1. Sensex Crosses 31,000, Nifty Nears 9,600 on Strong Fund Inflows
India’s benchmark equity indices surged to new record closes on Friday, reflecting investor optimism over progress in economic reforms as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government enters its fourth year.
Backed by strong fund inflows, the 30-share BSE Sensex crossed the psychologically important 31,000-point mark for the first time. The National Stock Exchange’s broader 50-share Nifty also rose to a lifetime high.
The Sensex rose 278.18 points, or 0.9%, to end the day at 31,028.21 points and the Nifty climbed 85.35 points, or 0.9%, to 9,595.10.
(Source: Live Mint)
2. RBI Begins Talks With Stakeholders on Debt Recast Plan
After outlining loan recast plan, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun dialogue with stakeholders, including bankers and insolvency professionals, to work on their role details and timelines.
There is a definite sense of urgency, though no timelines have been specified as of yet. This was the first meeting after RBI's statement on Monday on future steps for prompt resolution of troubled assets, banking sources said.
RBI is expected to grow a framework for an "objective and consistent" decision-making process for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
(Source: Business Standard)
3. State Bank of India Suspends Car Loans for Uber and Ola
The State Bank of India has suspended car loans for Uber and Ola taxis across most of the country amid a rise in defaults by their drivers . The bank has seized close to 300 cars for payment defaults, which reflect lower earnings by drivers amid a surge in cab numbers and a decline in incentives paid out by the aggregators.
SBI, which has total exposure of 120 crore toward cabs, had seen considerable stress in these accounts, people aware of the matter said.
“We have stopped financing vehicles under Ola and Uber (select geographies) as have we decided to take a cautious approach,” said a top SBI executive. “Suspension is temporary because we want to watch the situation for some time. There have been certain changes in regulations in many geographies and it’s prudent to see how it evolves before financing these vehicles again.”
There was no response from Ola and Uber.
(Source: The Economic Times)
4. Adani Group Must Pay Full Royalties on Carmichael Mine, Queensland Says
India’s Adani Group will be required to pay full royalties on its $16.5 billion Carmichael coal project in Australia’s Queensland, according to the state’s premier.
The Carmichael mine “will pay every cent of royalties in full” under a new policy unanimously agreed to by the state’s cabinet for the development of the Galilee and Surat Basins and the North West Minerals Province, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a statement Friday.
“There will be no royalty holiday for the Adani Carmichael mine,” Palaszczuk said.
(Source: Live Mint)
5. Govt Wants to Reduce PF Contribution to Increase Take-Home Salary
The labour ministry has proposed to reduce the employer’s contribution to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) from 12 percent to 10 percent. The proposal, which will be opposed by trade unions, will come up for approval in the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) on Saturday.
Around 50 million employees in the country receive provident fund contributions. The move, according to the labour ministry, will increase the take-home salary of employees. But trade unions opposing the move termed it an attack on social security.
According to the agenda paper of the meeting, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO’s) CBT will consider a proposal to lower “the rate of contribution to be paid by employer and equal contribution by employees from the present 12 percent to 10 percent by issue of appropriate order by the Central Government”.
(Source: Business Standard)
6. Telecom Operators Must Rework Costs to Pass On Benefits to Users, Says Finance Ministry
Telecom companies will have to rework their costs to ensure the benefit of input tax credit available to them is passed on to customers, the finance ministry said on Friday.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has finalised 18 percent rate for telecom service providers as against the current incidence of 15 percent. Under the new indirect tax regime, service providers will get to claim input tax credit on services they provide.
“…The telecom companies are required to re-work their costing and credits availability and re-jig their prices and ensure that the increased availability of credit is passed on to customers by lowering their costs,” the ministry said in a release.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
7. Government to Allay India Inc's GST Fears via Interactive Sessions
The government will soon call companies from specific industry groups to explain how the goods and services tax (GST) will lead to a decrease in the taxes they’ll need to pay and hear them out. This comes after several companies complained about an increase in taxation and a consequent rise in prices when GST is rolled out as expected on 1 July.
A major outreach programme has also been drawn up to educate consumers about lower tax under GST.
“A lot of effort has been made to keep tax rates neutral or lower them under GST,” a senior finance ministry official told ET. “We believe prices should come down... We would be calling companies in groups to understand if they have any issues.”
The government made detailed calculations internally before arriving at the rates that were approved by the GST Council.
(Source: The Economic Times)
8. Pakistan Hikes Defence Budget by 7 Percent Amid Tensed Ties With India
Pakistan today proposed to hike its defence budget by nearly seven percent to Rs 920 billion amid growing tension with India along the Line of Control. “We have increased the defence budget to Rs 920 billion (from Rs 860 billion),” Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said as he presented the federal budget for 2017-18 fiscal in the National Assembly.
Dar also announced a 10 percent increase of “special allowance” to the armed forces for their contribution in defeating militants throughout operation ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ launched three years ago. Pakistan’s proposed increase in the defence outlay and for its armed forces came as tension with India soared over a host of contentious issues.
Tensions have run high between India and Pakistan over a host of issues, including the status of Kashmir.
India has accused Pakistan of supporting militants, who infiltrate from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir into the Valley and target Indian security forces. One such attack in September last year killed 18 Indian soldiers and India retaliated with “surgical strikes” on terrorist launchpads in PoK.
(Source: PTI)
9. US Growth Not So Bad After Revisions to Spending, Investment
The US economy’s first quarter wasn’t so miserable after all, as consumption contributed more to growth and business investment was even stronger than thought, Commerce Department data showed Friday.
While the revisions were more positive than economists generally expected, the report reinforces that 2017 got off to a relatively weak start, a trend that’s plagued the US economy for several first quarters. Still, business investment was even brighter than previously estimated, thanks to fresh data on construction spending and companies’ research and development expenses. Economists and Federal Reserve policy makers are betting on a second-quarter rebound with the consumer leading the way, as Americans remain confident amid steady job growth and the promise of fatter paychecks.
Part of the revision to consumption spending was due to electricity-usage data for February, indicating that heating bills during the unusually warm weather weren’t as low as thought. That drag from low spending on energy is one of the reasons that economists view the first-quarter slowdown as transitory.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
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