Email alarm made government close arbitrage window
Following are the highlights of the Economic Survey 2022-23 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday
Credit card payments for foreign travel will be brought under the purview of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the Reserve Bank, to ensure that such expenses do not escape TCS (Tax Collection at Source). While moving the Finance Bill 2023 for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Reserve Bank has been asked to look into ways to bring credit card payments on foreign tours under the LRS. "It has been represented that payments for foreign tours through a credit card are not being captured under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and such payments escape tax collection at source (TCS)," she said.
Gold monetisation scheme will help unlock value of gold.
After a technology upgrade, the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) appears poised for an improvement in volumes. The premier commodity and forex exchange reported a loss of Rs 19.1 crore in the July-September quarter (second quarter, or Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24). This was attributed to higher software charges payable under an extended service agreement with 63 moons technologies and a one-off cost towards core guaranteed funds (CGF).
The medium-term scenario for oil marketing companies (OMCs) is high risk due to the surging crude and gas prices. Apart from OPEC-plus cutting production, the Hamas-Israel conflict has caused fears of supply disruption. The July-September quarter of 2023-24 (Q2FY24) saw positive surprises for OMCs. Strong gross refining margins (GRMs) more than offset weak marketing margins.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has liberalised the procedure for facilitating the import of rough diamonds (termed roughs in the trade).
The government on Friday announced that no tax will be charged on overseas spending of up to Rs 7 lakh in a year using debit or credit as it looked to douse backlash from its earlier decision of levying TCS on all spending. The government had earlier this week brought overseas credit card spending under Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). This meant that any spending using credit cards overseas would attract a 20 per cent tax from July 1.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday exuded confidence that inflation would further decline and the government is on track to meet its budgetary target for deficit and said that there is no fear of stagflation in India. Replying to the debate on first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants 2022-23 in Lok Sabha, the finance minister said inflation has come down and it is now in the tolerable band of the RBI. Inflation has been declining since April 2022 and it is declining further, she said.
The Congress released a booklet 'Nau saal, Nau sawaal', asking nine questions from Modi. The BJP rejected the Congress' criticism as a 'bundle of lies and mountain of deception' and said the questions are born out of 'pathological hatred' of the PM.
'The government expects demand for electronic products to reach $400 billion by 2023-24. This would be a huge foreign exchange outflow, which may further widen our trade deficit with other nations. Hence, the government plans to push local electronics manufacturing to cut down on their import bill.'
Soon after taking over as RBI Governor on September 4, Raghuram Rajan had announced opening of a swap window facility to encourage banks to lure NRI funds.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a directive that telecom operators will have to refund the duty sops availed under the commerce ministry's export promotion scheme for services -- Served From India Scheme.
'The prospects for both India and the global economy is that we are headed towards a very difficult time.' 'I see very uncertain at least 8-10 months for both India and the rest of the world.'
Here's what could be ahead for India: A $10-trillion economy by 2030-32, a Sensex at 1,00,000 by 2025, monthly GST revenues at Rs 2 trillion by 2024-25, 100 new unicorns by 2025, and poverty below 5 per cent by 2030, predicts R Jagannathan.
She also took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party over its defeat in the just-concluded Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, saying the ruling party's president could not hold on to his home state. "Who is the Pappu now?" she asked.
It plans to use it as collateral, along with forex reserves, to print currency.
In October, the contribution through SIPs rose to Rs 79.85 billion, up 42% compared to the same month last year.
Avoid thinking of investment as some 'become millionaire in a week' scheme, says Nikhil Sethi, founder and MD, Zuvomo, a crowdfunding firm. Always think of long term gains and plan your trades accordingly.
India said on Thursday domestic firms would be allowed to prepay existing foreign currency convertible bonds up to September 30, 2003.\n\n\n\n
The Prime Ministry's Economic Advisory Council Chairman also said fiscal deficit is a concern too and suggested raising domestic oil prices to restrict it to the budget target of 4.8 per cent of the gross domestic product in this fiscal.
The two central premier investigative agencies - Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate - have asked their officials to focus more on digital evidence, e-forums and social media to crack down on offenders. These are a crucial part of prosecution amid the second wave of the pandemic. The Income Tax Department is going full throttle on data analytics to issue notices in time-bound cases. Further, sleuths have been given electronic devices including laptops with secure connections, which keep data encrypted and inaccessible.
ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting over 2 per cent, followed by Infosys, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, Maruti, PowerGrid, ICICI Bank and TCS. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Auto were among the laggards. NSE Nifty rose 16.75 points or 0.14 per cent to close at 11,930.95.
"India has given a stern signal to its enemies by conducting surgical and air strikes. This tells us that India is changing and can take the most difficult decisions and isn't reluctant to implement them," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday in his Independence Day address to the nation.
India's stock exchanges have decided to jointly introduce the T+1 settlement cycle in phases from February 25, beginning with the bottom 100 stocks by market capitalisation. From March 2022, on the last Friday (or the immediate next trading day) of every month, the next 500 stocks from the bottom will be subject to T+1 settlement. The phase-wise implementation is expected to give all market participants, including foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), ample time to shift to the shorter cycle. The settlement cycle represents the time period within which the stock exchanges have to settle security transactions.
The currency market won't care for our moans, groans, cries and sighs. The rupee will find its own level, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Apart from easing the NPA pressure on domestic banks, the RBI's move can allow companies to raise cheap, long-term loans easily now.
Banks had raised about $34 billion through the FCNR (B) from deposits from NRIs in September 2013.
Brokerage firm Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) on Monday said the ongoing US government shutdown is positive for the country, as it gives additional time to recoup the forex reserves.
Yes Bank customers will be able to access full banking services from Wednesday evening, as the moratorium will be lifted earlier. The RBI had on March 5 put a moratorium on Yes Bank restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till April 3. However, the government in a notification on Saturday said the moratorium will be lifted by 18:00 hrs on March 18.
Encouraged by foreign exchange reserves touching record levels, the Reserve Bank on Tuesday doubled the annual overseas investment ceiling for individuals to $2,50,000.
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While the measures are aimed at moderating outflows, RBI added that genuine requirement beyond these limits will continue to be considered under the approval route.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will have to take far more pro-active steps to rebuild forex reserves, because if the status quo remains, rupee could touch 75 per US dollar by the end of 2014, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report.
The rupee resumed higher at 61.57 per dollar against the previous close of 61.59 and dropped immediately to 61.70 on initial dollar demand from banks and importers.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Wednesday reported a 29 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 512 crore (Rs 5.12 billion) for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, mainly on account of increase in finance cost and forex losses due to rupee depreciation.
The President said that because of the policies of the government foreign investment has increased from $36 billion to $60 billion during the period.
