Despite backlogs, VA disability claims processors get bonuses

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We're The Millers review: Juvenile jokes and crude innuendo: We're The Millers fails to impress despite the hype

By Chris Tookey

PUBLISHED: 16:39 EST, 22 August 2013 | UPDATED: 06:46 EST, 23 August 2013

We're The Millers (15)

Verdict: Too gross, but funny

Rating:

We're The Millers is another film that fails to live up to the promise of the director’s first movie.

Rawson Marshall Thurber gave us the unexpectedly hilarious Dodgeball. 

We’re The Millers, like Elysium, has enough about it to show that the director has talent, but falls disappointingly short of being a great movie.

It tries and just about succeeds in making us care about middle-aged drug-dealer (Jason Sudeikis) who needs to smuggle an enormous stash of pot across the Mexican border.

Jason Sudeikis (left) stars as a middle-aged drug dealer who recruits stripper Jennifer Aniston (second left) to pose as his wife to smuggle drug over the Mexican border

To achieve this, he rents a huge recreational vehicle and recruits a striptease artist (Jennifer Aniston) to be his ‘wife’, a homeless girl with piercings (Emma Roberts) to be his ‘daughter’ and the gormless 18-year-old who lives in his apartment building (Will Poulter) to be his ‘son’.

The script development is funnier and more ingenious than you might expect, and the actors have the comic timing to pull off most of it.

The standout is the young British actor Poulter, who finds sweetness, depth and complexity in a role that might have been clich?d. 

Aniston is a better comedienne than most people realise and has perfected the art of the quizzical reaction shot.

With hired children in tow, played by Will Poulter and Emma Roberts, there is a battle in tone between a family sitcom and Hangover-style sleaze

Sudeikis has a goofy charm that almost — but not quite — offsets the tackiness of his role. The one misfit is Roberts, who is outclassed and brings an air of blandness to a role that needed the edge Christina Ricci brought to her teenage appearances.

A more serious weakness, however, is that the screenplay relies far too much on sexual crudeness.

Not only does it fail to be funny, it never convinces that the people who express themselves with such toe- curling explicitness would ever do so in real life, least of all in front of strangers.

The result is a film that contains more than a few laughs but never coheres. There’s a battle between well-structured, family sitcom and sleazy, Hangover-style lewdness.

The two don’t fit well together and a lot of people will find the off-colour sexual references offensive.

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AMR urges court to back restructuring despite antitrust suit

An American Airlines passenger jet glides in under the moon as it lands at LaGuardia airport in New YorkNew York, August 28, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

By Nick Brown

NEW YORK | Fri Aug 23, 2013 4:43pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Airlines and its creditors' committee on Friday urged a bankruptcy judge to approve the airline's restructuring plan despite an antitrust challenge from the Department of Justice.

In court papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, American's bankrupt parent, AMR Corp (AAMRQ.PK), said failing to approve the restructuring would add "a destabilizing factor" to its proposal to merge with US Airways Group (LCC.N) and pay back creditors.

AMR's creditors' committee, in a separate filing, said refusal by Judge Sean Lane to give the plan his blessing could threaten creditor support for the plan, which includes AMR's unions and most of its creditors.

"While the DOJ enforcement action has unsettled creditor and stockholder expectations, deferring entry of the confirmation order ... would only exacerbate this uncertainty," the committee said.

The U.S. government also filed a brief on Friday, but did not, as might have been expected, urge Lane to not approve the restructuring plan. Instead the government, through U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, said it took "no position as to whether" Lane should confirm the plan, but cited the "attendant risk that a confirmed plan may not be able to become effective for a considerable time, if at all."

AMR and US Airways agreed to merge in February in an $11 billion deal that would end AMR's bankruptcy and create the world's largest airline. Experts had expected the deal to enjoy a smooth ride through the regulatory process.

But on August 13, two days before the restructuring plan was to gain final court approval, the DOJ sought to block it, filing a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., alleging a stifling of competition that would harm consumers though higher fares.

