FEBRUARY 28: When his reaction was sought to rating agency Crisil downgrading SFL's fixed deposit programme and non-convertible debentures, Raman said this was the case with all the financial institutions in the country.He agreed that the advent of more Financial institutionsin the sector had affected the spread of all NBFCs, including SFL.'The depositors have good faith in us. The surplusdeposit with SFL forcing us to stop accepting despoits from public since Jan 1, 1999, is a proof of public faith in the company', he said.Asked when SFL would resume accepting deposits frompublic, he said the company's board would meet in April to discuss the issue. 'If required, we may start accepting deposits', he said.Crisil had recently downgraded SFL's FD programme fromFAAA TO FAA+, and Rs. one billion non-convertible debentures scheme from AA+ to AA.
