Page 3 - Finance Ministry

Taking several steps to create global brand for Indian tea: Comm Min

India has taken several steps to boost tea output, create a niche brand for the Indian tea and ensure the welfare of families associated with this industry, the commerce ministry said on Thursday. India is the second largest tea producer and the largest black tea producer and is self-sufficient in meeting domestic requirements and export obligations. It said the Indian tea is exported to various destinations and is the fourth largest tea exporter besides catering to a large number of domestic consumers. The industry is employing 1.16 million workers directly and an equal number are associated with it indirectly. "Government through the Tea Board had helped in the formation of 352 Self Help Groups , 440 Farmer Producer Organisations and 17 Farmer Producer Companies. Assistance has been provided towards procurement of pruning machines and mechanical harvesters," it said. Other measures include setting up of mini tea factories to encourage entrepreneurs; development of mobile app 'Ch

First time in many years, fixed deposit rates turn positive at 8%

As banks' chase for customers to collect cheap deposits is not fructifying, they are forced to offer inflation-beating real interest rates on fixed deposits now, and state-run banks led by Punjab & Sind Bank top the chart offering a cool 8-8.50 per cent per annum. Banks are forced to offer inflation-beating deposit rates for a tenor ranging from 200 to 800 days as credit growth has been far outpacing deposit mobilization throughout this fiscal, leading to a funding crunch. Even at the lowest 7 per cent, fixed deposit pricing is positive for customers because even after a surprise spurt in retail inflation for January at 6.52 per cent, the real rates are in the green. Inflation has been over 6 per cent for 10 months of 2022 forcing the Reserve Bank to increase rates by 250 bps to 6.50 per cent through six consecutive hikes beginning May 2022. For the fortnight to January 13, 2023, credit growth rose 16.5 per cent annualised as against 10.6 per cent growth in deposits. In fact, for .

FM highlights rising debt vulnerabilities in developing countries at G20

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday highlighted rising debt vulnerabilities in many developing countries and sought views from G20 member nations on 'multilateral coordination' for managing the burden. Speaking at inaugural session of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors (FMCBG) meeting, Sitharaman also sought views on how multilateral development banks, like the IMF and World Bank, can be strengthened to address shared global challenges of the 21st century, while maintaining a focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and poverty eradication. The discussions of the first session of G20 FMCBG meeting focused on issues relating to international financial architecture, sustainable finance and infrastructure. "FM highlighted the rising #DebtVulnerbilities in many vulnerable countries and sought views of the #G20 members on #MultilateralCoordination stating that managing global debt vulnerabilities would be crucial for the world economy," the finance ...

El Nino risk for inflation, farm output in India: Finance ministry

IMD predicts above-normal temperatures this year

G20 meetings: FM Sitharaman meets Japanese counterpart Shunichi Suzuki

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday met her Japanese counterpart Shunichi Suzuki, ahead of the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting

Measures announced in Budget to promote jobs, spur economic growth: FinMin

The measures like increased capex, boosting the green economy and initiatives for strengthening financial markets announced in the Budget 2023-24 are expected to promote job creation and spur economic growth, the finance ministry said on Thursday. In its Monthly Economic Review, the ministry said during the December 2022 quarter, various High-Frequency Indicators (HFIs) pointed towards a slowdown in general, as monetary tightening appeared to have started weakening global demand. "This may continue in 2023 as various agencies have forecasted a decline in global growth. Apart from the lagged impact of monetary tightening, the uncertainties emanating from the lingering pandemic and relentless conflict in Europe may further dampen global growth," it noted. Even as global output is expected to slow, the IMF and World Bank project India to be the fastest-growing major economy in 2023. "As in 2022-23, India faces the coming financial year with confidence imparted by underlying and overal

RoC to check GoMechanic's books amid allegations of irregularities: Report

According to the Companies Act, Section 264 (4), the RoC has the authority to conduct an inquiry into the affairs of a company in line with directions from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA)

Finance ministry looking into life insurers' tax relaxation plea

Officials say Budget's proposal to tax high-value policies of Rs 5 lakh and above is unlikely to have significant impact on the industry

India Inc sees winter chill as no big ticket deals in January: Report

Dealmaking activity witnessed a huge decline in January, with only 145 transactions worth USD 2.7 billion being undertaken by India Inc, a report said on Monday. By value, the overall flows suffered due to the absence of any big-ticket deal and were 56 per cent down as compared to USD 6.12 billion in the year-ago period, and 62 per cent down compared to the previous month, the report by consultancy firm Grant Thornton said. The volumes were down 41 per cent when compared with 244 deals in January 2022, while the same were down by 3 per cent as compared to the preceding month of December. "India managed to account for record deal values last year (2022), which made investors hopeful about the future. However, the deal momentum in January 2023 did not match the expectation and witnessed a declining trend," its partner Shanthi Vijetha said. The mergers and acquisition (M&A) deal volumes declined by 62 per cent at 26 deals worth USD 311 million, an 88 per cent decrease compared to ...

