Exchange rate fluctuation has inflated India's external debt by USD 18.7 billion (about Rs 90,000 crore) during the three-month period RBI

After taking into account the valuation effect of USD 18.7 billion dollars--the changes in the value of assets India holds abroad, minus the changes in the value of domestic assets held by foreign investors--the country's external debt during the the three-month period rose by USD 8.7 billion to USD 251.4 billion dollars as on December 31, 2009.

In rupee terms, India's external debt worked out to be about Rs 12 lakh crore.

The RBI report said that at the end of December, the external debt basket comprised 52 per cent of dollar denominated debt, followed by rupee debt at 17.2 per cent, yen debt at 12.7 per cent, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) issued by IMF at 11.4 per cent and Euro at 4.2 per cent among others.

BMO Hires Ex-Lehman Banker Hoffmeister for U.S. Investment Bank

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of Montreal hired former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. banker Perry Hoffmeister to head the U.S. investment banking business of Canada’s fourth-biggest bank.

Hoffmeister will start April 19 as head of U.S. investment and corporate banking with BMO Capital Markets, the Toronto- based lender said today in an e-mail. Hoffmeister worked for 21 years at Lehman, with his last job there as co-head of investment banking for Europe and the Middle East.

The announcement comes two days after BMO Capital Markets said Dominic Petito, co-head of U.S. investment and corporate banking, will retire June 30.

Hoffmeister will report to William Butt, the firm’s global head of investment and corporate banking, who’s based in Toronto.