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  Bank credit to industry decelerated to 5.4 per cent in October compared to 13.5 per cent in the year-ago month, according to Reserve Bank data released on Thursday. The data also revealed that credit growth to agriculture and allied activities improved to 17.5 per cent (year-on-year) in October 2023 from 13.8 per cent a year ago. Among major industries, credit growth (year-on-year) to basic metal & metal products, food processing and textiles accelerated in October 2023, while that to all engineering, chemicals and chemical products and infrastructure decelerated. Advances to the services sector grew by 20.1 per cent (y-o-y) in October 2023 compared to 22.5 per cent a year ago, with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and trade being the major contributors. Further, personal loan growth decelerated to 18 per cent annually in October 2023 against 20.5 per cent a year ago. On a year-on-year basis, non-food bank credit2 registered a growth of 15.3 per cent in October 2023 compar

  As RBI has now allowed retail investors to apply for floating rate savings bonds via its Retail Direct Portal, there is a recent addition to the number of fixed income instruments one can opt for. For the uninitiated, subscription to these bonds is done in the form of cash (up to ?20,000 only). The bonds may be held by a person resident in India in their individual capacity or joint basis or on any or survivor basis or on behalf of a minor as father/ mother or legal guardian. Applications for these bonds are received in the designated branches of State Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.   What are floating rate savings bonds? The floating rate bonds are fixed income instruments that can be held by an individual or a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) with interest payable at half yearly intervals on Jan 1st and July 1st every year. On these bonds, there is no option to pay interest on a cumulative basis.The coupon rate will be linked/ pegged with prevailing Nati

  Economic growth in India in the second quarter this financial year is likely to surprise on the upside, said Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday. Speaking at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit, Das said: “Looking at the momentum of economic activity, looking at a few early indicators, I can say that the second-quarter GDP number, as and when it is released, at the end of November, in all probability will surprise everyone on the upside.” The RBI has projected a GDP growth rate of 6.5 per cent for July-September while growth for 2023-24 too is seen at 6.5 per cent. Das said for the central bank inflation had priority over growth. “We look at inflation-growth dynamics. The first priority is inflation at the moment, and based on that we decide policy,” he said. After raising the repo rate by 250 bps between May 2022 and February 2023, the six-member Monetary Policy Committee has maintained its status in the next four policies. The next policy review is

  As the Centre prepares to enforce a 28% GST on online gaming beginning Sunday, several search, recruitment and staffing firms have noted a surge in the resumes of employees from this sector entering the job market. The increasing number of job seekers reflects their concerns about the GST's potential effects on their future. Experts from over half-a-dozen hiring firms told ET that this trend has become particularly pronounced in recent weeks. "In the face of headwinds resulting from frequent regulatory changes and reports of scams, there are layoffs and a surge of talent actively seeking new opportunities in other sectors," said Manu Saigal, director - general staffing at Adecco. Job search by talent in Indian gaming bellwethers such as Dream11, Games24x7, MPL, Junglee, Baazi, Winzo and Moonfrog, among others, has nearly tripled over the last six weeks, according to data put together for ET by specialist staffing firm Xpheno. This comes as professionals face the prospec

  The Income Tax Department's e-filing portal received more than 30 lakh audit reports (TAR) up till September 30, the tax authority of India reported on Monday. In a release, the Income-tax Department expressed its gratitude to taxpayers and tax experts for timely compliance. The tax audit report had to be submitted by September 30 of the applicable assessment year by those who had their books audited. "More than 30.75 lakh audit reports, including about 29.5 lakh Tax Audit Reports have been filed for AY 2023-24 on the e-filing portal till the end of the due date (September 30)," the release added. There were substantial outreach programmes carried out to help the taxpayers. "Around 55.4 lakh outreaches were done through e-mails, SMSs, social media, along with information messages on Income Tax portal to create awareness among the taxpayers to file the Tax Audit Reports and other audit forms within the due date," it said.   "Various user awareness videos w

  Recently, SEBI has introduced a very pragmatic method of drafting standards for implementation of a regulation. In a novel, unique and constructive move it has invited three of the main industry associations to together form an Industry Standards Forum which will assist in designing the implementation standards for some of the proposed regulations. The Forum will work in consultation with SEBI, and the two Stock Exchanges will coordinate these initiatives. This pilot initiative of SEBI is clearly a paradigm change in regulation implementation. It will allow experts in various industry bodies to contribute to the design of implementation standards for various regulations. The involvement of industry bodies is indeed path breaking.   The first regulation that has been worked upon by the Industry Standards Forum on a pilot basis is pertaining to rumour verification which was to come into effect from October 1, 2023. This regulation required some of the listed companies to confirm/ deny

  An ITR return needs to be verified within 120 days of filing of tax return. Now that you have filed your income tax return, remember to verify it because your return filing process is not complete unless you do so. The CBDT has reduced the time limit of ITR verification to 30 days (from 120 days) from the date of return submission. The new rule is applicable for the returns filed online on or after 1st August 2022. E-verification is the most convenient and instant method for verifying your ITR. However, if you prefer not to e-verify, you have the option to verify it by sending a physical copy of the ITR-V. Taxpayers who filed returns by July 31, 2023 but forget to verify their tax returns, will get the following email from the tax department, as per ClearTax. If your ITR is not verified within 30 days of e-filing, it will be considered invalid, and may be liable to pay a Late Fee. Aadhaar OTP | EVC through bank account | EVC through Demat account | Sending duly signed ITR-V through s