'During his stint as prime minister, he got 270 million people out of poverty.' 'This, according to the World Bank, is the fastest compression of poverty anywhere in the world.' Arvind Mayaram, the former finance secretary, recalls his encounters with Dr Manmohan Singh.
Arvind Mayaram, who was shunted from Finance Ministry to Tourism only a fortnight ago, has now been transferred as secretary in minority affairs ministry even before he took charge of his new post.
Union Tourism Minister Shripad Naik on Friday said that having Arvind Mayaram as the new secretary in the ministry would be of great help.
Much of the rise in prices has been in food items
Mayaram also said as of now, a shutdown of the US government is not likely to have a major impact on the Indian economy.
The Budget 2015-16 will include many of the schemes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi such as smart cities and high speed trains, Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram said.
The Finance Ministry on Thursday said the growth rate in the current financial year will accelerate to 5.8 per cent, better than previous estimates, saying the green shoots of economic recovery are now visible.
Mayaram said the concerns over the pace of implementing economic reforms were "overstated".
The rating agency official did raise concern about the banks' non-performing assets.
The Finance Ministry on Thursday expressed hope that domestic diesel prices will soon become market linked in the backdrop of softening global crude oil rates.
Over the past six months Rajasthan has introduced some of India's most radical free-market labour, land and welfare reform.
The CBI, in its FIR, alleged that Mayaram, the UK-based company De La Rue International Ltd and unidentified officials of the finance ministry and RBI hatched a criminal conspiracy to extend undue favour to the firm.
Arvind Mayaram, economic affairs secretary at the finance ministry, also said that a fall in bulk diesel demand this fiscal year will save the government about $1 billion.
JV will set up a full-service carrier based out of New Delhi.
The economic growth fell to a decade low of 5 per cent in 2012-13 fiscal.
The call for rate cut comes ahead of the annual monetary policy announcement scheduled for Friday, wherein it is widely expected that the apex bank will cut lending rates by 0.25 per cent as inflationary pressures have eased much more than its projected levels.
Even as the rupee plunged to a 10-week low against US dollar on Friday erasing almost the entire gains it made since the recent reform waves, the Finance Ministry on Saturday expressed optimism of a recovery before the fiscal-end and ruled out any intervention by RBI.
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The economy grew at a four year low of 4.4 per cent in the April-June quarter of current year.
The Finance Ministry on Monday sought to assure the investors that the country's fundamentals are "very strong" even as the rupee slipped to below 63 to a US dollar and the BSE Sensex plunged by over 426 points on global cues, following currency crisis in Argentina.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget speech has announced a host of measures, including hiking tax exemption limit, incentives for the housing sector and relief in indirect taxes on auto and other sectors to promote industrial output and boost growth.
He was last month appointed as Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs in place of his batchmate Arvind Mayaram, who was first shifted to Tourism and then to Minority Affairs Ministry.
The Finance Ministry on Wednesday described the sharp fall in the value of the rupee as a reflection of "irrational sentiment" and said there is no need for panic.
The levy of retrospective tax on the UK's Cairn Energy Plc is a tale of bizarre twists and turns that saw its attached shares being sold in May 2018 amid the passing of the baton from a full-time finance minister to interim one and the talks at the highest level to resolve the dispute, to claims that levy of back taxes was a result of an investigation into Panama Papers leak. The government late last month refunded about Rs 7,900 crore it had collected from selling residual shares of the British firm in its erstwhile India unit, seizing dividend and withholding tax refunds, to settle an eight-year-old dispute that had tarred the country's reputation as an investment destination. But, this did not come about easily. For seven years, the establishment vehemently justified in courts and outside seeking of Rs 10,247 crore in back taxes plus interest and penalty from a firm that gave India its biggest onshore oil discovery.
In the first half of the fiscal year, government had borrowed Rs 3.44 lakh crore.
Gold imports had totalled 335.1 tonne in the April-June quarter, but have declined to 58.37 in the second quarter (up to September 25).
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As per the latest data, India's CAD sharply narrowed to 1.7 per cent of the gross domestic product or $32.4 billion in 2013-14 from a record high of 4.7 per cent in FY'13.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Friday deferred a decision on Rs 2,000-crore (Rs 20 billion) Jet-Etihad deal, the largest foreign investment in the Indian aviation sector, and sought clarity on control and ownership.
The rupee weakened to 62.58 against the US dollar in the early trade on Thursday.
Going by its past experience of differences between the central bank and the finance ministry, the government might prefer a person who could bridge this gap.
Chidambaram said NSEL was not a registered or recognised association under the FMC but got exemption even before it started its business.
The country last raised the amount of government debt that foreign investors can buy by $5 billion in June last year.
India says it gives equal treatment to foreign companies on tax matters, not special consideration.
In response the BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - have taken steps to strengthen cooperation such as setting up a joint development bank
WPI inflation rose to a 14-month high of 7.52 per cent, while the retail inflation was in double digits at 11.24 per cent in November.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Monday cleared Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airlines buying 26 per cent stake in Jet Airways for Rs 2,058 crore (Rs 20.58 billion) with some conditions.
Moves follow government's reforms to contain fiscal deficit and promote growth.
DEA Secretary Arvind Mayaram is also expected to attend the event.
On the back of strong foreign investor flows, the stock market barometer BSE Sensex today jumped more than 1 per cent to log new lifetime high, while the rupee appreciated 24 paise to trade at 60.65 against the US dollar.
A record current account deficit on back of high gold imports too was pressuring the rupee value.
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday surprised the markets by saying it will continue with its monthly $85-billion bond buying programme and wait for more evidence of growth recovery.
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