Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents her fourth Budget in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Gold burnished its image as the go-to asset class during turbulent times. However, investors seemed to have missed the bus. Net inflows into gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) plunged to a four-year low of Rs 653 crore in 2022-23 (FY23), even as gold emerged as the top-performing asset class.
Following are the highlights of the Economic Survey 2022-23 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday
ITC's results for the January-March quarter (Q4) were strong, with robust growth in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment and a good performance in hospitality. The tobacco division's performance was on expected lines, with double-digit volume growth, helped by reclaiming of market share from the smuggled trade. There was 60 per cent growth in non-cigarette earnings before interest and tax (Ebit), despite a relatively weak performance in paperboards.
According to the Reserve Bank of India's data, cash still accounts for 90 per cent of all monetary transactions in India.
The Delhi high court on Friday sought the stand of news portal NewsClick and its editor-in-chief on a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking vacation of an earlier order granting them protection from coercive action in a money laundering case.
The industrial production grew by two per cent in September, mainly on account of better performance by power and mining sectors.
Persistent fall in crude oil prices affected the market sentiment
The government has raised the penalty amount to up to Rs 500 crore for violating the provisions proposed under the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022 issued on Friday. The draft personal data protection bill in 2019 proposed a penalty of Rs 15 crore or 4 per cent of the global turnover of an entity. The draft proposes to set up a Data Protection Board of India, which will carry on functions as per the provisions of the bill.
Given the prevailing uncertainties, investors must maintain a 10-15 per cent allocation to gold in 2023.
India's economy is projected to slow to 6.5 per cent in the fiscal year starting April but will remain the fastest growing major economy in the world as it fared better in dealing with the extraordinary set of challenges the globe has faced, the Economic Survey 2022-23 said on Tuesday. India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.5 per cent in 2023-24 compares with an estimated 7 per cent expansion in current fiscal year (April 2022 to March 2023) and 8.7 per cent in the previous year. Like the rest of the world, India too faced an extraordinary set of challenges in tightening financial conditions and supply chain disruptions from a prolonged war in Europe but "withstood them better than most economies", the annual document detailing the state of the economy said.
Amazon had decided not to participate in the bidding as the company did not find it a viable option for growth in India
Amazon's rivalry in India with oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries looks set to head to the cricket field, where they will likely battle media heavyweights for telecast rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) with its hundreds of millions of viewers.
In 2011, the rupee emerged as the most vulnerable Asian currency on the block. It depreciated by almost 19 per cent in 2011, while for the others depreciation was mostly in single digits. The Chinese Yuan actually appreciated in this period.
India's mutual fund (MF) industry had barely any retail footprint when it completed 50 years in 2013. MFs had Rs 7 trillion in assets under management (AUM) in March 2013, of which around Rs 5 trillion was in institution-focused debt funds. By comparison, bank deposits in the country stood at Rs 67.5 trillion around the same time.
Media rights for the Indian cricket team is always a prized scalp and it was Viacom18 who bagged the deal on Thursday to broadcast India's home matches for the 2023-28 cycle.
While India won't be immune to global spillovers, we need to create the macro preconditions for sustained growth. Policy agility, prudence, and resilience will be key, suggests Sonal Varma.
... And what explains the directions of change? asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
The rupee depreciation will work in favour of students who are currently studying in the US and plan to secure a job that pays in dollars.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday hiked key benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 per cent, citing sticky core inflation. This is the sixth time interest rate has been hiked by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) since May last year, taking the total quantum of hike to 250 basis points. Announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) by a majority decided to raise the policy repo rate by 25 basis points and keep a 'strong vigil' on inflation outlook.
The focus of the Union Budget is on providing basic amenities to the poor, middle class and youth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, and asserted that it is imperative that India becomes self-reliant.
'And a majority will be in the top-end vehicle range.'
