Tag: COVID-19 crisis

Fed sees higher growth, above target inflation this year, rates remain steady

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

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The Federal Reserve on Wednesday projected a rapid jump in U.S. economic growth and inflation this year as the COVID-19 crisis winds down, and repeated its pledge to keep its target interest rate near zero for years to come.

The U.S. central bank now sees the economy growing 6.5% this year, and the unemployment rate falling to 4.5% by year’s end, compared to growth of 4.5% and unemployment of 5% projected at its December policy meeting.

The pace of price increases is now expected to exceed the Fed’s 2% target for the year, hitting 2.4% by year’s before falling back in 2022.

“Indicators of economic activity and employment have turned up,” the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement that kept the benchmark overnight interest rate in a target range of zero to 0.25%.

The improvement in the Fed’s economic outlook did not immediately alter policymakers’ expectations for interest rates, though the weight of opinion did shift. Seven of 18 officials now expect to raise rates in 2023, compared to five in December.

Four officials now feel rates may need to rise as soon as next year, a change from zero as of the last projections in December.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT) to discuss the outcome of the latest two-day policy meeting.

The quarterly projections issued on Wednesday were the central bank’s first since December, and incorporate developments including the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and the approval of two federal spending bills totaling about $2.8 trillion.

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

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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

Collaboration, not confusion, is best response to COVID-19 pandemic: India at UN

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

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India has said its vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting the COVID-19 crisis, which has highlighted gaps in global cooperation and underlined the need for the international community to respond to the pandemic with collaboration and not confusion. Addressing the UN General Assembly special session on COVID-19, Secretary (West) in India’s Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup said on Monday the ongoing coronavirus crisis had ”laid bare” the gaps that exist in global cooperation and governance structures of multilateral organisations.

”It is important that we make reformed multilateralism our guiding principle. It is imperative that we must join hands to show leadership, solidarity and collaboration to deal with the pandemic. We can respond best by collaboration, not confusion; preparation, not panic and coming together, not growing apart,” he said. ”As a responsible member of the international community, I want to reiterate that India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis. India will also help all the countries in enhancing their cold chain and storage capabilities for the delivery of vaccines,” Swarup said at the resumed special session.

World leaders, top UN leadership and vaccine developers addressed the high-level special session early this month on COVID-19 and discussed impact of the pandemic, as well as the multifaceted, coordinated response required to address the crisis. Swarup told the UN session that to combat the pandemic, India has several vaccines, which are under different stages of development.

Indian vaccine candidates COVAXIN and ZyCoV-D are under phase three and phase two trials, while Indian vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India is already conducting final testing of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVISHIELD vaccine, he said. ”India is recognised as a world leader in vaccines, as we produce 60 percent of vaccines globally and have a record of supplying high quality, affordable vaccines to the developing world,” he said.

Also Read: UN chief warns `vaccine nationalism’ is moving at full speed

”During the unprecedented crisis faced by the world, India emerged as a net provider of health security and successfully shouldered its responsibility as the pharmacy of the world, sending consignments of medicines and medical supplies to almost 150 partner countries, he said. Swarup stressed that while it was heartwarming to note that efforts to combat the pandemic had yielded positive results, there is still a long way to go.

”No one is safe till everyone is safe. This should be our mantra. In this context, the role of the United Nations becomes important towards coordinated and concerted efforts to deal with the multi-dimensional impacts of the pandemic,” he said. Highlighting India’s timely and proactive response to the pandemic, Swarup said calculated measures by the country were designed not just to protect its huge population from the pandemic but also to ensure that minimal damage is caused to the economy.

He said the initial phases of the lockdown gave India the critically needed time to ramp up its healthcare system and equip it with sufficient hospital beds, isolation facilities, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), testing kits and other medical devices as well as with trained medical staff across the country. Within two months of the pandemic, India expanded its diagnostic facilities from just one major facility for pan-India testing to more than 2,000 today. From having almost no domestic manufacturing of PPE kits, India today has become the second largest manufacturer of PPEs, he added.

More than 17,000 dedicated COVID-19 facilities were set up with 1.6 million isolation beds and digital tools such as the Aarogya Setu app were developed and are being effectively used for extensive contact tracing, he said. Swarup said the government had also been doing its best to ensure that the economy and the livelihoods of the people are not adversely hampered.

The Narendra Modi government announced a massive USD 266 billion stimulus package, amounting to almost 10 percent of India’s GDP directed at helping low-income groups, marginal farmers, small businesses, migrants and those in the informal sector.