Judge Lane, overseeing AMR's bankruptcy in New York, held off confirming the plan in the face of the DOJ's lawsuit, giving the parties until Friday to brief him on the best course of action.

AMR, in its court papers, stressed that the merger agreement, which Lane already approved, contains "a mechanism" to account for this very scenario. If the parties cannot obtain regulatory approval, the deal would eventually be terminated, AMR said.

Lane voiced hesitation to rubber-stamp a deal that might later change due to a settlement with the DOJ. But AMR said future changes to the plan, namely divestitures, are expressly required to go back before Lane for approval.

The creditors' committee said Lane's job is to make sure the plan meets standards under the bankruptcy law. Worrying about antitrust concerns is the DOJ's job.

"They are separate processes, before different courts, and on different schedules," the committee said.

If the Justice Department ultimately succeeds in blocking the merger, it would put AMR's restructuring back at square one, requiring it to forge new strategies for paying back creditors.

AMR shareholders, who stand to receive a 3.5 percent stake in the new entity under the merger, would likely be wiped out under any plan that excludes a merger, restructuring experts have said.

AMR's unions also support a merger. The Transport Workers Union, representing ground crew members, on Thursday filed court papers urging Lane to approve the deal.

But not everyone is in favor of Lane signing off. A group of plaintiffs in a separate antitrust lawsuit against US Airways filed a brief on Thursday in AMR's bankruptcy, saying the judge cannot under bankruptcy law confirm a plan that may prove not to be feasible. AMR appears "unable to articulate a ‘Plan B' which would resolve" antitrust risks, the group said in its filing.

Regardless of Lane's decision, the issue will come down to the sides' ability to resolve matters with the DOJ. Chapter 11 merger plans require both bankruptcy court approval and regulatory approval, and one does not impact the other.

At a hearing last week, Lane did not seem opposed to the restructuring plan on its face, his hesitation instead rooted in concerns that the deal he was being asked to approve might look different a few months down the road.

The DOJ antitrust suit will take months to resolve, and possibly longer if it goes to trial.

(Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Greece must press on with reforms despite pain - ECB's Asmussen

Greece's Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras (L) and European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Joerg Asmussen walk towards to a podium before a news conference in Athens August 21, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/John Kolesidis

ATHENS | Sat Aug 24, 2013 7:28pm BST

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece can achieve a primary budget surplus this year and growth in 2014 if it sticks to economic reforms, but a return to bond markets will be challenging, European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen told Sunday's To Vima newspaper.

Asmussen was in Athens this week to meet senior government officials and take stock of the economy. His visit was overshadowed by speculation of a new bailout for Greece after comments by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble.

"Having a low but positive rate of growth next year is achievable, but there must be persistence with reforms," Asmussen told the paper in an interview.

"I understand the difficult political situation and the small parliamentary majority, but what has been achieved with such political pain up to now must not be demolished. What's the credible alternative solution?" he was quoted as saying.

Mired in its sixth straight year of recession, Greece has already been bailed out twice since 2010 with 240 billion euros of loans coordinated by the ECB, European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Athens faces a funding gap of about 11 billion euros in 2014-15 after its current bailout programme ends in the first half of next year and its euro zone partners have pledged additional support until it can tap markets again.

"It is true that the debt level will rise in the next years and a full access to markets will be a challenge," said Asmussen.

But he said speculation of a third rescue package was premature.

"Repeated talk of a debt reduction, a haircut, does not help. It distracts the attention of all stakeholders from what needs to be done under the current adjustment programme. We must make this programme work," he told the paper.

He said the part of the bailout that dealt with the recapitalisation of Greece's top four banks was a success, helping to restore financial stability, with funds left over at the bank bailout fund as a cushion for any future needs.

Asmussen told the paper complacency and reform fatigue were the biggest risk to an improving European economy.

