Indian banks can now avail forex swap facility until the end of the financial year 2009/10 as the reserve Bank of India has approved its extension and increased the interest rate ceiling on foreign currency export credit with immediate effect. The move would help to mitigate the credit problem in the midst of tight liquidity conditions.

Stockholm - Swedish banking group SEB on Thursday said fourth-quarter 2008 operating profit declined 12 per cent year-on-year to 4 billion kronor (481 million dollars).

The bank, one of four major groups in Sweden, also said it was to make a 15-billion-kronor rights issue.

Operating income in the quarter increased 27 per cent year-on-year to 12.7 billion kronor, SEB said in its report, released a week earlier than scheduled.

The group, which also has operations in the neighbouring Baltic states and Germany, said its net credit losses were 1.7 billion kronor, mainly over provisions in the Baltic countries.

Melbourne, Feb. 5 : Executives of the National Australia Bank have decided to cancel the second phase of a massive outsourcing project contracted to troubled IT services firm Satyam Computer Services.

Australian IT quoted NAB technology services general manager Craig Bright as saying that the bank would be exposed to too much risk if it continued with the second wave of its IT outsourcing (ITO) strategy, which was given the green light last November.

NAB announced the decision in separate briefings to its staff and Satyam employees at Melbourne's Telstra Dome this morning, sources close to the company said.

The termination of ITO Wave 2 is likely to see working visas revoked for the 100 Satyam staff.

Leading banks are likely to cut interest rates by 50-100 basis points in days to come, a move that can help to generate demand and propel economic growth in the country.

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, holding Finance portfolio due to bypass surgery of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is meeting top executives of banks on Monday to discuss the matter. He can ask banks to cut lending rates on home, retail and auto loans to revive demand in the economic system. Banks may revise prime lending rates (PLR) or the benchmark interest rate by 50-100 basis points besides some concessions for SMEs and infrastructure firms.

New Delhi, Feb 2 :The State Bank of India, on Monday expressed that it is considering a further reduction in the lending rates by at least 25 basic points.

This was stated by SBI Chairman O P Bhatt, who is here to visit a meeting of state-owned bankers.

The State Bank of India, country''s top public sector lender had already reduced the benchmark PLR by 75 basic points to 12.25 percent on January 1.