Black money to the tune of "Rs 1.25 lakh crore" has been confiscated by the Modi government, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday and asserted transparency is a key aspect of the present dispensation's good governance model. The minister for railways said similarly, to ensure transparency, benami properties worth Rs 4,300 crore were attached and registration of 1.75 lakh companies cancelled. Talking to reporters at the Rail Bhawan, Vaishnaw said in his long public service, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "perfected a model of good governance that started in Gujarat".
rediffGURU Ramalingam Kalirajan answers your personal finance queries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the 6th India Mobile Congress at Pragati Maidan in Delhi and launched 5G services. The 5G telecom services seek to provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency and highly reliable communications system. The three major telecom operators of the country demonstrated one use case each in front of the prime minister to show the potential of 5G technology in India.
Shaktikanta Das is a master of the finest balancing act who listens to all but takes his own decisions, discovers Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Exports had risen over 11 per cent in July, year-on-year.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday defended the Reserve Bank's handling of the price situation, saying acting prematurely on inflation would have exerted a heavy cost on the economy and citizens. Acknowledging that the inflation target has been missed, Das said the RBI decided to support the economy by not introducing a rate hike in face of a spike in inflation. "We prevented a 'complete collapse of the economy' by keeping rates lower and stayed away from premature tightening," Das said speaking at the annual FIBAC conference of bankers in Mumbai.
10 non-bank and non-finance stocks from the BSE500 Index universe that offer an optimal blend of low valuation, reasonably robust revenue and earnings growth in recent quarters, a strong balance sheet, and most importantly, positive cash flow from their operations.
'I have saved your name on my phone, but I cannot read or pronounce it.' 'I am able to recognise my wife's name today because after seeing it for so long, it has been imprinted in my mind as a picture and not the letters.'
India has built up buffers against cyclical difficulties and has ample foreign exchange reserves to withstand pressure on credit worthiness, S&P Global Ratings said on Thursday. Speaking at the India Credit Spotlight 2022 webinar, S&P Sovereign & International Public Finance Ratings director Andrew Wood said the country has a strong external balance sheet and limited external debt, making debt servicing not so expensive. "The country has built up buffers against cyclical difficulties like those, which we are experiencing right now," Wood said.
The Delhi police on Tuesday arrested two persons including NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha in connection with a probe in the portal's foreign funding, officials said.
The stronger than expected monsoon has not yet softened food inflation as much as it should have and in particular, vegetable prices have been impacted by weather-driven supply disruptions, said RBI Governor D Subbarao while unveiling the first quarter monetary policy review.
The information technology services sector will see a sharp fall in revenue growth to 12-13 per cent in FY23 from 19 per cent in FY22, ratings agency Crisil said on Thursday. However, the current depreciation in the rupee, strong demand for new age technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing and Internet of Things will help the over $220-billion sector maintain a double digit growth, it said in a report. The moderation from 19 per cent to 12-13 per cent will be the highest in the last eight years, it said and attributed the decline to expected tightening of IT expenditure by corporates amid the inflationary headwinds in the United States and European Union (EU), which together contribute almost 85 per cent to the sector's revenue.
Following a gap of several months, global brands like Walmart have started lifting orders from Tiruppur's garment makers, leading to growth in knitwear exports in January after five months. Knitwear exports from Tiruppur increased 1.5 per cent in dollar terms and 11.6 per cent in rupee terms in January. According to the Tiruppur Exporters' Association (TEA), global majors have started placing more orders from the region.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das kept the red flag on cryptocurrencies flying, warning that the next financial crisis can be triggered by private cryptocurrencies if such speculative instruments are allowed to grow.
'When the gold price rises rapidly, India's physical gold market remains on standby.'
'Even where we are now today, the growth rates are very good, but we need to get to 8-9 per cent growth in the years to come.'
IT services firms' revenue growth in the fourth quarter will be affected by macro-driven headwinds, lower working-days, and the fact of the three-month period being low season. Analysts are expecting FY24 growth to be muted. Revenue growth will decline 600-700 basis points to 10-12 per cent for FY24, said a CRISIL Ratings report. The 10-12 per cent growth rate is a fall from the 18-20 per cent expected in FY23 and around 19 per cent growth in FY22, the highest in eight years, said the CRISIL Ratings report.
'Sector funds like IT funds should be included only in the satellite portfolio.' 'Limit your exposure to IT sector funds to around 5-10 per cent of your equity portfolio.'