Month: March 2021

Gold prices rise on softer dollar, but set for worst quarter in over 4 years

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Gold gained over 1% on Wednesday, helped by the dollar’s pullback, but elevated U.S. bond yields still put the metal on course for its biggest quarterly decline in more than four years.

Spot gold rose 1.5% to $1,710.45 per ounce by 12:47 p.m EDT (1647 GMT), after touching its lowest since March 8 at $1,677.61. U.S. gold futures were up 1.5% at $1,711.60.

Gold is down over 9% for the quarter and is on track for its worst quarterly performance since end-December 2016.

“As we’ve seen bond yields stabilize and the dollar pull back off its recent highs, we have seen a little move off the lows in the gold market,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

The dollar edged off a near five-month peak.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s “very large structural stimulus plan” has contributed to concerns over inflation and should support gold markets, Meger said.

“The market is watching to see whether or not the $1,680 support level is going to hold,” said Daniel Ghali, TD Securities commodity strategist.

Bullion is seen as a hedge against inflation, but rising Treasury yields have challenged that status as they translate into a higher opportunity cost to hold bullion.

Among other precious metals, platinum gained 2.7% to $1,186.15 an ounce and palladium climbed 1.2% to $2,620.72, en route to its best month since February 2020.

Russia’s Nornickel,a major platinum and palladium producer, said on Monday it had stopped water flowing into its two major mines in the Siberian Arctic.

The Arctic mine closures have drastically reduced platinum and palladium group metal production and could lead to an even tighter market than previously anticipated, Ghali said.

Silver rose 1.6% to $24.41, but was down over 8% for the month.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Third phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 45 to begin today

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The third phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive for people aged above 45, with or without comorbidities, will begin on Thursday across the country.

People eligible for vaccination will have to carry their photo identity cards, including Aadhaar card and voter card.

Earlier today, the Centre asked states and union territories to identify low vaccine-coverage pockets, particularly in districts reporting a surge in new infections, and take corrective action.

On vaccination coverage of healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs), the states and the UTs were advised to ensure that only eligible beneficiaries were registered and inoculated under the respective categories.

The states and UTs were also advised to ensure that there was no sedimentation of vaccine stocks at any level of storage, and that their distribution was based on consumption to avoid overstocking or under-stocking at cold chain points and CVCs. They were asked to conduct regular reviews of vaccine stocks and consumption to identify gap areas and address the same, the ministry said in its statement.

The Centre also advised the states and UTs to maintain vaccine wastage at less than one percent (current National Wastage Percentage being six per cent). They were asked to ensure timely utilisation of available stock to avoid expiry of vaccines and update the vaccine consumption data on Co-WIN and eVIN portals.

The second phase of COVID-19 vaccination had commenced from March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45, and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

(With inputs from PTI)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Puducherry polls: A look at key factors from poll-bound union territory

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As the assembly elections hots up with the country focusing on West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, there seems to be an interesting tussle in the Union Territory of Puducherry that could change the course of politics in southern India.

Once a stronghold of Congress, the UT is currently seeing a saffron surge as the NDA alliance looks on course to create history.

With several opinion polls predicting a landslide victory for the BJP-AINRC and AIADMK alliance in the upcoming Assembly elections, there is a belief among many that a BJP rule in the territory could allow it to have an entry into Dravidian party-dominated Tamil Nadu, a state where no national-level party has held sway since the days of Kamaraj and Moopanar.

The NDA had announced N Rangaswami, former Chief Minister and President of AINRC, as the Chief Ministerial candidate and a galaxy of senior party leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned in Puducherry.

For the Congress, the situation seems to have gone from bad to worse with CM Narayanasamy recently resigning after losing the vote of confidence. However, the party will undoubtedly unleash every weapon in its armoury to hold fort at a time when it is facing an existential crisis.

-With agency inputs

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India records current account deficit of 0.2% in December quarter

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s current account swung to a deficit for the first time in the current fiscal, with the gap coming at USD 1.7 billion or 0.2 per cent of the GDP in the December quarter. In the current fiscal, as the pandemic impacted trade, the current account had been in surplus in the previous two quarters, at USD 15.1 billion and USD 19 billion, respectively, as per the data on balance of payments released by the RBI on Wednesday.

