Banking System Introduction| Banks in India|Banking services in India|Financial and Banking Sector Reforms|Reserve Bank of India (RBI)|Easy Banking|Banking

Services for NRIs in India|Top Banks in India|Indian Banks Association (IBA)|Proxy Banking in India|Fact Files of Banks in India|FAQ

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

Ads by Google

What is Sensex?
You dont need tuitions to learn. The First Step Kit teaches enough. Sharekhan.Sharekhan-Firststep.com

Bharti AXA Life eProtect

1 Cr Life Cover @ Just Rs 17/day*. Buy Now & Save Tax up to Rs. 30900* Bharti-AxaLife.com/eProtect

Career in Banking
Industry Endorsed Banking Program. 100% Placement Assistance. Apply! www.ifbi.co.in/Banking_Program

Zero Account Opening*

T&C apply. Online Share Trading Made Easy with ICICIdirect.com. www.icicidirect.com

Kindly Take Note : Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of the country and is different from Central Bank of India. RBI Governor announces Mid-term Review of Annual Policy for 2006-07 The central bank of the country is the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It was established in April 1935 with a share capital of Rs. 5 crores on the basis of the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission. The share capital was divided into shares of Rs. 100 each fully paid which was entirely owned by private shareholders in the begining. The Government held shares of nominal value of Rs. 2,20,000. Reserve Bank of India was nationalised in the year 1949. The general superintendence and direction of the Bank is entrusted to Central Board of Directors of 20 members, the Governor and four Deputy Governors, one Government official from the Ministry of Finance, ten nominated Directors by the Government to give representation to important elements in the economic life of the country, and four nominated Directors by the Central Government to represent the four local Boards with the headquarters at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and New Delhi. Local Boards consist of five members each Central Government appointed for a term of four years to represent territorial and economic interests and the interests of co-operative and indigenous banks. The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 was commenced on April 1, 1935. The Act, 1934 (II of 1934) provides the statutory basis of the functioning of the Bank. The Bank was constituted for the need of following:

To regulate the issue of banknotes

To maintain reserves with a view to securing monetary stability and To operate the credit and currency system of the country to its advantage.

Functions of Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934 entrust all the important functions of a central bank the Reserve Bank of India. Bank of Issue Under Section 22 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, the Bank has the sole right to issue bank notes of all denominations. The distribution of one rupee notes and coins and small coins all over the country is undertaken by the Reserve Bank as agent of the Government. The Reserve Bank has a separate Issue Department which is entrusted with the issue of currency notes. The assets and liabilities of the Issue Department are kept separate from those of the Banking Department. Originally, the assets of the Issue Department were to consist of not less than two-fifths of gold coin, gold bullion or sterling securities provided the amount of gold was not less than Rs. 40 crores in value. The remaining three-fifths of the assets might be held in rupee coins, Government of India rupee securities, eligible bills of exchange and promissory notes payable in India. Due to the exigencies of the Second World War and the post-was period, these provisions were considerably modified. Since 1957, the Reserve Bank of India is required to maintain gold and foreign exchange reserves of Ra. 200 crores, of which at least Rs. 115 crores should be in gold. The system as it exists today is known as the minimum reserve system.
Ads by Google

The Zodiac, Nashik

2/3 BHK at Gangapur Road Rs. 44 Lacs Onwards. Know More Now! www.HDFCRED.com/The_Zodiac_Nashik

Career in Retail Banking

Short Term PG Diploma in Retail Banking by IFBI. Know More! ifbipgdrb.co.in/Banking_Courses

Commercial/Business Loans
Cash for Projects 1M-200M Fast Structure and Funding www.mastercapitalsolutions.com

Jobs for Freshers.

1000's of Jobs in Companies. Submit your Resume Free.Now! MonsterIndia.com

Banker to Government The second important function of the Reserve Bank of India is to act as Government banker, agent and adviser. The Reserve Bank is agent of Central Government and of all State Governments in India excepting that of Jammu and Kashmir. The Reserve Bank has the obligation to transact Government business, via. to keep the cash balances as deposits free of interest, to receive and to make payments on behalf of the Government and to carry out their exchange remittances and other banking operations. The Reserve Bank of India helps the Government - both the Union and the States to float new loans and to manage public debt. The Bank makes ways and means advances to the Governments for 90 days. It makes loans and advances to the States and local authorities. It acts as adviser to the Government on all monetary and banking matters.

