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RBI scotches speculation on easing default norms  Mint Street has virtually scotched speculation regarding the easing of norms on default classification, saying that the new rules seek to change the credit culture in a country where even big companies that can repay on time tend to game the system to earn additional income.  Complaints that the timeline given to regularise a defaulter’s account is insufficient are misplaced and the effort is to ensure that arbitrage between different markets are eliminated, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor NS Vishwanathan said Wednesday.  “It is a behaviour change in repayment of credit that has to come about," Vishwanathan told graduating students at the National Institute of Bank Management. “The data show that a large number of borrowers, even some highly rated ones, have failed on the 1-day default norm. This has got to change." On February 12, the central bank came up with a tight set of norms for the recognition o...

Private Banks Feeling the Heat Tighten Loan Sanction Process BANKERS TURNING more cautious in granting new loans after the latest controversies The ICICI Bank controversy and Axis Bank’s chief cutting short her tenure have now made private sector lenders extra watchful about making loans, picking up a trend that’s been prevalent at state-owned banks in the wake of corruption investigations. Decisions that were considered routine a few months ago are getting delayed, said bankers and others with knowledge of the matter. “Bankers are unwilling to sign a single paper especially after these issues about ICICI Bank and the Axis Bank CEO have come to light,” said Purvesh Shelatkar, senior vice president, institutional sales at Centrum Broking. “In one case that I personally know of, an IT solutions provider had been sanctioned a loan but the money has not been released because there are questions over its credit rating. These things will happen more often now.” It’s too early to sa...

Relaxed Currency Derivatives Norms to Bring More Arbitrage Opportunities Move likely to deepen domestic currency market and make it more popular among overseas investors Easier currency derivative rules have helped traders exploit the opportunities of arbitrage between rates in the overseas options markets and those back home. In effect, the arbitrage is helping deepening the domestic currency market, which is increasingly becoming a preferred destination for overseas investors. The option premium, or the cost of insurance against volatility, is about 50 basis points less than the offshore market across various currency pairs – the rupee-dollar, rupee-pound, rupee-yen, and the rupee-euro. “Arbitragers have found a new destination – the options market,” said Anindya Banerjee, currency analyst at Kotak Securities. “With more space available, they are now betting between the offshore and domestic exchange traded options markets. This will help deepen the currency derivative mark...

 IMF maintains India's FY19 growth at 7.4%; cautions govt on fiscal deficit Projected to overtake China to be fastest-growing large economy again The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has maintained its forecast for India’s economic growth at 7.4% in 2018-19, which will again make the country the fastest-growing large economy after losing this tag to China by a close margin in 2017-18. For 2019-20, the IMF has projected India to grow at 7.8%. By comparison, the Chinese economy is expected to slow down to 6.4% in 2019, down from 6.6% in 2018. India is likely to have grown 6.7% in 2017-18, the IMF said. In fact, the IMF projection for 2017-18 is a tad higher than 6.6%, pegged by the second Advance Estimates by the Central Statistics Office. China grew 6.9% in 2017. Economic activity in India is likely to get a fillip from “strong private consumption as well as fading transitory effects of the currency exchange initiative and implementation of the national goods and services...

Provisional credit issue a hurdle to simplifying GST; Council to take call Council to take a call now; six more states to roll out intra-state e-way bill A goods and services tax (GST) ministerial panel on Tuesday failed to arrive at a consensus on simplified GST returns due to divergent views on provisional input tax credit and the matter will now be discussed by the Council in its next meeting. However, there was a broader view that a “fusion” be created by taking “good” points from two models given to the panel. The group of ministers (GoM), led by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, had a day-long meeting with trade bodies, tax experts and tax officials on Tuesday. Differences surfaced over provisional credit to be given to tax payers. Stakeholders will now give their comments in a week to the GoM which will then be sent to the GST Council. “We discussed simplification of GST returns with various stakeholders today (Tuesday) and also had a meeting with indirect tax e...