The critical measure of a country’s external strength now stands at a surplus of 1.7 per cent of GDP for the first nine months of the fiscal year as against a deficit of 1.2 per cent in the year-ago period In the December quarter, there was a rise in the merchandise trade deficit to USD 34.5 billion from USD 14.8 billion in the preceding quarter, and an increase in net investment income payments. Net services receipts increased to USD 23.6 billion, both sequentially and on a year-on-year basis, primarily on the back of higher net export earnings from computer services, the RBI said.

Private transfer receipts, which mainly represent remittances by the diaspora, came at USD 20.7 billion for the reporting quarter. This was a marginal decline when compared to October-December 2019 period but a gain of 1.5 per cent when compared with July-September 2020 period. According to the data, net outgo on the primary income account, primarily reflecting payments of investment income, increased to USD 10.1 billion from USD 7.4 billion a year ago.

In the financial account, net foreign direct investment recorded a robust inflow of USD 17 billion in the December quarter as compared with USD 9.7 billion in the year-ago period. With repayments exceeding fresh disbursals, external commercial borrowings to India recorded net outflow of USD 1.7 billion in the December quarter as against an inflow of USD 3.2 billion a year ago, it said.

Net accretions to non-resident deposits increased to USD 3 billion from USD 0.8 billion in Q3FY20, it said. There was an accretion of USD 32.5 billion to the foreign exchange reserves on a Balance of Payment basis as compared with USD 21.6 billion in Q3FY20, the RBI data said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Vivad Se Vishwas scheme ends

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The deadline for filing declaration under the direct tax dispute resolution scheme ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ ends on Wednesday.

The Income Tax Department had last month extended the last date for filing declaration and making payment under the scheme till March 31 and April 30, respectively. The earlier deadlines were February 28 and March 31 in the same order.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur had earlier this month said over 1.28 lakh declarations were filed under the scheme till February 22 involving disputed tax of Rs 98,328 crore. Of this, Rs 53,346 crore has been received as payments against disputed tax.

This include Rs 27,720 crore worth payments made by the central PSUs, Rs 1,023 crore by state PSUs, and Rs 24,603 crore by others. The scheme provides for settlement of disputed tax, disputed interest, disputed penalty or disputed fees in relation to an assessment or reassessment order on payment of 100 per cent of the disputed tax and 25 per cent of the disputed penalty or interest or fee.

The taxpayer is granted immunity from levy of interest, penalty and institution of any proceeding for prosecution for any offence under the Income-tax Act in respect of matters covered in the declaration. The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 was enacted on March 17, 2020 to settle direct tax disputes locked up in various appellate forums.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

China dodges WHO’s call for further probe into Wuhan lab leak theory of coronavirus

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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China on Wednesday called for expanding the search for the origins of the coronavirus in other countries, mainly America, as it sought to sidestep the WHO chief’s assertion that further probe is required on allegations that the deadly virus may have leaked from a bio-lab in Wuhan, saying he may have not been accurately quoted. Releasing the much-awaited report of an experts team that probed the origin of COVID-19 after visiting the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, World Health Organisation Chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reopened the Trump era allegation, saying that it required further probe.

“Although the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, this requires further investigation, potentially with additional missions involving specialist experts, which I am ready to deploy, Dr Tedros, who was earlier accused by the previous Trump administration as pro-China’, said in Geneva on Tuesday. Coming from the WHO chief with whom China had built a close rapport while battling the allegations that it suppressed facts related to the deadly virus early and acted late in containing it in Wuhan the assertion that it requires further probe caught Beijing by surprise.

“I don’t think the quote is very accurate because what I see is the expert mission said they cannot exclude the possibility of lab leakage but they have found no scientific evidence for that,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said while answering a volley of questions on the experts team report and Dr Tedros’ comments. Instead, Hua harped on the expert team’s remark that the lab leak theory is “extremely unlikely”.

Hua pointed to China’s oft-repeated charge that the virus has emanated from outside China which points finger at a US bio lab at Fort Detrick in Maryland which Beijing says should be opened for a probe by WHO experts team to ascertain whether it has any link to coronavirus. “If necessary we should conduct study in other places and we hope if necessary those countries can cooperate with WHO experts in an open and transparent manner just like China did. We believe this is in interest of the world,” she said.

