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Govtwants RBI rate cut before March  Impatient for faster economic growth, government is lobbying forareduction in official interest rates in coming months, as it expects inflation to stay close toa 4 per cent target, finance ministry officials said. At its last meeting in October, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left the repo rate at 6.0 per cent, near as even year low, and a Reuters poll found that economists expected the rate to stay there through to the second quarter of next year. The finance ministry, according to officials, wantsarate cut sooner than that, puttingafocus on the MPC meeting on December 56, or when it next convenes in February. “We expect the RBI to cut policy rates, if not in December then in its next policy review,” one ministry official said on condition of anonymity.After that, he said, higher oil prices could fuel inflation, making it more difficult to cut rates The Business Standard, New Delhi, 29th November 2017

Arun Jaitley defends IBC ordinance says no loan waiver for big defaulters Arun Jaitley says under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, cases have been instituted in NCLT for time-bound recovery from 12 largest defaulters in 6-9 monthsFinance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday defended recent steps taken by the government to tackle bad loans in the Indian banking system and blamed aggressive lending during the years the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power for the pile-up of toxic assets. In a blog, the finance minister also defended amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) through an ordinance aimed at keeping wilful defaulters away from regaining control of their assets The government has been criticized by opposition parties for introducing amendments to IBC through an ordinance. The ordinance, which came into effect last week after receiving the President’s signature, bars errant promoters of defaulting companies as well as guarantors to the debtor,

Sebi framing algo trading rules for retail investors The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to introduce rules on the participation of retail investors in algorithmic trading, a system widely regarded as giving its sophisticated institutional practitioners an edge.The capital markets regulator is in the process of determining the extent to which individual investors should be allowed to use this automated trading system. Algo trading uses advanced mathematical models and computer programmes to create nimble trading strategies. Decisions are made and executed in fractions of a second at magnitudes a human being couldn’t handle. This advantage over manual methods is a concern for regulators around the world.The thinking in Sebi is that domestic individual investors should also be given an opportunity to take advantage of algo trades. It has asked exchanges to gather feedback from brokers to firm up rules on the subject, said two people with knowledge of the matte

Independent directors in a fix after SC order on asset transfer in Jaiprakash Associates case A recent Supreme Court judgement restraining independent directors of Jaiprakash Associates from transferring any personal assets over a group company’s insolvency issue has sent shock waves through the independent directors’ fraternity, with experts warning that there would be few takers for this role. Several independent directors on boards of companies are now seeking legal advice to find out to what extent they can be held liable for any operational issues in those firms.Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson of Biocon, said the country is moving from poor governance to extreme governance. “It is unfair to place the entire onus on independent directors who are only privy to the information shared with them by the management,” she said. “Instead of penalising independent directors, the management and promoters should be penalised.” A corporate veteran who is on the board of several blue c

GST collections in October decline to Rs 83346 crore India’s goods and services tax collections fell to Rs 83,346 crore in October, from more than Rs 90,000 crore in each of the first three months after the new tax regime was rolled out on July 1.  A finance ministry statement attributed the lower collections to the release of state and central GST out of integrated GST (IGST) paid in the first three months, reduction in taxes and payment of GST based on self-declared tax return.  So far, 95.9 lakh taxpayers have registered under GST, of which 15.1lakh are composition dealers who are required to file returns every quarter. As many as 50.1lakh returns were filed for October till November 26, the statement said.  “While the overall collection for the October month is lower, this may not be a cause of immediate concern as it might be due to refunds given to exporters and opening credit claimed by businesses, along with some reduction in the rate in October,” said Pratik Jain, le

GST revenue States do better than centre States goverments revenue targets under the goods and service tax (GST) regime were fully met in August - November, with the central goverment making good the shortfall. The centre own revenue fell short of the target as firms used tax credits from the previous regims to meet their tax liability. The Mint, New Delhi, 28th November 2017

Public Bond Sales Slump in India as Stocks Gain Lures Buyers Bond sales by Indian companies to individuals have hit a five-year low and a recovery isn’t in sight as issuers prefer to tap cash-rich banks and retail investors flock to one of Asia’s best-performing stock markets. Public debt offerings plunged 84 percent to 39 billion rupees ($602 million) in the eight months through November compared with the same period a year ago, data from the market regulator show. In contrast, companies have raised a record $11.6 billion from initial share sales this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. “A reduction in interest rates has made bank loans and private placements cheaper and a faster option to raise funds,” Ajay Saraf, executive director at ICICI Securities Ltd., said in an interview. Investors have been attracted by higher equity returns as demand for public bonds has cooled, he added. Lenders flush with cash after last year’s ban on high-denomination notes have been eager b