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  A conspicuous silence from the Reserve Bank of India regarding support for the nation’s bonds has left traders wondering whether the recent gains in yields is a new normal. The central bank may be trying to increase the attraction of sovereign debt by letting yields rise, according to PNB Gilts Ltd. The benchmark 10-year bond yield advanced to 5.97% on Wednesday, the highest since May. If that’s true, the RBI would be treading a delicate balance as a prolonged absence from the market could raise questions over support for the government’s record Rs 12-trillion ($160 billion) debt sales this fiscal year. Indian bonds are offering negative real rates, after a surge in inflation brought on by a supply crunch due to rolling lockdowns. “The RBI could protect the 6% level. The level is a psychological mark that the RBI may want to see that yields don’t rise over and above,” said Vijay Sharma, executive vice president for fixed-income at PNB Gilts. The losses may deepen if the central bank

A lot of uncertainty over India’s sovereign rating has been cleared by S&P which has retained the BBB– grade with stable outlook. After Moody’s had lowered India’s rating to a similar level earlier with negative outlook there was debate on how the other agencies would react. The view taken by S&P appears to be more balanced as it has factored in the challenges and opportunities that the country faces but takes a different view that the economy will regain poise in FY22 and grow by 8.5 per cent after falling by 5 per cent this year. It is certainly more sanguine about the prospects given the strong fundamentals which can help to withstand the Covid-19 impact. Lets us see the positives that have been highlighted by the rating agency. Three things stand out. First growth prospects appear to be above average post Covid-19 which is realistic. Second, the external situation is very good. Contrary to expectations in FY20 and the shutdown, the forex reserves have been moving upward

The government on Sunday provided little immediate relief except increasing allocation to its flagship rural job scheme by 66 per cent, but used the pandemic to usher in bold public sector reforms in its last leg of its announcements on the Rs 20-trillion package. State-owned units will remain only in strategic areas, which, however, are yet to be defined, while those in other areas will be privatised, according to public sector enterprise policy, which the government will detail later. Union Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman also gave leeway to states in terms of market borrowing, but much of it is conditional on reforms, such as the one-nation-one-ration card. This, if fully tapped, will release Rs 4.28 trillion for states, but will widen the fiscal deficit to 5 per cent of state gross domestic product for each. This, together with the Centre’s additional borrowing of Rs 4.20 trillion, will take the combined fiscal deficit of the country to well over 10 per cent of gross d

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday proposed to relax the requirement of the mandatory six-month gap between two successive Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) issues. The regulator said it has received requests from companies seeking a waiver on this requirement of a six-month cooling off period between two successive QIP issues. “The reasons for such exemption, as informed by the issuer companies, are urgent needs of funds and the fact that other fund raising mechanisms, such as a public issue or rights issue, are time-taking in comparison to a QIP issue,” Sebi said in a discussion paper that seeks public comments by April 15. The proposal was discussed by Sebi’s expert committee on primary markets. To address concerns of companies and to support fundraising, relaxation may be provided for successive QIPs within six months of previous QIP issues, in cases where terms of placement for the subsequent issues are disclosed upfront in the special resolutions.

Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal witnessed a significant increase in GST collections Of the top 10 states in terms of goods and services tax (GST) collections from domestic activities, six saw a fall in year-on-year growth in February. While three states — Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal — witnessed a significant increase in GST collections, Rajasthan saw a tad one percentage point rise. Business Standard, 03rd March 2020

Business Standard Opinion pieces for the day talk about government finances in the context of GST, along with other policy issues. According to an estimate by a foreign brokerage, India’s gross domestic product growth could be impacted by 0.20 per cent in the March quarter because of coronavirus. The Indian economy is battling a severe slowdown and the spread of coronavirus could affect the chances of recovery.  Slower than expected growth will also affect government finances.  Business Standard Opinion pieces for the day talk about government finances in the context of GST, along with other policy issues. It is important to realise that the idea of compensating states for 14 per cent growth in GST collection was unrealistic from the beginning, argues our lead editorial.  An implosion of the telecom sector with economy-wide ramifications is the last thing India needs right now, writes former TRAI chairman Rahul Khullar.  The combined effect of a relatively stable or tending-to-ri

Bank credit growth declined to 8.5 per cent in January from 13.5 per cent in the year-ago period In a meeting between the chiefs of public sector banks (PSB) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, the RBI pointed out the muted credit growth in the economy and asked them to take steps to increase credit growth.  “The moot point was why the credit growth is still muted and there was exchange of views between the bankers and the governor. Since, the private sector banks are seeing credit growth the public sector will also have to make sure that credit growth picks up”, said a senior banker with a public sector bank. Another public sector bank executive who was part of the meeting said, state owned banks informed the RBI that after the asset quality review, their staff has been spending considerable time on recoveries and resolutions and there was less emphasis on sales and business development across regions. But now the situation is changing and banks have put more teams on