"The biggest risk to the positive trend I see shaping up is not doing enough, believing that markets are calm or that we are in safe waters," he said.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

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AMR urges court to back restructuring despite antitrust suit

An American Airlines passenger jet glides in under the moon as it lands at LaGuardia airport in New YorkNew York, August 28, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

By Nick Brown

NEW YORK | Fri Aug 23, 2013 4:43pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Airlines and its creditors' committee on Friday urged a bankruptcy judge to approve the airline's restructuring plan despite an antitrust challenge from the Department of Justice.

In court papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, American's bankrupt parent, AMR Corp (AAMRQ.PK), said failing to approve the restructuring would add "a destabilizing factor" to its proposal to merge with US Airways Group (LCC.N) and pay back creditors.

AMR's creditors' committee, in a separate filing, said refusal by Judge Sean Lane to give the plan his blessing could threaten creditor support for the plan, which includes AMR's unions and most of its creditors.

"While the DOJ enforcement action has unsettled creditor and stockholder expectations, deferring entry of the confirmation order ... would only exacerbate this uncertainty," the committee said.

The U.S. government also filed a brief on Friday, but did not, as might have been expected, urge Lane to not approve the restructuring plan. Instead the government, through U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, said it took "no position as to whether" Lane should confirm the plan, but cited the "attendant risk that a confirmed plan may not be able to become effective for a considerable time, if at all."

AMR and US Airways agreed to merge in February in an $11 billion deal that would end AMR's bankruptcy and create the world's largest airline. Experts had expected the deal to enjoy a smooth ride through the regulatory process.

But on August 13, two days before the restructuring plan was to gain final court approval, the DOJ sought to block it, filing a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., alleging a stifling of competition that would harm consumers though higher fares.

Judge Lane, overseeing AMR's bankruptcy in New York, held off confirming the plan in the face of the DOJ's lawsuit, giving the parties until Friday to brief him on the best course of action.

AMR, in its court papers, stressed that the merger agreement, which Lane already approved, contains "a mechanism" to account for this very scenario. If the parties cannot obtain regulatory approval, the deal would eventually be terminated, AMR said.

Lane voiced hesitation to rubber-stamp a deal that might later change due to a settlement with the DOJ. But AMR said future changes to the plan, namely divestitures, are expressly required to go back before Lane for approval.

The creditors' committee said Lane's job is to make sure the plan meets standards under the bankruptcy law. Worrying about antitrust concerns is the DOJ's job.

"They are separate processes, before different courts, and on different schedules," the committee said.

If the Justice Department ultimately succeeds in blocking the merger, it would put AMR's restructuring back at square one, requiring it to forge new strategies for paying back creditors.

AMR shareholders, who stand to receive a 3.5 percent stake in the new entity under the merger, would likely be wiped out under any plan that excludes a merger, restructuring experts have said.

AMR's unions also support a merger. The Transport Workers Union, representing ground crew members, on Thursday filed court papers urging Lane to approve the deal.

But not everyone is in favor of Lane signing off. A group of plaintiffs in a separate antitrust lawsuit against US Airways filed a brief on Thursday in AMR's bankruptcy, saying the judge cannot under bankruptcy law confirm a plan that may prove not to be feasible. AMR appears "unable to articulate a ‘Plan B' which would resolve" antitrust risks, the group said in its filing.

Regardless of Lane's decision, the issue will come down to the sides' ability to resolve matters with the DOJ. Chapter 11 merger plans require both bankruptcy court approval and regulatory approval, and one does not impact the other.

At a hearing last week, Lane did not seem opposed to the restructuring plan on its face, his hesitation instead rooted in concerns that the deal he was being asked to approve might look different a few months down the road.

The DOJ antitrust suit will take months to resolve, and possibly longer if it goes to trial.

(Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Indian rupee at record low again despite RBI intervention

A jeweller poses with silver plates in the form of Indian rupee notes inside a showroom in New Delhi August 19, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Mansi Thapliyal

By Subhadip Sircar and Swati Bhat

MUMBAI | Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:34am EDT

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian rupee plunged to a record low on Wednesday on heavy dollar demand from importers and as traders fretted over mixed signals from the central bank over its efforts to prop up the currency without choking off economic growth.