In response to the WHO report, the US and 13 allies including South Korea, Australia and the UK, voiced concern over its findings and urged China to provide “full access” to experts. BBC quoted a statement by the 14 countries stating that the mission to Wuhan was “significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples”.

“Scientific missions like these should be able to do their work under conditions that produce independent and objective recommendations and findings.” The group pledged to work together with the WHO. Former US President Donald Trump was among those who supported the theory that the virus might have escaped from a lab in China.

Contrary to expectations, the experts team’s report left almost all questions, including that virus emanating from the wet market in Wuhan which was shut down, unanswered. “I would say that in the joint study of the expert mission visited several installations in Wuhan including WIV, biosafety labs and had in-depth candid exchanges with Chinese experts,” Hua said.

“Through their visit, they came to the conclusion that it is extremely unlikely that the virus leaked from the lab. This is one important scientific conclusion reached by the joint mission which issued the report,” she said. When asked whether China would permit a second WHO experts team to visit Wuhan and WIV lab, she said, “I have never said China will not allow joint research. It is not an investigation by the way.” On the possibility of lab leakage, she said that if necessary, the experts team will also conduct the research around the world. “Relevant study is done in Wuhan lab, when will Fort Detrick will be opened to experts?” she said.

On the US and EU allegation of data manipulation, Hua said it is groundless. She said China had mobilised relevant institutions and deployed hundreds of scientists to collect raw data and showed it to the experts’ team.

But at the same time, she said, some information cannot be copied or taken outside China according to China’s security laws. She also rebutted allegations by the US and several other countries that China tried to interfere with the WHO expert groups probe.

“The so-called accusation is groundless. Experts had a positive evaluation of China’s transparency. Outsiders who are not part of origin tracing work are accusing the experts group of interference. This is irresponsible. This caters to rumours and gathers a political agenda,” she said. “This is very clear as some western counties whenever they see something that does not meet their expectations they come up with such allegations. Their accusation will collapse in front of the truth, she said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Govt pegs market borrowing at Rs 7.24 lakh cr for first half of FY22

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The government on Wednesday said it will borrow Rs 7.24 lakh crore in the first half of 2021-22 fiscal to meet resources to perk up the economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Budget 2021-22, the government’s gross borrowing was estimated at Rs 12.05 lakh crore in the financial year beginning April 1.

“In the Budget, we had announced that there would be a gross borrowing of Rs 12.05 lakh crore and net borrowing of Rs 9.37 lakh crore. “In the first half of 2021-22, we would be borrowing Rs 7.24 lakh crore, which is 60.06 per cent of the gross issuances,” Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj said.

He said the government would issue 2-year, 5-year, 10-year, 14-year, 30-year, and 40-year securities. On the expected rate for the next financial year, Bajaj said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will take appropriate action to ensure that yields remain in reasonable limit.

Gross borrowing includes repayments of past loans. Repayment for past loans in the next financial year has been pegged at Rs 2.80 lakh crore. “The gross borrowing from the market for the next year would be around Rs 12 lakh crores.

“We plan to continue with our path of fiscal consolidation, and intend to reach a fiscal deficit level below 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26 with a fairly steady decline over the period,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said while presenting Budget 2021-22 last month. The government raises money from the market to fund its fiscal deficit through dated securities and treasury bills.

The Budget has pegged fiscal deficit at 6.8 per cent for the next fiscal, down from 9.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the current financial year. “The fiscal deficit in RE 2020-21 is pegged at 9.5 per cent of GDP. We have funded this through government borrowings, multilateral borrowings, small saving funds and short-term borrowings,” she had said.

Bajaj said the fiscal deficit for the current fiscal would be around the Revised Estimate announced in the Budget. “Fiscal deficit number in February may be low at 76 per cent but in March, we have pushed a lot of expenditure. So, it should be closer to the number mentioned in RE in the Budget,” he said.

Asked if there would be pressure on expenditure because of fresh COVID-19 wave, he said there is no concern at the moment. “If there are pressure, we are much better prepared to handle it than March last year,” he said.