Click here: For the latest news and updates on COVID-19

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 open to further stimulus to lift economy, says DEA Secretary

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

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The government is open to further stimulus measures to boost the coronavirus-hit economy, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj said on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a slew of measures to spur demand and ramp-up capital expenditure earlier this month. This was the third stimulus package since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government had announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKP) in March to protect the poor and vulnerable sections from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

It was followed by the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package of Rs 20.97 lakh crore in May, primarily focussed on supply-side measures and long-term reforms.

“So I think with all these efforts, and as I said, as the finance minister said, we are seeing what all other things can be done (to boost the economy),” Bajaj said while addressing a virtual event organized by CII.

Earlier this week, Sitharaman had said the option for another stimulus package had not been closed.

“I have not closed the option for another stimulus package if it comes out to be, because every time we announced one, it has been after a lot of consideration of inputs which have come from various sections of society.

“Then we sit and work it out within the ministry and Prime Minister’s Office and then take a final call. So, I have not closed the option to come up with one more stimulus,” Sitharaman had said.

Speaking about the capital markets, Bajaj said the government had taken many measures to deepen the market.

Citing an example, he said, “we have undertaken some reforms, and it is an ongoing process. In the last Parliament session, the Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill was converted into an Act, after the passage of both the houses and the President’s assent was received.”

As per estimates, it would result in a capital saving of Rs 50,000-60,000 crore for banks alone in this whole process.

“I urge the insurance companies and the regulators in that area to look at credit default swaps now that the netting bill has been passed. And if that happens, I think it should assist the bond markets as well,” he said.

Bajaj also said Sebi and the finance ministry are in touch on the ‘backstop facility.’

Sebi had earlier said it plans to set up a ‘backstop entity’ to buy illiquid investment-grade corporate bonds from mutual funds. On the direct listing of Indian companies on overseas exchanges, Bajaj said the Companies Act amendment bill passed by Parliament recently has provisions.

“The regulations and the other guidelines are in the process of reaching a finality. I have personally held very extensive discussions with the players in this area. I think this is also another step which was waiting to happen, which will give a fillip to some of our industries and some of our so-called unicorns a chance to pick up capital,” he said.

He also emphasized that the players should desist from defrauding investors as regulations in the capital market sector are mostly based on disclosure, and the ‘buyer beware’ principle.

“I think we need to acknowledge that and honor that. Time and again, we do see that some issues crop up in the market, which takes the confidence of the people away.

Obviously, because of these regulations, there’s flexibility in the design of member-client agreements, especially the agreements of portfolio management, but there is information asymmetry, and we have recently come across a large number (of such cases),” he said.

He said the industry needs to look inwards and see what can be done, besides the steps taken by the stock exchanges and the regulator.

For example, he said the regulator has come up with some stricter regulations on AT1 bonds. He pointed to some cases of retired citizens being cajoled into buying AT1 bonds or senior citizens being pushed for insurance products that are not conducive for their age and risk profile.

“So, I think these are also issues that are important for the capital market to have a look at,” he added.

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

Sitharaman pushes large CPSEs to meet 75% of FY21 capex target by December

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

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday exhorted large central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to achieve by December 75 per cent of their planned capital expenditure (capex) target for 2020-21, to support economic growth hit by the COVID-19 crisis. She held a virtual meeting with secretaries of coal and petroleum & natural gas, along with the chairman and managing directors (CMDs) of 14 CPSEs belonging to these ministries, an official statement said.

This was the fourth in the ongoing series of meetings that the finance minister is having with various stakeholders to accelerate the economic growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While reviewing the performance of CPSEs, Sitharaman said capex by CPSEs is a critical driver of economic growth and needs to be scaled up for the financial year 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The finance minister asked the concerned secretaries to closely monitor the performance of CPSEs in order to ensure the capital expenditure to the tune of 75 per cent of the capital outlay by the end of the third quarter of 2020-21 and make appropriate plan for it. She expounded that more co-ordinated efforts are required at the levels of secretary of concerned ministries and CMDs of CPSEs to achieve capex targets.

In 2019-20, against the capex target of Rs 1,11,672 crore for these 14 CPSEs, the achievement was Rs 1,16,323 crore that is 104 per cent, the statement said. It added that the capex target is pegged Rs 1,15,934 crore for these companies for the current financial year. It further said the achievement in the first half of the current financial year stood at Rs 37,423 crore (32 per cent of the target), while it was Rs 43,097 crore (39 per cent) in the previous financial year.

While mentioning the significant role of CPSEs in giving a push to the growth of the Indian economy, the finance minister encouraged the CPSEs to perform better to achieve their targets and ensure that the capital outlay for 2020-21 is spent properly and within time. The finance minister said better performance of CPSEs can help the economy in a big way to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

The CPSE capex review is carried out jointly by the Department of Economic Affairs and the Department of Public Enterprises, it added.