The rupee fell 2 percent to a record low of 64.5450 to the dollar despite what traders said was sporadic central bank intervention in both the spot and forward markets.

Measures by the Reserve Bank of India late on Tuesday to support longer-dated debt sent prices of beaten-down bonds sharply higher but also led traders to question the central bank's resolve in defending the currency.

Since mid-July, the RBI has taken steps to tighten cash conditions, which have failed to support the rupee but sent bond yields surging, posing a fresh threat to an economy that grew at a decade-low 5 percent in the last fiscal year.

"Currency market and participants may consider it as a reversal of RBI liquidity tightening measures to prevent currency volatility; thus some pressure on currency may re-emerge," said Anjali Verma, economist at PhillipCapital.

With a record high current account deficit at 4.8 percent of GDP, India is especially vulnerable to funds moving away from emerging markets in anticipation of a winding back of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus program. Traders were looking ahead for clues from Fed minutes to be released later on Wednesday.

Deutsche Bank said in a note on Wednesday that the rupee could slide to 70 in a month or so, although some revival is expected by the end of the year.

The central bank's move to ease cash conditions after tightening them last month to support the rupee highlights the growing costs to the economy of stabilizing the currency.

"The bearishness seen across markets is largely a reflection of the fact that there is no quick fix solution to arrest the rupee fall," said Shakti Satapathy, fixed income strategist at AK Capital.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 64.11/12 per dollar, down 1.3 percent on the day, as importers led by oil refiners bought dollars. The 10-year bond yield closed down 49 basis points (bps) at 8.41 percent, its biggest single-day gain since mid-March 2009.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond earlier tumbled as much as 69 bps to 8.21 percent as its price rose.

The benchmark Sensex .BSESN closed down 1.9 percent as the falling rupee dented investor sentiment.

HIGHER BORROWING COSTS

Bond yields are up 86 bps since the RBI first started tightening market cash conditions in mid-July by raising short-term rates to keep rupee speculators at bay, pushing up the cost of credit for corporate borrowers.

Still, the rupee is down 6.7 percent since then.

The RBI said late on Tuesday it will buy 80 billion rupees ($1.26 billion) of bonds on Friday and will pare down its cash management bill sales as its target of pushing up the overnight rate to the central bank's emergency funding rate of 10.25 percent had been achieved.

The RBI relaxed rules on mandatory bond holdings for banks, known as the statutory liquidity ratio, which will help protect lenders from large mark-to-market losses. While banks had previously been asked to cut their hold-to-maturity bond holdings gradually to 23 percent of deposits, the RBI on Tuesday allowed banks to retain them at 24.5 percent of deposits.

"At the moment markets are definitely left guessing about the RBI's intention," said Upasna Bhardwaj, economist at ING Vysya Bank.

(Editing by Tony Munroe, Kim Coghill and Anand Basu)

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Indian rupee at record low again despite RBI intervention

A jeweller poses with silver plates in the form of Indian rupee notes inside a showroom in New Delhi August 19, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Mansi Thapliyal

By Subhadip Sircar and Swati Bhat

MUMBAI | Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:34am EDT

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian rupee plunged to a record low on Wednesday on heavy dollar demand from importers and as traders fretted over mixed signals from the central bank over its efforts to prop up the currency without choking off economic growth.

The rupee fell 2 percent to a record low of 64.5450 to the dollar despite what traders said was sporadic central bank intervention in both the spot and forward markets.

Measures by the Reserve Bank of India late on Tuesday to support longer-dated debt sent prices of beaten-down bonds sharply higher but also led traders to question the central bank's resolve in defending the currency.

Since mid-July, the RBI has taken steps to tighten cash conditions, which have failed to support the rupee but sent bond yields surging, posing a fresh threat to an economy that grew at a decade-low 5 percent in the last fiscal year.