India's GDP growth in FY23 expected to be 7%, FY24 at 6%: Acuite Ratings

Credit rating agency Acuite Ratings and Research on Monday reiterated India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate for FY23 at 7 per cent

Govt taking steps to control inflation, will continue to focus on it: FM

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that the government is taking a lot of steps to control inflation and will continue to focus on it. For instance, in the case of pulses, the government is encouraging farmers to grow pulses to boost domestic production and has also reduced the import duty on some of the pulses to improve local availability. When asked whether Budget 2023-24 would bring down inflation, Sitharaman said: "The government is taking a lot of steps to control inflation and will continue to focus on it." She was in the city for a post-budget 2023 discussion with various stakeholders. "We have taken a lot of steps, for example, encouraging farmers to sow pulses so that the production of pulses in India increases in the coming sowing season," Sitharaman told reporters here. She further said that as a short-term step, "wherever we are importing, whether Masoor, Moong or whatever pulses, the government has reduced the import duty to single digit or has

Simplified filings: RoC approval not required for most corporate actions

The govt has introduced a new system called "file and forget," which is part of its ongoing revamp of the statutory filing website, MCA21

FinMin to meet heads of banks on Feb 22; to review progress ECLGS for MSMEs

Extension of ECLGS and LGSCAS beyond March 31 as well as challenges related to these would be deliberated

Bankers highly optimistic about credit demand across sectors: RBI survey

Bankers are "highly optimistic" about credit demand across all the main sectors in the short term, a RBI survey of lenders said on Friday. After sagging for the last two years, the non-food credit growth has been hovering above 15 per cent in FY23. "We observe that bankers are highly optimistic of credit demand across all the main sectors in the coming quarters, viz., Q4:2022-23 to Q2:2023-24," a paper based on the survey released in the February bulletin of the RBI said. The Bank Lending Survey provides sentiments of banks on loan demand, loan terms, and their outlook in the near term across major sectors. It captures senior loan officers' expectations on future credit demand along with adjustments in its terms and conditions and also seeks feedback on prevailing credit market conditions. The current survey covers a panel of top 30 scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), which account for more than 90 per cent of the total outstanding, it said. The paper said bankers' sentiments on ..

Fund allocation for MGNREGA has not been reduced, says Sitharaman

The fund allocation for MGNREGA has not gone down, FM Nirmala Sitharaman here on Friday, adding it is a demand driven scheme and as and when the demand increases, the Centre provides money

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to visit India for G20 finance meetings

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to India next week to attend Group of 20 finance minister meetings in Bengaluru and will address the global economic impacts of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as her visit coincides with the one-year anniversary of the invasion. Yellen's schedule of events will begin on February 23, where she plans to give a speech about the state of the economy as the US and its allies assist Ukraine in defending itself against the invasion, according to the Treasury Department. She will also talk about bolstering public digital infrastructure and reforming the multilateral development banks, including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, to make their investment requirements more climate-focused. This will be the first finance ministers' meeting since India officially became chair of the Group of 20 leading economies in December. The Indian government has put climate issues at the top of the group's priorities. A senior Treasury official who s

Budget prepared keeping mind external challenges also: FM Sitharaman

The Union Budget 2023-'24 has been prepared keeping growth in focus and also external economic challenges such as fuel prices, Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman said on Thursday. In an interactive session on the Budget, she said the focus was on the common man and weaker sections and to ensure that their businesses are supported, their education is supported, the opportunities which are available for them to skill themselves are also given enough provision. "The priority is to keep the growth momentum as it is and also to make sure that the further support measures for sustaining growthAnd be conscious of the fact that challenges which are extraneous to India. External challenges will have to be kept in mind. We should be ready for any unpredictable events from outside of our border," she said when asked what the priorities were when the budget was given a final shape. "Economic challenges which are even today prevalent in terms of fuel and fertilisers. Fertilisers are coming dow

LIVE: Appetite of states for capex has gone up, says FM Sitharaman

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Petroleum products can be brought under GST if consensus reached: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that if states arrive at a consensus, then petroleum products can be brought under the GST regime

5 PSU insurers have Rs 347-crore exposure to Adani firms: FinMin

Earlier this month, Finance Secretary TV Somanathan had termed the Adani issue a 'storm in a teacup'