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

Kharif foodgrains production likely to be record 144.52 mn tonnes in 2020-21: Agri Min

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

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Foodgrains production is pegged at record 144.52 million tonnes in the 2020-21 kharif season notwithstanding COVID-19 crisis, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Friday. Foodgrain production stood at 143.38 million tonnes during the 2019-20 kharif season, as per official data. Currently, harvesting of kharif crops is underway. Rice is the main kharif crop.

”Foodgrain production will be better than last year. As per the initial estimates, foodgrain production is projected to be 144.52 million tonnes in the 2020-21 kharif season,” Tomar said addressing a digital conference organised by industry body CII. Production of cash crops such as sugarcane and cotton is also expected to be good, he said.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a record increase in area sown to kharif crops by 4.51 percent to 1,121.75 lakh hectares this year, he added. Tomar said agriculture is the pillar of the Indian economy. The sector grew 3.4 percent during the first quarter of 2020-21 fiscal even as the total economy showed a decline in the said period.

On new farm laws, the minister asserted that farmers are being ”misled” about the reforms and reiterated that procurement at minimum support price as well as mandis will continue to function across the country.

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

Focusing on protecting people, health of population remain a priority for India: IMF

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

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India’s priorities should be to protect the most vulnerable people, well-targeted support and protecting small and medium-sized enterprises so that they do not collapse as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva has said. Speaking at a news conference here during the ongoing annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, Georgieva said on Wednesday that focusing on protecting people and on the health of the population remain a priority for India.

”What needs to be done? Well, clearly protecting the most vulnerable people, well-targeted support, protecting small and medium-sized enterprises/firms so they do not collapse, and using what the government is now aiming to do, a further injection of support in a way that gives a better chance to turn a corner,” Georgieva said. ”Like everywhere else, until we have a durable exit from the health crisis, we will be faced with difficulties, uncertainty, and uneven recovery,” she said.

Describing COVID-19 as a human crisis everywhere, and especially in countries where the loss of life has climbed up so much, she said in India, 100,000 people had died. ”Therefore, focusing on protecting people and on the health of the population remains a priority,” she said.

”India has taken measures within the capacity of the country, two percent fiscal measures, plus four percent in forms of guarantees, not direct fiscal measures, Georgieva said. ”This helps, but if you compare what advanced economies have been able to do, what some of the other emerging markets with very strong fundamentals could do, clearly is somewhat constrained. What we see in India is a very dramatic shrinkage of GDP this year by over 10 percent, according to our just released forecast,” she said.

Georgieva said that India had a vibrant economy. ”Let’s remember that it stepped into this crisis as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. For next year, our projections in baseline scenario is return to growth of 8.8 percent, she said.

A day earlier, the IMF in its annual World Economic Report said that the forecast are particularly large for India, where Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted much more severely than expected in the second quarter. ”As a result, the economy is projected to contract by 10.3 percent in 2020, before rebounding by 8.8 percent in 2021,” it said.

In 2019, India’s growth rate was 4.2 percent. Last week, the World Bank said India’s GDP this fiscal is expected to contract by 9.6 percent. ”India’s GDP is expected to contract 9.6 percent in the fiscal year that started in March,” the World Bank said in its latest issue of the South Asia Economic Focus report.

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

FinMin allows additional Rs 7,106 cr borrowing by UP, AP

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

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The Centre on Friday permitted Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to go for an additional borrowing of Rs 7,106 crore, to meet their expenditure requirements amid falling revenues due to the COVID-19 crisis. ”The Ministry of Finance has granted additional borrowing permission to two more states, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, for successfully undertaking reforms in the public distribution system (PDS) and ease of doing business,” an official statement said.

This will make an additional amount of Rs. 7,106 crore available to these states, it added. Uttar Pradesh has become sixthstate to complete the reform process in PDS to implement the One Nation-One Ration Card system. This has made the state eligible to raise an amount of Rs 4,851 crore through open market borrowings (OMBs). Andhra Pradesh has became the first state in the country to successfully undertake ease of doing business reforms and has thus become eligible to raise an additional amount of Rs 2,525 crore through open market borrowings.

Earlier, Andhra Pradesh had also completed PDS reforms to enable the One Nation-One Ration Card system. Last week, five states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Karnataka and Tripura received the finance ministry’s nod for additional Rs 9,913 crore borrowing, after meeting the reform condition of the implementation of One Nation-One Ration Card system.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the central government in May 2020 allowed an additional borrowing limit of up to 2 percent of gross state domestic product (GSDP) to the states for the year 2020-21. This made an amount up to Rs 4,27,302 crore available to the states. One per cent of this is subject to the implementation of four specific state-level reforms, where weightage of each reform is 0.25 per cent of GSDP. These reforms includeimplementation of the One Nation-One Ration Card system, ease of doing business reform, urban local body or utility reforms, and power sector reforms.