Bankers' Bank and Lender of the Last Resort The Reserve Bank of India acts as the bankers' bank. According to the provisions of the Banking Companies Act of 1949, every scheduled bank was required to maintain with the Reserve Bank a cash balance equivalent to 5% of its demand liabilites and 2 per cent of its time liabilities in India. By an amendment of 1962, the distinction between demand and time liabilities was abolished and banks have been asked to keep cash reserves equal to 3 per cent of their aggregate deposit liabilities. The minimum cash requirements can be changed by the Reserve Bank of India. The scheduled banks can borrow from the Reserve Bank of India on the basis of eligible securities or get financial accommodation in times of need or stringency by rediscounting bills of exchange. Since commercial banks can always expect the Reserve Bank of India to come to their help in times of banking crisis the Reserve Bank becomes not only the banker's bank but also the lender of the last resort. Controller of Credit The Reserve Bank of India is the controller of credit i.e. it has the power to influence the volume of credit created by banks in India. It can do so through changing the Bank rate or through open market operations. According to the Banking Regulation Act of 1949, the Reserve Bank of India can ask any particular bank or the whole banking system not to lend to particular groups or persons on the basis of certain types of securities. Since 1956, selective controls of credit are increasingly being used by the Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank of India is armed with many more powers to control the Indian money market. Every bank has to get a licence from the Reserve Bank of India to do banking business within India, the licence can be cancelled by the Reserve Bank of certain stipulated conditions are not fulfilled. Every bank will have to get the permission of the Reserve Bank before it can open a new branch. Each scheduled bank must send a weekly return to the Reserve Bank showing, in detail, its assets and liabilities. This power of the Bank to call for information is also intended to give it effective control of the credit system. The Reserve Bank has also the power to inspect the accounts of any commercial bank. As supereme banking authority in the country, the Reserve Bank of India, therefore, has the following powers: (a) It holds the cash reserves of all the scheduled banks. (b) It controls the credit operations of banks through quantitative and qualitative controls. (c) It controls the banking system through the system of licensing, inspection and calling for information. (d) It acts as the lender of the last resort by providing rediscount facilities to scheduled banks. Custodian of Foreign Reserves The Reserve Bank of India has the responsibility to maintain the official rate of exchange. According to the Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934, the Bank was required to buy and sell at

fixed rates any amount of sterling in lots of not less than Rs. 10,000. The rate of exchange fixed was Re. 1 = sh. 6d. Since 1935 the Bank was able to maintain the exchange rate fixed at lsh.6d. though there were periods of extreme pressure in favour of or against the rupee. After India became a member of the International Monetary Fund in 1946, the Reserve Bank has the responsibility of maintaining fixed exchange rates with all other member countries of the I.M.F. Besides maintaining the rate of exchange of the rupee, the Reserve Bank has to act as the custodian of India's reserve of international currencies. The vast sterling balances were acquired and managed by the Bank. Further, the RBI has the responsibility of administering the exchange controls of the country. Supervisory functions In addition to its traditional central banking functions, the Reserve bank has certain nonmonetary functions of the nature of supervision of banks and promotion of sound banking in India. The Reserve Bank Act, 1934, and the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 have given the RBI wide powers of supervision and control over commercial and co-operative banks, relating to licensing and establishments, branch expansion, liquidity of their assets, management and methods of working, amalgamation, reconstruction, and liquidation. The RBI is authorised to carry out periodical inspections of the banks and to call for returns and necessary information from them. The nationalisation of 14 major Indian scheduled banks in July 1969 has imposed new responsibilities on the RBI for directing the growth of banking and credit policies towards more rapid development of the economy and realisation of certain desired social objectives. The supervisory functions of the RBI have helped a great deal in improving the standard of banking in India to develop on sound lines and to improve the methods of their operation. Promotional functions With economic growth assuming a new urgency since Independence, the range of the Reserve Bank's functions has steadily widened. The Bank now performs a varietyof developmental and promotional functions, which, at one time, were regarded as outside the normal scope of central banking. The Reserve Bank was asked to promote banking habit, extend banking facilities to rural and semi-urban areas, and establish and promote new specialised financing agencies. Accordingly, the Reserve Bank has helped in the setting up of the IFCI and the SFC; it set up the Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1962, the Unit Trust of India in 1964, the Industrial Development Bank of India also in 1964, the Agricultural Refinance Corporation of India in 1963 and the Industrial Reconstruction Corporation of India in 1972. These institutions were set up directly or indirectly by the Reserve Bank to promote saving habit and to mobilise savings, and to provide industrial finance as well as agricultural finance. As far back as 1935, the Reserve Bank of India set up the Agricultural Credit Department to provide agricultural credit. But only since 1951 the Bank's role in this field has become extremely important. The Bank has developed the co-operative credit movement to encourage saving, to eliminate moneylenders from the villages and to route its short term credit to agriculture. The RBI has set up the Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation to provide long-term finance to farmers. Classification of RBIs functions

