Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance, a partnership of 21 parties, elected Atal Behari Vajpayee as its leader, paving the way for government formation. Mr Vajpayee is expected to be sworn in as prime minister on 13 October.

At the state-level, N. Chandrababu Naidu, who received an overwhelming mandate from the people of Andhra Pradesh, is expected to be sworn in as chief minister of the state on 11 November.

In Karnataka, S.M. Krishna has been elected as the legislature party leader of the Congress Party. The Congress has won a majority in the state. Mr Krishna will be sworn in as chief minister on 11 November.

In Maharashtra, the situation continued to be fluid with both the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and the Congress continuing to woo Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, which has a block of 58 legislators. The Congress has already staked its claim to form the government, while the Sena-BJP alliance is likely to meet the governor P.C. Alexander on 11 November.
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Inflation at below 2 per cent
New Delhi: The inflation rate based on the wholesale price index is at 1.88 per cent as of the week ended 25 September 1999. During the corresponding week in the year 1998, the rate was 8.84 per cent. For the past two weeks, the inflation rate had gone above 2 per cent. In the next few weeks, the rate is expected to shoot up as a result of the diesel price hike.
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Tax collections at below target
Mumbai: For the six-month period between April and September 1999, tax revenues have fallen 11.5 per cent short of the targeted amount. On the corporate tax side, there has been a negative growth in tax collections.
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BOB’s unique fee plan
Mumbai: One of the top Indian public sector banks, the Bank of Baroda, may charge customers who have got loans sanctioned but are not using them. This will help the bank increase its non-interest income, as it foresees a low interest regime in future.

According to K Kannan, chariman, Bank of Baroda, the final structure of the ‘commitment fee’ will be decided soon. He said that non-utilisation of sanctioned loans has caused problems of asset-liability management for the bank.
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Freight rates up 30%
Mumbai: Average freight rates in India have shot up 30 per cent, according to a report in The Economic Times. This is directly because of the recent 40 per cent diesel price hike. Truck operators have planned an indefinite strike from 21 October 1999 to protest the diesel price rise and the charging of tolls on national highways.
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IBA norms for credit card companies
Chennai: The Indian Banks Association will issue a code of conduct for credit card collection agencies. The norms will be finalised after studying the system in other countries, such as the UK, Phillippines and Hong Kong.

Credit card collection agencies are employed by banks to recover the amounts due from credit card holders who have overdues.
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RBI may ban forward deals in gilts
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India, on worries of a skewed yield curve, may ban forward deals in gilts. The RBI feels that though forward trades are just about 1 per cent of the total gilt market, they seem to be causing some confusion on the projected price movement.
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BNP too to go retail
Mumbai: Banque Nationale de Paris is the latest in the list of banks that have decided to go retail. It will invest $46 million in India in the next one and a half years.

According to Jonathan David Lyon, country manager and chief executive, BNP India, by mid-2000, the bank will provide asset management services, a depository company, an automatic teller machine network, an interactive website, and telephone and internet banking to its retail customers.
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