"Currency market and participants may consider it as a reversal of RBI liquidity tightening measures to prevent currency volatility; thus some pressure on currency may re-emerge," said Anjali Verma, economist at PhillipCapital.

With a record high current account deficit at 4.8 percent of GDP, India is especially vulnerable to funds moving away from emerging markets in anticipation of a winding back of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus program. Traders were looking ahead for clues from Fed minutes to be released later on Wednesday.

Deutsche Bank said in a note on Wednesday that the rupee could slide to 70 in a month or so, although some revival is expected by the end of the year.

The central bank's move to ease cash conditions after tightening them last month to support the rupee highlights the growing costs to the economy of stabilizing the currency.

"The bearishness seen across markets is largely a reflection of the fact that there is no quick fix solution to arrest the rupee fall," said Shakti Satapathy, fixed income strategist at AK Capital.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 64.11/12 per dollar, down 1.3 percent on the day, as importers led by oil refiners bought dollars. The 10-year bond yield closed down 49 basis points (bps) at 8.41 percent, its biggest single-day gain since mid-March 2009.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond earlier tumbled as much as 69 bps to 8.21 percent as its price rose.

The benchmark Sensex .BSESN closed down 1.9 percent as the falling rupee dented investor sentiment.

HIGHER BORROWING COSTS

Bond yields are up 86 bps since the RBI first started tightening market cash conditions in mid-July by raising short-term rates to keep rupee speculators at bay, pushing up the cost of credit for corporate borrowers.

Still, the rupee is down 6.7 percent since then.

The RBI said late on Tuesday it will buy 80 billion rupees ($1.26 billion) of bonds on Friday and will pare down its cash management bill sales as its target of pushing up the overnight rate to the central bank's emergency funding rate of 10.25 percent had been achieved.

The RBI relaxed rules on mandatory bond holdings for banks, known as the statutory liquidity ratio, which will help protect lenders from large mark-to-market losses. While banks had previously been asked to cut their hold-to-maturity bond holdings gradually to 23 percent of deposits, the RBI on Tuesday allowed banks to retain them at 24.5 percent of deposits.

"At the moment markets are definitely left guessing about the RBI's intention," said Upasna Bhardwaj, economist at ING Vysya Bank.

(Editing by Tony Munroe, Kim Coghill and Anand Basu)

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Indian rupee at record low again despite RBI intervention

A jeweller poses with silver plates in the form of Indian rupee notes inside a showroom in New Delhi August 19, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Mansi Thapliyal

By Subhadip Sircar and Swati Bhat

MUMBAI | Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:34am EDT

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian rupee plunged to a record low on Wednesday on heavy dollar demand from importers and as traders fretted over mixed signals from the central bank over its efforts to prop up the currency without choking off economic growth.

The rupee fell 2 percent to a record low of 64.5450 to the dollar despite what traders said was sporadic central bank intervention in both the spot and forward markets.

Measures by the Reserve Bank of India late on Tuesday to support longer-dated debt sent prices of beaten-down bonds sharply higher but also led traders to question the central bank's resolve in defending the currency.

Since mid-July, the RBI has taken steps to tighten cash conditions, which have failed to support the rupee but sent bond yields surging, posing a fresh threat to an economy that grew at a decade-low 5 percent in the last fiscal year.

"Currency market and participants may consider it as a reversal of RBI liquidity tightening measures to prevent currency volatility; thus some pressure on currency may re-emerge," said Anjali Verma, economist at PhillipCapital.

With a record high current account deficit at 4.8 percent of GDP, India is especially vulnerable to funds moving away from emerging markets in anticipation of a winding back of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus program. Traders were looking ahead for clues from Fed minutes to be released later on Wednesday.

Deutsche Bank said in a note on Wednesday that the rupee could slide to 70 in a month or so, although some revival is expected by the end of the year.

The central bank's move to ease cash conditions after tightening them last month to support the rupee highlights the growing costs to the economy of stabilizing the currency.