With regard to inclusion of of government bonds in global indices, he said efforts are on and it should happen in the next financial year. During the current fiscal, he said the government has done record gross borrowing in the history of the finance ministry.

As against the Revised Estimate of Rs 12.80 lakh crore, the government borrowed Rs 12.60 lakh crore during the current fiscal as the last auction of Rs 20,000 crore was cancelled. In addition, the Government of India borrowed Rs 1.10 lakh crore on behalf of states for compensation towards goods and services tax (GST) shortfall.

In all, the government borrowing was Rs 13.71 lakh crore, while the net borrowing was Rs 11.03 lakh crore during the current fiscal. Bajaj said the yields during the year remain stable except during the past few auctions that happened during March.

The record borrowing was done at a weighted average borrowing cost of 5.79 per cent which is the lowest since 2004-05, he said adding that the weighted average maturity was 14.5 years. Meanwhile, the RBI circular said the limits for FPI investment in corporate bonds will remain unchanged at 15 per cent of outstanding stock of securities for the financial year 2021-22.

Accordingly, the revised limits for FPI investment in corporate bonds will be Rs 5,74,263 crore (April-September 2021) and Rs 6,07,039 crore in the second half of the fiscal. The current limit is Rs 5,41,488 crore. The central bank further said the revised limits for FPI investment in central government securities (G-secs) and state development loans (SDLs) for 2021-22 will be announced separately. The current limit of Rs 2,34,531 (G-sec general), Rs 1,03,531 (G-secs long-term), Rs 67,630 crore (SDL general) and Rs 7,100 (SDL long-term) will continue till the annoucement is made regarding revised limits.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Govt cuts small savings rates from 4% to 3.5% for Q1FY22; PPF hits 46-year low of 6.9%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The government has announced an interest rate cut on small savings schemes for Q1FY22 effective April 1, 2021. The finance ministry issued a circular stating that interest rates on small savings schemes have been cut by 50 to 110 basis points.

The Finance Ministry said on March 31 that interest on small savings deposit had would be cut from 4 percent to 3.5 percent for the first quarter of Q1FY22.

One-year time deposit rates will be cut to 4.4 percent from 5.5 percent, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-year recurring deposit rates will be cut to 5 percent, 5.1 percent, 5.8 percent and 5.3 percent, from 5.5 percent, 5. 5 percent, 6.7 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively.

The government had earlier cut interest rates on small savings schemes in the April-June quarter of 2020-21, this makes it the second cut within a year. With the latest cut, interest rates on small savings schemes have been reduced by a total of 120-250 bps during the current financial year.

Here’s a look at the interest rate cut:

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Core sectors output contracts 4.6% in Feb

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The output of eight core sectors declined by 4.6 per cent in February, the steepest contraction in the last six months which experts said could drag the overall industrial production in the month into the negative territory.

All the key segments, including coal, crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products, witnessed a decline in production, according to the official data released on Wednesday.

The growth rate of the eight infrastructure sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — stood at 6.4 per cent in February 2020. Last time in August 2020, the sectors had recorded a negative growth of 6.9 per cent. in January this year, the segments have registered a positive growth of 0.9 per cent.

According to the data, coal production declined by 4.4 per cent, crude oil by 3.2 per cent, natural gas by 1 per cent, refinery products by a steep 10.9 per cent, fertilisers by 3.7 per cent, steel by 1.8 per cent, cement by 5.5 per cent and electricity by 0.2 per cent in February. According to Commerce and Industry Ministry data, during April-February 2020-21, the eight sectors’ growth declined by 8.3 per cent as compared to (+) 1.3 per cent in same period of the previous fiscal. Commenting on the figures, ICRA Ltd Principal Economist Aditi Nayar said that given the sharp base effect, the core sector output is expected to expand by 9-11 per cent in March 2021, which should result in a modest growth of around 2 per cent in Q4 FY2021.

“The lead indicators such as the core sector, auto output and non oil exports have revealed a decidedly mixed trend for February 2021. Based on the available data, we expect the contraction in the IIP (index of industrial production) to deepen to 2-3 per cent in February 2021 from 1.6 per cent in January 2021,” she said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow