Reykjavik - Cash-strapped Iceland was set to allow its currency to float as soon as the country secures new loans, Prime Minister Geir Haarde said Thursday in parliament.

Haarde further said the cost of the collapse of the North Atlantic nation's banks may total the equivalent of some 9.4 billion dollars or "85 per cent of GDP" last year.

A week ago, Reykjavik signed a 2.1-billion-dollar emergency loan with the International Monetary Fund to help stabilize Iceland's economy.

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, the largest associate lender of SBI, has increased the fixed deposit rates by 100 basis points to 10.75 per cent.

The bank stated in an official communiqué that for fixed deposits in between 2-3 years, the rate has been increased from 9.75 per cent to 10.75 per cent. However, the bank has kept interest rates for other maturities unchanged at the September 3 level when it last raised rates.

Last month, SBBJ raised the interest rate on term deposit in between 1-2 years by 50 basis points to 10.25 per cent.

SBI Mutual Fund (SBI MF), one of the largest mutual funds in the country has introduced ‘SBI Debt Fund Series -90 Days Fund-31’ in Indian market.

The fund is a close ended equity scheme with primary objective to provide regular income, liquidity and returns to the investors through investments in a portfolio comprising debt instruments such as government securities, AAA/AA+ bonds and money market instruments.

The fund is open for subscription from October 31, 2008 till November 3, 2008.

The Scheme will offer Growth Option and Dividend Option.

Vienna - As the first large Austrian bank to apply for government aid, Erste Group Bank AG said Thursday it will receive 2.7 billion euros (3.5 billion dollars) of public funds to strengthen its capital base.

The percentage of the bank's debts covered by equity through the cash injection will rise to 10 per cent by the end of the year, compared with the previous estimate of 7.5 per cent.

In return for the government help, Erste agreed to provide credit worth 6 billion euros to commercial and retail customers over the next three years.

Pakistan Government is trying hard to get financial help from the International Monetary Fund. The country is facing grim financial situation and has sought help with $300 million loan from the World Bank (WB). The loan had been approved but stalled after the opposition of IMF. As per the reports of BBC, the International Monetary Fund is not in the favor of providing financial help to Pakistan to repay its debts.

Pakistan's foreign currency reserves are continuously falling at a rate of $1.0 billion per month. The country needs around $15.0 billion from foreign lenders to restore normalcy in the financial system.