"The bearishness seen across markets is largely a reflection of the fact that there is no quick fix solution to arrest the rupee fall," said Shakti Satapathy, fixed income strategist at AK Capital.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 64.11/12 per dollar, down 1.3 percent on the day, as importers led by oil refiners bought dollars. The 10-year bond yield closed down 49 basis points (bps) at 8.41 percent, its biggest single-day gain since mid-March 2009.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond earlier tumbled as much as 69 bps to 8.21 percent as its price rose.

The benchmark Sensex .BSESN closed down 1.9 percent as the falling rupee dented investor sentiment.

HIGHER BORROWING COSTS

Bond yields are up 86 bps since the RBI first started tightening market cash conditions in mid-July by raising short-term rates to keep rupee speculators at bay, pushing up the cost of credit for corporate borrowers.

Still, the rupee is down 6.7 percent since then.

The RBI said late on Tuesday it will buy 80 billion rupees ($1.26 billion) of bonds on Friday and will pare down its cash management bill sales as its target of pushing up the overnight rate to the central bank's emergency funding rate of 10.25 percent had been achieved.

The RBI relaxed rules on mandatory bond holdings for banks, known as the statutory liquidity ratio, which will help protect lenders from large mark-to-market losses. While banks had previously been asked to cut their hold-to-maturity bond holdings gradually to 23 percent of deposits, the RBI on Tuesday allowed banks to retain them at 24.5 percent of deposits.

"At the moment markets are definitely left guessing about the RBI's intention," said Upasna Bhardwaj, economist at ING Vysya Bank.

(Editing by Tony Munroe, Kim Coghill and Anand Basu)

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Indian rupee at record low again despite RBI intervention

A jeweller poses with silver plates in the form of Indian rupee notes inside a showroom in New Delhi August 19, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Mansi Thapliyal

By Subhadip Sircar and Swati Bhat

MUMBAI | Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:34am EDT

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian rupee plunged to a record low on Wednesday on heavy dollar demand from importers and as traders fretted over mixed signals from the central bank over its efforts to prop up the currency without choking off economic growth.

The rupee fell 2 percent to a record low of 64.5450 to the dollar despite what traders said was sporadic central bank intervention in both the spot and forward markets.

Measures by the Reserve Bank of India late on Tuesday to support longer-dated debt sent prices of beaten-down bonds sharply higher but also led traders to question the central bank's resolve in defending the currency.

Since mid-July, the RBI has taken steps to tighten cash conditions, which have failed to support the rupee but sent bond yields surging, posing a fresh threat to an economy that grew at a decade-low 5 percent in the last fiscal year.

"Currency market and participants may consider it as a reversal of RBI liquidity tightening measures to prevent currency volatility; thus some pressure on currency may re-emerge," said Anjali Verma, economist at PhillipCapital.

With a record high current account deficit at 4.8 percent of GDP, India is especially vulnerable to funds moving away from emerging markets in anticipation of a winding back of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus program. Traders were looking ahead for clues from Fed minutes to be released later on Wednesday.

Deutsche Bank said in a note on Wednesday that the rupee could slide to 70 in a month or so, although some revival is expected by the end of the year.

The central bank's move to ease cash conditions after tightening them last month to support the rupee highlights the growing costs to the economy of stabilizing the currency.

"The bearishness seen across markets is largely a reflection of the fact that there is no quick fix solution to arrest the rupee fall," said Shakti Satapathy, fixed income strategist at AK Capital.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 64.11/12 per dollar, down 1.3 percent on the day, as importers led by oil refiners bought dollars. The 10-year bond yield closed down 49 basis points (bps) at 8.41 percent, its biggest single-day gain since mid-March 2009.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond earlier tumbled as much as 69 bps to 8.21 percent as its price rose.

The benchmark Sensex .BSESN closed down 1.9 percent as the falling rupee dented investor sentiment.