The monetary functions also known as the central banking functions of the RBI are related to control and regulation of money and credit, i.e., issue of currency, control of bank credit, control of foreign exchange operations, banker to the Government and to the money market. Monetary functions of the RBI are significant as they control and regulate the volume of money and credit in the country. Equally important, however, are the non-monetary functions of the RBI in the context of India's economic backwardness. The supervisory function of the RBI may be regarded as a non-monetary function (though many consider this a monetary function). The promotion of sound banking in India is an important goal of the RBI, the RBI has been given wide and drastic powers, under the Banking Regulation Act of 1949 - these powers relate to licencing of banks, branch expansion, liquidity of their assets, management and methods of working, inspection, amalgamation, reconstruction and liquidation. Under the RBI's supervision and inspection, the working of banks has greatly improved. Commercial banks have developed into financially and operationally sound and viable units. The RBI's powers of supervision have now been extended to non-banking financial intermediaries. Since independence, particularly after its nationalisation 1949, the RBI has followed the promotional functions vigorously and has been responsible for strong financial support to industrial and agricultural development in the country.

Reserve Bank of India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

Reserve Bank of India

Seal of RBI
Headquarters

The RBI headquarters in Mumbai

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Coordinates Established Governor Central bank of Currency ISO 4217 Code Reserves Base borrowing rate

18.93337N 72.836201ECoordinates: 18.93337N 72.836201E 1 April 1935[1] Duvvuri Subbarao India Indian rupee () INR US$30,210 crore (US$302.1 billion)[2][Note 1] 8.50%

Base deposit rate 6.00% Website http://www.rbi.org.in

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) (Hindi: ) is the central banking institution of India and controls the monetary policy of the Indian rupee. The institution was established on 1 April 1935 during the British Raj in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The share capital was divided into shares of 100 each fully paid which was entirely owned by private shareholders in the beginning.[3] Reserve Bank of India plays an important part in the development strategy of the government. It is a member bank of the Asian Clearing Union. Reserve Bank of India was nationalised in the year 1949. The general superintendence and direction of the Bank is entrusted to Central Board of Directors of 20 members, the Governor and four Deputy Governors, one Government official from the Ministry of Finance, ten nominated Directors by the Government to give representation to important elements in the economic life of the country, and four nominated Directors by the Central Government to represent the four local Boards with the headquarters at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and New Delhi. Local Boards consist of five members each Central Government appointed for a term of four years to represent territorial and economic interests and the interests of co-operative and indigenous banks.

Contents
[hide]

1 History o 1.1 19351950 o 1.2 19501960 o 1.3 19601969 o 1.4 19691985 o 1.5 19851991 o 1.6 19912000 o 1.7 Since 2000 2 Structure o 2.1 Central Board of Directors o 2.2 Governors o 2.3 Supportive bodies o 2.4 Offices and branches 3 Main functions o 3.1 Bank of Issue o 3.2 Monetary authority o 3.3 Manager of exchange control o 3.4 Issuer of currency o 3.5 Developmental role o 3.6 Related functions 4 Further reading 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History
[edit] 19351950

The old RBI Building in Mumbai

The bank was founded in 1935 to respond to economic troubles after the first world war.[4] The Reserve Bank of India was set up on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance, also known as Hilton-Young Commission.[5] The commission submitted its report in the year 1926, though the bank was not set up for another nine years.

