Nirmala Sitharaman News

Bank of India is the first public sector bank to launch the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, 2023. According to a press release from Bank of India, it is the first bank to operationalise this scheme at all its branches. Mahila Samman Savings Certificate was previously only available through post offices. The Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, through an e-gazette notification issued on June 27, 2023 permitted all Public Sector Banks and eligible Private Sector Banks to implement and operationalise the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, 2023. This flagship program was introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Budget speech for FY 2023–2024 on February 1, 2023.Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, 2023

battery swapping policy — that sought to make charging electric vehicles (EV) as quick as refuelling conventional vehicles — have stalled following opposition from the industry over interoperability standards mooted in the draft scheme, said people in the know. Now, a highly 'watered down' version of the scheme is at a final consideration stage with the Prime Minister's Office, said a source aware of the government's plans. This, after multiple delays in finalising the policy due to lobbying from the EV industry to remove certain clauses around interoperability in the scheme. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had first mentioned a battery swapping scheme in her budget speech in February 2022 and a draft policy was soon released by the Niti Aayog in April that year.

GoI can take credit for the health of banks after a decade-long cleaning up of bad loans. Parallelly, Indian companies have shed their bloated debt and are now primed for capital expansion on signal from consumption demand. Sticky loans at public sector banks (PSBs) are heading for their best performance in 10 years as credit demand is pushed up by households emerging from pandemic restrictions.

Monthly GST collection crossed the Rs 1.60 lakh crore mark for the fourth time ever, riding a vigorous economy, continued economic momentum and strong anti-evasion measures. “Monthly GST collection remaining over Rs 1.6 lakh crore is a new normal,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday at an event marking six years of GST. She added that even the tax buoyancy of states had improved after the launch of the single tax, even without taking GST compensation into consideration.

twin balance sheet advantage that’s benefiting the economy, having rebounded from a twin balance sheet problem in 2014, said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. On assuming power then, the government realised banks were going through a crisis, she said at an event on Saturday. The government’s 4R strategy helped them turn around.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said Goods and Services Tax (GST) has increased revenue buoyancy of states, and the all-round benefit stands out as «exemplary». The multiplicity of taxes in the pre-GST regime resulted in a «tax-on-tax» effect, causing the same product to be taxed multiple times and hence becoming costlier for the consumers, she said at the GST Day 2023.

finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday lauded public sector banks and said their net profit has almost tripled to Rs 1.04 lakh crore in FY23. She said, «Public sector banks doing well; their net profit almost tripled to Rs 1.04 lakh crore in fiscal 2022-23.» She said performance of public sector banks have improved on account of various initiatives taken by the Modi government since 2014.

In order to push capital expenditure by central ministries, the Finance Ministry on Friday extended the relaxed norms on capex in excess of Rs 500 crore to the second quarter of this fiscal.

fiscal deficit for the first two months of this fiscal year through May stood at 2.10 lakh crore rupees, or 11.8% of annual estimates, government data showed today. The fiscal deficit narrowed from 12.3% reported in the comparable year-earlier period. Total receipts stood at 4.16 lakh crore rupees, while overall expenditure in April to May was at 6.26 lakh crore rupees.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) has acted as an engine for driving domestic consumption and helped households save on monthly bills since its implementation six years ago, the government said on Friday. Giving a comparison of the tax rates of various goods pre and post-GST rollout, the government said from streamlining processes to boosting investments, GST has been a catalyst for progress.

Nirmala Sitharaman said a global template may have to be created for cryptocurrencies.

Issues related to crypto currency and its challenges were discussed at the meet.

cryptocurrencies in the wake of the recent shocks witnessed in the crypto market. Last year's episode of FTX's bankruptcy following a spat with Binance triggered a huge sell-off in the market and reduced liquidity. This event made the world realise the vulnerability of this asset class as they do not have any underlying value.

The G20 — an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union — has planned to develop a common framework for helping all countries deal with risks associated with cryptocurrency investments.

During a meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) that took place on February 25, United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen emphasized how important it was to develop a robust regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) with jointly preparing a technical paper on crypto assets. The paper could be used to formulate a coordinated and comprehensive policy to regulate crypto assets. The G20 will draw up a universally acceptable international framework to regulate crypto assets and said that only a central bank-backed monetary unit would qualify as a currency. «To complement the ongoing dialogue on the need for a policy framework, the Indian Presidency has proposed a joint technical paper by the IMF and the FSB, which would synthesise the macroeconomic and regulatory perspectives of crypto assets,» according to an official statement. The joint technical paper would be presented at the finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in October 2023, it said.

India has said it wants a collective global effort to deal with problems posed by cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, and the finance ministry said it had held a seminar for G20 member states to discuss how to come up with a common framework. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bengaluru, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said it was «critical» to put in place a strong regulatory framework but added that the United States had not suggested any outright bans. «We haven't suggested outright banning of crypto activities, but it is critical to put in place a strong regulatory framework,» Yellen said. «We're working with other governments.»

The International Monetary Fund and the United States have shown support for India's plan to coordinate global crypto regulation during the recent G20 meeting. 

United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed the importance of implementing a strong regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies during a G20 meeting on Feb. 25. 

Some members of the G20 said during this week's discussions that a complete ban on crypto should be considered, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

debt for distressed economies, the chief of the International Monetary Fund said on Saturday on the sidelines of a G20 meeting, adding that banning private cryptocurrencies should be an option. India's G20 presidency comes at a time when its South Asian neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan are seeking urgent IMF funds due to an economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. China, the world's largest bilateral creditor, urged G20 nations on Friday to conduct a fair, objective and in-depth analysis of the causes of global debt issues as clamour grows for lenders to take a large haircut, or accept losses, on loans. «On debt restructuring, while there are still some disagreements, we now have the global sovereign debt roundtable with consideration of all public and private creditors,» IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters after the roundtable she co-chaired with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.