HIGHER BORROWING COSTS

Bond yields are up 86 bps since the RBI first started tightening market cash conditions in mid-July by raising short-term rates to keep rupee speculators at bay, pushing up the cost of credit for corporate borrowers.

Still, the rupee is down 6.7 percent since then.

The RBI said late on Tuesday it will buy 80 billion rupees ($1.26 billion) of bonds on Friday and will pare down its cash management bill sales as its target of pushing up the overnight rate to the central bank's emergency funding rate of 10.25 percent had been achieved.

The RBI relaxed rules on mandatory bond holdings for banks, known as the statutory liquidity ratio, which will help protect lenders from large mark-to-market losses. While banks had previously been asked to cut their hold-to-maturity bond holdings gradually to 23 percent of deposits, the RBI on Tuesday allowed banks to retain them at 24.5 percent of deposits.

"At the moment markets are definitely left guessing about the RBI's intention," said Upasna Bhardwaj, economist at ING Vysya Bank.

(Editing by Tony Munroe, Kim Coghill and Anand Basu)

View the original article here

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Toyota top-selling automaker despite China slump

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota shrugged off China sales woes to stay the world's top selling automaker for the first half of this year, outpacing U.S. rival General Motors Co., which boasted such bragging rights for seven decades until 2008.

Toyota Motor Corp. sold 4.91 million cars and trucks around the world for the January-June period, down 1.2 percent from the previous year, according to numbers it released Friday.

GM said earlier this month it sold 4.85 million vehicles worldwide in the six months, growing almost 4 percent as it gained U.S. sales faster than Toyota. For the second quarter alone, GM had a slight edge, outselling Toyota by about 10,000 vehicles.

GM was the top-selling automaker for seven decades before losing that title to the Japanese automaker in 2008. GM retook the spot in 2011, when Toyota's plants were slowed by an earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan that wiped out parts suppliers.

Toyota has since recovered and was at the top again last year even as sales in China were hurt by anti-Japanese sentiment that flared over a territorial dispute, setting off boycotts and riots. The deep sales slump that started in the second half of last year has waned in the past few months and Japanese automakers might be poised to start growing again in China.

Toyota stayed ahead of GM in the first half of 2013 because of solid sales in other regions. The maker of the Prius hybrid and Camry sedan also did better than expected in Japan, where the auto market has been stagnant for years.

Volkswagen AG of Germany, which includes in its group Audi, Porsche and other brands, trailed Toyota and GM in the global race, selling 4.7 million vehicles during the first half of this year.

Yet it is posting strong growth in countries such as China, offsetting a bleak European market, and it is also determined to become No. 1.

One key difference between Toyota and the two other automakers is that it manufactures heavy trucks. GM and Volkswagen have light trucks but no heavy trucks in their lineup.

Excluding sales of 78,000 trucks for Toyota's Hino Motors, Toyota's global vehicle sales totaled about 4.83 million for the first half, according to Toyota.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda said sales were not the only measure of excellence, and profitability, quality of workers and productivity were also significant.

"What truly defines being No. 1 is an eternal pursuit for which there is never an answer," he told reporters this week.

GM officials also say they don't care who wins the global sales race. But the numbers tend to reflect company momentum, and the outcome is good for morale not only for employees but the wide range of industries that auto manufacturing supports in each nation.

Yasuaki Iwamoto, auto analyst at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo, believes Toyota's popularity in Southeast Asia will continue to boost vehicle sales numbers in coming months. And that is a key plus for a manufacturer.

"The merit of scale is not just about numbers and is likely to lead to cost cuts," he said in a report.

At a recent opening of a Toyota training facility, Keiji Furuya, a lawmaker and government minister, told the crowd he was proud of Toyota's achievements.

"Toyota is the No. 1 automaker in the world. And it is important it stays the No. 1 automaker in the world," he said.

Tatsuo Yoshida, auto analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., expects Toyota, GM and Volkswagen to be switching places at the top in coming years as all three can count on growth in different global markets.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama

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