The government's Rs 20.97 lakh crore COVID-19 package lacks in addressing the immediate concerns of the economy as the actual fiscal impact of the additional stimulus is only about 1 per cent of the GDP as opposed to the claim of 10 per cent, Fitch Solutions said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12 announced a stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore, or nearly 10 per cent of GDP, to deal with the economic fallout of COVID-19. The contents of the package were broad-based and announced in five tranches.
In less than two months since the announcement in March, the state has mobilised an armada of small and medium enterprises keen on making components for large equipment manufacturers.
'Should the government be in the business of running banks?' 'Particularly when it does not have the fiscal strength to continuously infuse capital into such banks?'
With the Rs 7,000-crore (Rs 70 billion) refinance window, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will not face any fund crunch, says Sidbi Chairman and Manging Director R M Malla.
The PM said that the Union Budget will accelerate the economic growth, financially empower every citizen and strengthen the foundation of the economy in the new decade.
Chairing an exclusive roundtable with 42 global CEOs and top executives from across 20 sectors, Modi stressed on continued political stability in India, predictability of policy, and pro-development and pro-growth policies.
Back of the envelope calculations put government expense on each of the new schemes promised by the DMK and the AIADMK at tens of thousands of crores. But then, neither party has said how they are going to also address the mounting debt burden either, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Allegations of Reliance benefitting by thousands of crores is a figment of imagination, promoted by vested interests'
RBI has invited case studies from participant banks by January 31.
'The current economic contraction is certainly due to the lockdowns as a response to the pandemic, which is an act of God.' 'Nobody has seen such a thing in the last 100 years.' 'Saying that this was an act of mismanagement is largely incorrect'
Prof B Ravishankar from Mylapore, Chennai shares his inspiring story.
'We have already sanctioned loans worth over Rs 3,000 crore to around 120,000 customers.'
The Budget emphasises on capacity building and empowerment of marginalised sections of society including farmers.
Here are the key highlights of the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
'In difficult times as now, the call of the village is all that these migrants can hear,' observes Vijaya Pushkarna.
The government is expected to dole out some populist policies, especially for the rural / farm sector while presenting the interim budget, given that the country is heading towards general elections over the next few months.
'Who are these people on the streets?' 'They are youth and students who were hoodwinked, bluffed by Modi for the last seven years, with a promise of 2 crore jobs every year.' 'And Mamata sings the same tune.' 'But the youth can see that as long as there is Mamata or Modi, there is no hope.'
'The outlook for private investment, which has been such a weak link for India for so long, remains challenging.'
'There is lack of demand because people have no jobs, and no income.' 'Lakhs of people have lost their jobs and they have no income which has led to no demand in the market.'
Its governing allies are not happy on the economy and complain of ignored concerns but find themselves unable to be assertive.
'... the government provides adequate cash and kind support for the poorest of the poor for survival... ...conditional cash and skilling support for the economically poor to raise their incomes to adequate levels... ...and make functional arrangements for providing unemployment allowance to the vulnerable poor during disasters like the present one.'
The GST rate on mobile phones will be hiked to 18 per cent while that on maintenance repair overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft will be lowered to 5 per cent with effect from April 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. The GST rate on handmade and machine-made matchsticks has been rationalised to 12 per cent from 5 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
'You cannot take success for granted.' 'That's the most important lesson that you learn being an entrepreneur.'
/We will stay away from corporate loans,' C S Ghosh, managing director and chief executive officer of Bandhan Bank, tells Namrata Acharya.
On resolution of stressed cases, she said ICICI Bank has been taking the lead in several cases and was the first bank to refer a case to NCLT
In another round of economic booster, Sitharaman announced steps to help homebuyers and push exports.
For stressed loans, the need is to prevent disruption in cash flows from a systemic perspective, conserving employment and assets in untainted enterprises with the potential for recovery, says Shyam Ponappa.
Apart from making your purchases on these platforms expensive, it will also mean sellers will have to face the brunt of reduced cash flows amid already low margins for some. Experts said the proposal, which will take effect on April 1, 2020, and will be inserted as a new section in the Income Tax Act, is expected to affect the working capital of e-commerce companies and reduce cash flows for e-sellers.
According to sources, there is a proposal to allow 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment in single brand retail sector "through automatic route" with certain conditions.
'By the time the goods that were sent from December onwards reached stores in Europe, they became dead inventory as the stores there were closed by then.' 'Those that were in the warehouse there also became dead inventory. Those that reached the ports there also became dead inventory.' 'And what Tirupur produced in March is still here, and they have also become dead inventory.'
Linking all new floating rate loans to an external benchmark won't impact existing borrowers, so customers who have taken long-term home loans recently should watch things carefully, say Joydeep Ghosh and Sanjay Kumar Singh.
India's huge digital prowess and potential will play a huge role in enabling digital lending, says Romita Majumdar.
The idea is to incorporate global best practices in the Indian context.
The National SC/ST Hub, under the micro, small and medium enterprises ministry, with an initial outlay of Rs 490 crore, will work towards strengthening market access/linkage, monitoring, capacity building, leveraging financial support schemes and sharing industry-best practices.
It also pledged to give interest free crop loan of up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers.
Indian economy was growing faster than the global average and all other major economies: FM
At least 40% of a product must be manufactured in India for it to qualify for the Indian Designed, Developed and Manufactured category.
The prime minister sought to allay slowdown concerns saying the fundamentals of the economy are strong, with low inflation and a potential to boost exports.
'It is a balanced and prudent Budget that sets the foundation for future growth in the economy.'
Corporate honchos from real estate sector to manufacturing to textile say the Budget does not have enough to help their sectors