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 to borrow Rs 4.34 lakh crore in second half of 2020-21

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

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The Finance Ministry on Wednesday said the government will borrow Rs 4.34 lakh crore in the second half of the current fiscal to meet its expenditure requirement amid COVID-19 crisis afflicting the country’s economy. The government is sticking to Rs 12 lakh crore borrowing target for the current fiscal, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj said.

In the first half ended September, the government has done borrowing of Rs 7.66 lakh crore and remaining Rs 4.34 lakh crore will be mobilised during the second half of the current fiscal, he said. The government had envisaged to raise 58 per cent of the total borrowing target of Rs 6.98 lakh crore from the dated securities in the first half of the current fiscal. Against this, the government has borrowed Rs 7.66 lakh crore during April-September.

Hard-pressed for funds to combat rising coronavirus infections, the government in May increased its market borrowing programme for the current financial year by more than 50 per cent to Rs 12 lakh crore. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the 2020-21 Budget had pegged the gross market borrowing which is also a reflection of fiscal deficit , for the current fiscal at Rs 7.80 lakh crore. The amount was up from Rs 7.1 lakh crore in 2019-20.

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 3.5 per cent for the current fiscal, down from 3.8 per cent of the GDP in the last financial year.

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

Onus to face pandemic crisis on textile sector: Govt official

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

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The textile industry has to manage the COVID-19 crisis on its own and face the challenge in value addition while the government would be a facilitator and support the industry, Textile Commissioner, Mumbai, Roop Rashi said on Wednesday Addressing the 14th CEO conference SIMS TEXPIN 2020 organised by the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) virtually, Rashi said the textile markets are strong domestically but the problem the industry faces today due to COVID-19 would be shorter.

Stating that the structural issues on raw material would be addressed soon, she said that it is for the industry to utilise the opportunities, diversify, innovate, scale-up and build global brands.

The role played by the textiles during the pandemic is for the benefit of the medical fraternity and it is marvellous, said a SIMA press release quoting the official. The official assured to consider a lot of suggestions from the industry and said there were certain procedural wrangles in the implementation of Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme and the need to make it industry-friendly.

Rashi asked the industry to grab the space left by China, even as smaller countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam overtake India in textiles and cloth exports despite the country having a large production capacity. Later, the 61st annual general meeting of SIMA re-elected Ashwin Chandran as its chairman, Ravi Sam as deputy chairman and S K Sundararaman as vice-chairman for 2020-21, the release 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

EPFO records 8.45 lakh new enrolments in July

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

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Net new enrolments with retirement fund body EPFO rose to 8.45 lakh in July from 4.82 lakh in June 2020, according to its latest payroll data, providing a perspective on employment in the formal sector amid the COVID-19 crisis. Provisional payroll data released by the EPFO last month had shown that net new enrolments stood at 6.55 lakh in June this year.

The figure has now been revised down to 4,82,352. The net enrolments with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had dropped to 5.72 lakh in March 2020 from 10.21 lakh in February, according to the payroll data released in May. The latest data released on Sunday showed that net new enrolments in April were in the negative zone at (-) 61,807 against the figure of 20,164 released in August.

This means that the number of members who exited the EPFO subscription was more than the number of people who joined or rejoined the scheme. Earlier in July, provisional data had showed net new enrolments for the month April at 1 lakh which were revised down to 20,164 in August. The net new enrolments with the EPFO hover around 7 lakh every month on an average. During 2019-20, the number of net new subscribers rose to 78.58 lakh as compared to 61.12 lakh in the preceding fiscal, according to the payroll data released on Sunday. The EPFO has been releasing the payroll data of new subscribers since April 2018, covering the period starting from September 2017.

The data also showed that during September 2017-July 2020, the number of net new subscribers was over 1.68 crore. The EPFO said the payroll data is provisional as updation of employees’ records is a continuous process and gets updated in subsequent months. ”The government announced a lockdown on March 24, 2020. Accordingly, ECR (PF returns) filing date for March month was extended to May 15, 2020,” the EPFO had said in May while releasing the data. In June, it had said, ”The due date for submission of ECRs for April 2020 has been extended in view of the lockdown.” The estimates are net of the new members enrolled, members exited and rejoined during the month, as per records of the EPFO. The estimates may include temporary employees whose contributions may not be continuous for the entire year, it has said.

The EPFO manages social security funds of workers in the organised/ semi-organised sector in India. It has more than 6 crore active members (with at least one-month contribution during the year).

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