Skip to main content

Modi launches gold schemes, coin with Ashoka Chakra, Gandhi image

By
Millions of people in India, who have been traditionally buying gold, will have more than one option to invest in the precious yellow metal this Diwali.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched three gold schemes — gold monetisation scheme (GMS), sovereign gold bonds and the gold coin bearing the national emblem Ashoka Chakra on one side and Mahatma Gandhi’s image on the other — to channelise the country’s idle gold into productive use by bringing it into the formal banking system.
Describing the schemes as “sone pe suhaga” (icing on the cake), Modi said gold has often been a source of women’s empowerment in the Indian society, and these schemes will underscore that sense of empowerment. “Women usually don’t own anything. House, car is usually named after their husband or son, but gold is their strength.”
He added that gold coins would be a “matter of pride for the nation,” and people would no longer have to depend on foreign-minted gold bullion or coins.
Underlining that India, which has around 22,000 tonnes of idle gold lying with households, has no reason to be described as a poor country, Modi said, “People should take advantage of the golden opportunity to help India march to a golden period.”
While the GMS will allow resident Indians to deposit their household gold and earn an interest of up to 2.5%, sovereign gold bonds are intended to convert the investment demand for physical gold into paper demand, fetching an annual interest rate of 2.75%. The earnings from the monetisation scheme would be exempt from capital gains tax, wealth tax and income tax.
The move would also help in reducing imports of the metal. Every year, India imports an average 1,000 tonnes of the yellow metal, which impacts the India’s foreign exchange reserves and puts pressure on the current account deficit — the difference between the inflows and outflows of a foreign currency.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced the decision to launch the GMS in Budget 2014.
According to estimates, Indians buy about 300 tonnes of gold bars every year, purely as an investment asset.
The gold bonds will be sold through banks and designated post offices. The interest on these bonds will be taxed according to the provision of the Income Tax Act and capital gains tax will also be applicable.
Modi also spoke of the great bond of trust that the family goldsmith enjoys in India. He said that once they gain familiarity with these plans, they could become the biggest agents of the schemes.
“These policies are a step in the right direction,” said A Didar Singh, secretary-general, Ficci.
Hindustan Times, new Delhi, 6th Nov. 2015

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RBI deputy governor cautions fintech platform lenders on privacy concerns during loan recovery

By
  India's digital lending infrastructure has made the loan sanctioning system online. Yet, loan recovery still needs a “feet on the street” approach, Swaminathan J, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said at a media event on Tuesday, September 2, according to news agency ANI.According to the ANI report, the deputy governor flagged that fintech operators in the digital lending segment are giving out loans to customers with poor credit profiles and later using aggressive recovery tactics.“While loan sanctioning and disbursement have become increasingly digital, effective collection and recovery still require a 'feet on the street' and empathetic approach. Many fintech platforms operate on a business model that involves extending small-value loans to customers often with poor credit profiles,” Swaminathan J said.   Fintech platforms' business models The central bank deputy governor highlighted that many fintech platforms' business models involve providing sm
Post a Comment
Read more

Credit card spending growth declines on RBI gaze, stress build-up

By
  Credit card spends have further slowed down to 16.6 per cent in the current financial year (FY25), following the Reserve Bank of India’s tightening of unsecured lending norms and rising delinquencies, and increased stress in the portfolio.Typically, during the festival season (September–December), credit card spends peak as several credit card-issuing banks offer discounts and cashbacks on e-commerce and other platforms. This is a reversal of trend in the past three financial years stretching to FY21 due to RBI’s restrictions.In the previous financial year (FY24), credit card spends rose by 27.8 per cent, but were low compared to FY23 which surged by 47.5 per cent. In FY22, the spending increased 54.1 per cent, according to data compiled by Macquarie Research.ICICI Bank recorded 4.4 per cent gross credit losses in its FY24 credit card portfolio as against 3.2 per cent year-on-year. SBI Cards’ credit losses in the segment stood at 7.4 per cent in FY24 and 6.2 per cent in FY23, the rep
Post a Comment
Read more

India can't rely on wealthy to drive growth: Ex-RBI Dy Guv Viral Acharya

By
  India can’t rely on wealthy individuals to drive growth and expect the overall economy to improve, Viral Acharya, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday.Acharya, who is the C V Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern), said after the Covid-19 pandemic, rural consumption and investments have weakened.We can’t be pumping our growth through the rich and expect that the economy as a whole will do better,” he said while speaking at an event organised by Elara Capital here.f there has to be a trickle-down, it should have actually happened by now,” Acharya said, adding that when the rich keep getting wealthier and wealthier, they have a savings problem.   “The bank account keeps getting bigger, hence they look for financial assets to invest in. India is closed, so our money can't go outside India that easily. So, it has to chase the limited financial assets in the country and
Post a Comment
Read more