The Preamble of the Reserve Bank of India describes the basic functions of the Reserve Bank as to regulate the issue of bank notes, to keep reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system in the best interests of the country. The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Kolkata, Bengal, but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. The Reserve Bank continued to act as the central bank for Myanmar till Japanese occupation of Burma and later up to April 1947, though Burma seceded from the Indian Union in 1937. After partition, the Reserve Bank served as the central bank for Pakistan until June 1948 when the State Bank of Pakistan commenced operations. Though originally set up as a shareholders bank, the RBI has been fully owned by the government of India since its nationalization in 1949.[6]
[edit] 19501960

Between 1950 and 1960, the Indian government developed a centrally planned economic policy and focused on the agricultural sector. The administration nationalized commercial banks[7] and established, based on the Banking Companies Act, 1949 (later called Banking Regulation Act) a central bank regulation as part of the RBI. Furthermore, the central bank was ordered to support the economic plan with loans.[8]
[edit] 19601969

As a result of bank crashes, the reserve bank was requested to establish and monitor a deposit insurance system. It should restore the trust in the national bank system and was initialized on 7 December 1961. The Indian government founded funds to promote the economy and used the slogan Developing Banking. The Government of India restructured the national bank market and nationalized a lot of institutes. As a result, the RBI had to play the central part of control and support of this public banking sector.
[edit] 19691985

Between 1969 and 1980, the Indian government nationalized 6 more commercial banks, following 14 major commercial banks being nationalized in 1969 (as mentioned on the RBI website).[citation needed] The regulation of the economy and especially the financial sector was reinforced by the Government of India in the 1970s and 1980s.[9] The central bank became the central player and increased its policies for a lot of tasks like interests, reserve ratio and visible deposits.[10] The measures aimed at better economic development and had a huge effect on the company policy of the institutes. The banks lent money in selected sectors, like agri-business and small trade companies.[11] The branch was forced to establish two new offices in the country for every newly established office in a town.[12] The oil crises in 1973 resulted in increasing inflation, and the RBI restricted monetary policy to reduce the effects.[13]
[edit] 19851991

A lot of committees analysed the Indian economy between 1985 and 1991. Their results had an effect on the RBI. The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research and the Security & Exchange Board of India investigated the national economy as a whole, and the security and exchange board proposed better methods for more effective markets and the protection of investor interests. The Indian

financial market was a leading example for so-called "financial repression" (Mackinnon and Shaw).[14] The Discount and Finance House of India began its operations on the monetary market in April 1988; the National Housing Bank, founded in July 1988, was forced to invest in the property market and a new financial law improved the versatility of direct deposit by more security measures and liberalisation.[15]
[edit] 19912000

The national economy came down in July 1991 and the Indian rupee was devalued.[16] The currency lost 18% relative to the US dollar, and the Narsimahmam Committee advised restructuring the financial sector by a temporal reduced reserve ratio as well as the statutory liquidity ratio. New guidelines were published in 1993 to establish a private banking sector. This turning point should reinforce the market and was often called neo-liberal.[17] The central bank deregulated bank interests and some sectors of the financial market like the trust and property markets.[18] This first phase was a success and the central government forced a diversity liberalisation to diversify owner structures in 1998.[19] The National Stock Exchange of India took the trade on in June 1994 and the RBI allowed nationalized banks in July to interact with the capital market to reinforce their capital base. The central bank founded a subsidiary companythe Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Limitedin February 1995 to produce banknotes.[20]
[edit] Since 2000

The Foreign Exchange Management Act from 1999 came into force in June 2000. It should improve the foreign exchange market, international investments in India and transactions. The RBI promoted the development of the financial market in the last years, allowed online banking in 2001 and established a new payment system in 20042005 (National Electronic Fund Transfer).[21] The Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Ltd., a merger of nine institutions, was founded in 2006 and produces banknotes and coins.[22] The national economy's growth rate came down to 5.8% in the last quarter of 20082009[23] and the central bank promotes the economic development.[24]

