Thomas Isaac has been in and out of the national news in his role as Kerala's finance minister since 2018 for various path-breaking tax initiatives. But it is 2020 that he has become more prominent, principally in the GST council.
'Tax cuts will have only marginal effects in the short run and significant positive effects in the medium term,' says Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
Any revision in gold import duty is unlikely to take place before the Budget, says finance ministry official.
She said 30 basis points (0.30 per cent) rate cut has already happened.
It won't be an easy ride for the markets, reckon experts, considering the multiple state elections in 2018 and general elections next year.
'The Chinese made their point repeatedly after August 5. They backed Pakistan more overtly than in the past.' 'Kashmir is not completely off their radar. But in order to keep the atmosphere surrounding the Chennai meeting, they did not discuss Kashmir.'
Reducing policy rates is not enough. The key is to ensure banks lend to credit-constrained borrowers.
The central bank may need to further ease the rates by 50-75 bps.
Clearly, LoCs are becoming a key arrow in India's economic diplomacy quiver.
As a percentage of the aggregate Budget expenditure, it is 12 per cent.
Prime Minister Singh has assigned a senior Congress leader to placate the President, who is upset with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, reports Anita Katyal.
Poor performance of the banking, oil and exploration industries have impacted corporate tax collections.
Enhanced revenue generation is a priority for the government.
RBI also retained its GDP growth forecast at 7.6 per cent
Government's objective is to bring down the cost of cultivation through efficient use of fertilisers and agro chemicals, and increase in realisation. It is, thus, planning to connect 200 agricultural mandis with electronic National Agricultural Mandis this year and 225 next year, to enable farmers to sell their produce hassle-free online.
India must announce liberal policies to attract foreign investors.
Global disinflation has finally caught up with India's high-cost economy.
However, some experts, including RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, have favoured doing away with curbs on gold imports because they lead to smuggling.
The six-member monetary policy committee voted 5:1 for the decision, with only Ravindra Dholakia voting for a 0.25 per cent reduction in rates.
India's record current account deficit has been a key reason behind why Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings cut their outlooks on the country's sovereign rating to 'negative' last year.
'A balanced head plus heart approach would be a full opening up of the economy including manufacturing and internal travel in the country but excluding COVID-19 hotspots,' recommends Jaimini Bhagwati.
Subject to finance & tech from rich countries through an ambitious, fair Paris deal
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The rupee and equity turmoil seem over, with interest shifting to key personnel changes and 2014 polls.
This is due to the newly formed Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, which will get funds from the Centre's share, which means devolution will be for 28 states compared to 29 earlier.
According to a new report published by Switzerland-based BIS, which is also referred as 'bank for central banks', the US Federal Reserve's announcement of a possible phasing out of easy money regime has resulted in 'abrupt and sizeable' equity market losses in both advanced and emerging markets.
Out of 389 SEZs notified, 170 are operational, Export Promotion Council for export-oriented units and special economic zones (EPCES) said in a statement.
A fall in the rupee could boost exports. But the flip side of the equation is that a weaker rupee could stoke some inflation
To do so, the government will have to tackle a number of broad development challenges successfully, says Shankar Acharya
Aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve could result in a flight of capital from emerging markets like India, says B Gopkumar, chief executive officer, Reliance Securities.
US interest rate normalisation policy is likely to keep global FX markets volatile.
Rising rural distress due to back-to-back droughts have put pressure on FM to spend more on social schemes; no change in tax slabs likely
The Budget has to provide for capex on roads, railways, defence and other infrastructure sectors.
'The actual price of petrol is Rs 35 and it jumps to Rs 88 because of government taxes.'
Swadeshi economist, columnist and chartered accountant S Gurumurthy speaks to Shobha Warrier about one year of Modi Sarkar.
Sectors throw up a wishlist for the Finance Minister.
'We get an overzealous army of tax inspectors pushing the economy too hard,' says Ajay Shah.
Modi will have limited choice other than stressing upon a request for more time to decide on tariff rates, especially with elections in 2019.
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In the global market, the US dollar rose against the basket currencies in early trade as US President Barack Obama called for diplomacy in dealing with alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria but kept open the possibility of military action against the Assad regime.
