees, global human resource consultancy firm Hay Group has said.
"Overall, the picture for India has deteriorated...Now, with large numbers of organisations freezing pay, and predictions overall of median pay inflation of around 7.25 per cent after years of double-digit growth, there is evidence that organisations are having to tighten their belts," Hay Group said in a report.
The report further said "the biggest concern for Indian companies is still the attraction and retention of talent as opposed to managing downsizing."
This means that Indian organisations would continue to invest in competitive salaries for high performing and high potential employees, but will also need to get more creative in developing a work culture and leadership style that enables them to become employers of choice without having to resort to the check-book, Hay Group said.
Fast-growth economies with high wage inflation – such as India and China, which have seen double-digit wage growth for some years –- are now predicting salary increases of less than half of 2007 levels.
In India and China, the firms that are freezing pay are more likely to be local operations of multinational companies.
However, if the freeze continues for another year, then companies owned by foreign firms in India and China will see a significant weakening of their market positioning compared with state-owned enterprises and indigenous companies.
Regarding the public sector companies in India, Hay Group said "pay in the public sector remains relatively modest, even after these changes (even after implementing pay reviews), but increases of this magnitude will clearly skew Indian pay market data for some time to come."
Across the globe, salary freezes have become very common with employees in 36 per cent of companies facing salary freezes and 27 per cent of organisations are decreasing their staffing levels, the survey said adding that "many organisations which a year ago were having trouble filling vacancies are now having to resort to job cuts."
The survey, which covered 2,000 organisations from 88 countries across six continents, said "executive pay is likely to rise even less than that of their employees – and in practice many executives will receive significantly less than in previous years, as bonus pay-outs drop and the value of share-based payments is hit by stock market falls."

(NDTV sources)