[edit] Structure

RBI runs a monetary museum in Mumbai

[edit] Central Board of Directors

The Central Board of Directors is the main committee of the central bank. The Government of India appoints the directors for a four-year term. The Board consists of a governor, four deputy governors, fifteen directors to represent the regional boards, one from the Ministry of Finance and ten other directors from various fields.
[edit] Governors

The current Governor of RBI is Duvvuri Subbarao. The RBI extended the period of the present governor up to 2013. There are four deputy governors, currently K. C. Chakrabarty, Subir Gokarn, Anand Sinha and Sham Lal Gopinath
[edit] Supportive bodies

The Reserve Bank of India has four regional representations: North in New Delhi, South in Chennai, East in Kolkata and West in Mumbai. The representations are formed by five members, appointed for four years by the central government and servebeside the advice of the Central Board of Directorsas a forum for regional banks and to deal with delegated tasks from the central board.[25] The institution has 22 regional offices. The Board of Financial Supervision (BFS), formed in November 1994, serves as a CCBD committee to control the financial institutions. It has four members, appointed for two years, and takes measures to strength the role of statutory auditors in the financial sector, external monitoring and internal controlling systems. The Tarapore committee was set up by the Reserve Bank of India under the chairmanship of former RBI deputy governor S. S. Tarapore to "lay the road map" to capital account convertibility. The five-member committee recommended a three-year time frame for complete convertibility by 19992000. On 1 July 2007, in an attempt to enhance the quality of customer service and strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism, the Reserve Bank of India created a new customer service department.
[edit] Offices and branches

The Reserve Bank of India has 4 zonal offices.[26] It has 19 regional offices at most state capitals and at a few major cities in India. Few of them are located in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, and Thiruvananthapuram. Besides it has 09 sub-offices at Agartala, Dehradun, Gangtok, Kochi, Panaji, Raipur, Ranchi, Shimla and Srinagar. The bank has also two training colleges for its officers, viz. Reserve Bank Staff College at Chennai and College of Agricultural Banking at Pune. There are also four Zonal Training Centres at Belapur, Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi.

[edit] Main functions

Reserve Bank of India regional office, Delhi entrance with the Yakshini sculpture depicting "Prosperity through agriculture".[27]

The RBI Regional Office in Delhi.

The regional offices of GPO (in white) and RBI (in sandstone) at Dalhousie Square, Kolkata.

[edit] Bank of Issue

Under Section 22 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, the Bank has the sole right to issue bank notes of all denominations. The distribution of one rupee notes and coins and small coins all over the country is undertaken by the Reserve Bank as agent of the Government. The Reserve Bank has a separate Issue Department which is entrusted with the issue of currency notes. The assets and liabilities of the Issue Department are kept separate from those of the Banking Department. Originally, the assets of the Issue Department were to consist of not less than two-fifths of gold coin, gold bullion or sterling securities provided the amount of gold was not less than 40 crore (400 million) in value. The remaining three-fifths of the assets might be held in rupee coins, Government of India rupee securities, eligible bills of exchange and promissory notes payable in India. Due to the exigencies of the Second World War and the post-war period, these provisions were considerably modified. Since 1957, the Reserve Bank of India is required to maintain gold and foreign exchange reserves of 200 crore (2 billion), of which at least 115 crore (1.15 billion) should be in gold and 85 crore (850 million) in the form of Government Securities.[citation needed] The system as it exists today is known as the minimum reserve system.
[edit] Monetary authority

The Reserve Bank of India is the main monetary authority of the country and beside that the central bank acts as the bank of the national and state governments. It formulates, implements and monitors the monetary policy as well as it has to ensure an adequate flow of credit to productive sectors. Objectives are maintaining price stability and ensuring adequate flow of credit to productive sectors. The national economy depends on the public sector and the central bank promotes an expansive monetary policy to push the private sector since the financial market reforms of the 1990s.[28] The institution is also the regulator and supervisor of the financial system and prescribes broad parameters of banking operations within which the country's banking and financial system functions. Objectives are to maintain public confidence in the system, protect depositors' interest and provide cost-effective banking services to the public. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme has been formulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for effective addressing of complaints by bank customers. The RBI controls the monetary supply, monitors economic indicators like the gross domestic product and has to decide the design of the rupee banknotes as well as coins.[29]
[edit] Manager of exchange control