  ATMs running dry in many states: Govt, RBI step in to get cash flowing PMO takes stock of situation; printing of Rs 500 notes to be increased five-fold; central bank to move currency to affected areas The government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have swung into action to address currency shortages in half a dozen states, caused by an increased demand due to ongoing crop procurement and the marriage season, besides non-functioning automated teller machines (ATMs). The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Tuesday held a meeting with Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg and Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar to take stock of the situation. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley described the cash crunch as “temporary” due to “unusual” demand in various parts of the country and said there was adequate supply of cash in the economy. Opposition leaders attacked the government, saying the “terror of note ban” had gripped the country and dubbed the situation as a “finan...

ITR-1 form for AY18-19 now available for e-filing: Income Tax dept All the seven ITR forms are to be filed electronically except for some category of taxpayers The latest ITR-1 form, largely used by the salaried class of taxpayers, has been activated on the official e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department, a senior official said on Tuesday. The single Income Tax Return (ITR) form, notified by the CBDT on April 5, has been put on its website, https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in, on Monday. "Other ITRs wil be available shortly," he said. The new ITR forms for the assessment year 2018-19 mandate the salaried class assessees to provide their salary breakup, and businessmen their GST number and turnover. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), that frames policy for the tax department, had said some fields have been "rationalised" in the latest forms and that there is no change in the manner of filing the ITRs as compared to the last year. All the s...

Data storage norm splits digital payments industry  India’s nascent digital payment industry could be thrown into disarray due to the demand by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that all user data be stored within the country, fears an industry grouping, which has termed the decision as “heavy-handed”, even as others, including the country’s largest digital payment provider Paytm, have hailed the move.  In a bid to narrow the growing schism, the industry is planning to send a formal representation to the regulator highlighting its concerns, a top official told ET.  “We are trying to build a consensus on the issue," said the person adding that the representation to the central bank will be ready this week.  RBI on April 6, mandated all payment companies—global and local—to set up data storage facilities within India by October. The stringent six-month deadline has attracted the ire of several sections of the industry that fear it will lead to a disruption of wel...

WPI Inflation Eases to 2.47% in March IN THE BALANCE Food prices decline 0.29% and are likely to remain moderate in the coming months Wholesale inflation remained almost unchanged in March from the month before as a decline in food inflation offset a rise in fuel and power cost.Inflation as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) slowed to an eight-month low of 2.47% in March, compared with 2.48% in February and 5.11% a year earlier.Data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Monday showed deflation in food articles after nine months — prices shrank 0.29% in March, against 0.88% inflation in the preceding month. CARE Ratings expects food prices to remain moderate in the coming months. “Inflationary threats, however, could emerge from: increase in international oil prices, unseasonal weather patterns and minimum support prices for select crops,” it said in a noteWholesale inflation for January was revised upwards to 3.02% from the provisional estimate of 2.84%.Ret...

GoM to meet businesses, experts on GST return simplification tomorrow The ministerial panel, under Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, on GST return simplification will meet tax experts and representatives from industry tomorrow. As it looks to finalise a single-page return form for businesses under GST, the Group of Ministers (GoM) will seek views of the experts and representatives from businesses as to how they expect the return form to be. As per the structure being worked out by the Centre and state officials as well as Nandan Nilekani, businesses having zero tax liability for six consecutive months may get to file returns only twice a year. The return filing date will be spread out and businesses having annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore will have to file return by 10th of next month, while others can file return by 20th The Business Standard New Delhi, 17th April 2018  

India's apparel exports decline by nearly 4% in year of GST Backed by its duty-free access to the EU market, Bangladesh retains its status as the second-largest apparel exporter after China In the first year of implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), India’s apparel or readymade garment (RMG) exports have declined by nearly four per cent in dollar terms in FY18. In rupee terms, the decline is higher at 7.6 per cent. RMG exports fell from Rs 17.4 billion in FY17 to Rs 16.71 billion in FY18, a 3.8 per cent decline. Fall in RMG exports happened due to continual month-on-month (MoM) decline in dollar terms, beginning from a 39.30 per cent fall in October 2017 and ending at 17.8 per cent in March 2018. In the latter month alone, India’s RMG export was Rs1.49 billion, against Rs 1.81 billion for the corresponding month last year. H K L Magu, chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council, said, “The export figures show apparel export is not only stagnating but heading t...