Ulster Bank customers queue to get their money
The finance minister has criticised the ongoing delay for Ulster Bank customers getting access to their money.
For the past 10 days, the bank has been trying to clear a huge backlog of transactions that was caused by a computer system problem.
Thousands of customers due to be paid on Friday are struggling to get their money because of the ongoing problems with the bank's computer system.
Sammy Wilson said uncertainty over sorting the problem was not helpful.
"Last week I was told it would be Monday, Monday I was told it would be Friday, yesterday I was told it would be some time next week," Mr Wilson said.
"But when you've had promises like that and the deadline keeps moving then you don't have a great deal of certainty.
"I hope that this has not been a cynical attempt by Ulster Bank just to give the story in dribs and drabs rather than give the whole bad news story."
On Friday, Ulster Bank said it had handled 70,000 calls in the past week.
It has updated its website with a series of questions and answers to help customers.
The Department of Finance is deferring customers rates payments due this weekend.
Up to 100,000 customers across Ireland are still experiencing difficulty in accessing money in their accounts.
Some will not receive their wages or benefits until early next week.
Bumper Graham from Northern Ireland's largest public sector union NIPSA, said many of its members had been hit by salaries not going into their Ulster Bank accounts.
"We have many members facing a further period of uncertainty with no pay and we also have retired public servants who haven't had their pensions," he said.
The Social Security Agency is advising benefit customers who are experiencing problems with their Ulster Bank account to go directly to their local bank branch where funds should be available to them, subject to a limit.
A spokesperson said: "Customers do not need a proof of benefit payment from their local Social Security Office and staff at the Ulster Bank will not require this information to make a payment over the counter.
"Benefit customers are requested to bring ID with them when visiting their local Ulster Bank branch."
'Extortionate'Meanwhile, the Consumer Council has advised Ulster Bank customers not to use high interest loan companies to borrow money while the bank clears its backlog.
The chief executive of the Consumer Council, Antoinette McKeown, said: "The last option that people should be considering is the short-term, high interest loans because they will only stir up further problems.
"Pay day and other high interest short term loans will only give you the money until pay day but you have 28 days at extortionate interest rates and on top of that if you're actually lucky enough to be given a cheque you will be charged for cashing that cheque so you won't actually get the full amount," she added.
The initial problem was due to a failed software upgrade within the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) group, which includes Ulster Bank and Nat West.
It started to impact on transactions on 20 June and initially, millions of customers' accounts were affected across the UK and Ireland.
The software failure has since been resolved and RBS said service had been restored to 99% of its customers.
No guaranteesHowever, Ulster Bank staff are still working through a backlog of uncompleted transactions.
On Thursday, Ulster Bank's chief executive Jim Brown said he hoped normal service would resume next week but was unable to give any guarantees.
Almost a third of the Ulster Bank's 90 branches in Northern Ireland have extended their opening hours this weekend to deal with customer queries.
Twenty six branches will have extended Saturday opening from 10:00 to 15:00 BST, and 10 branches will open on Sunday from 10:00 to 13:00 BST.
The Consumer Council has advised those affected to persist with their bank rather than turning to loan companies.
"Please please, insist first and foremost as an Ulster Bank customer that you don't leave you branch without your cash," Ms McKeown said.
China unveils tax, finance incentives for new Shenzhen zone - The Guardian
Demand for export finance products down £600m - Daily Telegraph
“The private [credit insurance and trade finance] market is good, so we wouldn’t expect the volume of small businesses using UK Export Finance to be huge, but there are gaps.
“Lots more first-time exporters with a single contract could be using them as the private market usually isn’t interested. The products are good, but the marketing needs to be better.”
Trade minister Lord Green said the agency will be “intensifying its market awareness activity” in the current financial year.
Guillaume Simonnet, chairman of the BExA, said the recruitment of export finance advisers, who will be based in regional UK Trade & Investment offices, “has been too slow”. “Advisers [must make the] new products better known.”
Mr Bailey added that small companies report that most local bank branch managers are unaware of the services and high-street banks “need more knowledge” of UK Export Finance. “Take-up should improve when the word gets out.”
Forex Flash: ECB expected to cut rates in third quarter of 2012 - BBH - FXStreet.com
"The ECB left its policy rate unchanged in June and said that it is conducting a review into the impact of the measures already implemented", says BBH. "However, it signaled that some Governing Council members favored a rate cut and cited increased downside risks to the economic outlook".
Announcing…the Winner of India Ink’s Finance Minister Contest - New York Times
On Wednesday, India Ink invited you to submit your “application” to be the next finance minister of India. Well, the entries are in, and we at India Ink have been sifting through what you sent us. You may read all of them in the “Comments” section at the end of the original article.
Some of you, perhaps responding to the tenor of our invitation, sent in replies that can best be described as tongue in cheek. Sachi Mohanty of India told us that he’d sent in his application to “The Family” and couldn’t reveal it to us. Mr. Mohanty presumably had in mind the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which has held power in India for the majority of years since India’s independence in 1947.
Mitra from Brisbane suggested that Sonia Gandhi, the current head of the clan and chairwoman of the governing United Progressive Alliance, should be forced to take an introductory course in economics at a “nearby university.” (That would rule out Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, where I have taught first-year principles of economics over the years.)
A number of readers made suggestions, which while laudable, would realistically be beyond the purview, and power, of any finance minister. Girid Krishna from New York City said: “Make our economic institutions more inclusive.” Another commentator from India, calling himself or herself only “Reader,” advocated making “every politician, company and citizen accountable for their actions.” A. Kapoor from New Delhi proposed to “banish corruption.”
Some readers lamented the possible political constraints a finance minister may face. “RSB” from West Orange, New Jersey, opined that no finance minister would be able to do the job because of the interference of Mrs. Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, although he or she used more disparaging language to describe them.
On a more philosophical note, Ramesh Raghuvanshi from Pune observed that the challenge of a finance minister is to take a “stern decision” without “hurting” the people. Raj Phalpher from Toronto pointed to “rampant corruption” as the root of India’s difficulties, suggesting further that this in turn was driven by “social inequality.”
Yet other readers, while hewing to the spirit of the contest, fell short of, or exceeded, the contest requirement of submitting three to five suggestions. That left us with about a half-dozen or so serious applications to scrutinize, which we’ve just concluded doing.
And the winner is … Narahari Rao of Houston, Texas. Mr. Rao gave us exactly five suggestions, and they were all well-conceived, smart and, importantly, at least within shooting distance of being feasible to attempt. If actually implemented, they stand a decent chance of restoring investor confidence and helping to put the Indian economy back onto a higher growth trajectory, which is all that could reasonably be expected of any finance minister in the current economic and political climate in India and given the state of the global economy.
Mr. Rao’s specific suggestions include: cutting the income tax rate, but broadening the tax base, to stimulate the economy; lowering corporate tax rates to provide a boost to investment and growth; opening up foreign direct investment in multibrand retail (a decision taken, then reversed, by the outgoing finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee); setting up more special economic zones to encourage manufacturing; and issuing “infrastructure bonds,” dedicated to improving the quality of infrastructure in medium-sized Indian cities.
Congratulations, Mr. Rao! Send your mailing address to IndiaInk@nytimes.com and a copy of Mr. Mukherjee’s book “Challenges Before the Nation” will be sent to you in Texas.
Vivek Dehejia is an economics professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a writer and commentator on India. You can follow him on Twitter @vdehejia.
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