The central bank manages to reach the goals of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999. Objective: to facilitate external trade and payment and promote orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India.
[edit] Issuer of currency

The bank issues and exchanges or destroys currency and coins not fit for circulation. The objectives are giving the public adequate supply of currency of good quality and to provide loans to commercial banks to maintain or improve the GDP. The basic objectives of RBI are to issue bank notes, to maintain the currency and credit system of the country to utilize it in its best advantage, and to maintain the reserves. RBI maintains the economic structure of the

country so that it can achieve the objective of price stability as well as economic development, because both objectives are diverse in themselves.
[edit] Developmental role

The central bank had to perform a wide range of promotional functions to support national objectives and industries.[8] The RBI faces a lot of inter-sectoral and local inflation-related problems. Some of this problems are results of the dominant part of the public sector.[30]
[edit] Related functions

The RBI is also a banker to the government and performs merchant banking function for the central and the state governments. It also acts as their banker. The National Housing Bank (NHB) was established in 1988 to promote private real estate acquisition.[31] The institution maintains banking accounts of all scheduled banks, too. ==Policy rates and reserve ratios==
Policy rates, Reserve ratios, lending, and deposit rates as of 9th March, 2012 Bank Rate Repo Rate Reverse Repo Rate Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) Base Rate Reserve Bank Rate Deposit Rate 9.50% 8.50% 7.50% 4.75% 24.0% 10.00%10.75% 4% 8.50%9.25%

Bank Rate: RBI lends to the commercial banks through its discount window to help the banks meet depositors demands and reserve requirements. The interest rate the RBI charges the banks for this purpose is called bank rate. If the RBI wants to increase the liquidity and money supply in the market, it will decrease the bank rate and if it wants to reduce the liquidity and money supply in the system, it will increase the bank rate. As of 13 Feb, 2012 the bank rate was 9.5%. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR): Every commercial bank has to keep certain minimum cash reserves with RBI. Consequent upon amendment to sub-Section 42(1), the Reserve Bank, having regard to the needs of securing the monetary stability in the country, RBI can prescribe Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for scheduled banks without any floor rate or ceiling rate ( [Before the enactment of this amendment, in terms of Section 42(1) of the RBI Act, the

Reserve Bank could prescribe CRR for scheduled banks between 3% and 20% of total of their demand and time liabilities]. RBI uses this tool to increase or decrease the reserve requirement depending on whether it wants to affect a decrease or an increase in the money supply. An increase in Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) will make it mandatory on the part of the banks to hold a large proportion of their deposits in the form of deposits with the RBI. This will reduce the size of their deposits and they will lend less. This will in turn decrease the money supply. The current rate is 4.75%. ( As on Date- 9 March, 2012). Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): Apart from the CRR, banks are required to maintain liquid assets in the form of gold, cash and approved securities. Higher liquidity ratio forces commercial banks to maintain a larger proportion of their resources in liquid form and thus reduces their capacity to grant loans and advances, thus it is an anti-inflationary impact. A higher liquidity ratio diverts the bank funds from loans and advances to investment in government and approved securities. In well-developed economies, central banks use open market operationsbuying and selling of eligible securities by central bank in the money marketto influence the volume of cash reserves with commercial banks and thus influence the volume of loans and advances they can make to the commercial and industrial sectors. In the open money market, government securities are traded at market related rates of interest. The RBI is resorting more to open market operations in the more recent years. Generally RBI uses three kinds of selective credit controls:
1. Minimum margins for lending against specific securities. 2. Ceiling on the amounts of credit for certain purposes. 3. Discriminatory rate of interest charged on certain types of advances.

Direct credit controls in India are of three types:

1. Part of the interest rate structure i.e. on small savings and provident funds, are administratively set. 2. Banks are mandatory required to keep 24% of their deposits in the form of government securities. 3. Banks are required to lend to the priority sectors to the extent of 40% of their advances.