Data recap: Inflation, tax mop-up, India-UAE ties

livemint.com:

6.5%: That's the unemployment rate in urban areas in the December 2023 quarter, data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) showed. In the same period last year, India's unemployment rate was 7.2%. The Periodic Labour Force Survey showed that the urban labour force participation rate—or the share of individuals in the labour force—rose to 49.9% from 48.2% a year ago.

The survey was conducted among a sample of about 169,000 people across 44,544 urban households across the country. The Centre’s net direct tax collections, after adjusting for refunds, increased by 20.3% on year to ₹15.6 trillion in 2023-24 till 10 February. The figure already represents 80% of the revised budget estimate for the full fiscal year.

This growth was primarily driven by a 27% increase in personal income tax payments, while corporate income tax also saw a rise of 13.6%. Direct tax collections as a percentage of GDP for 2023-24 is projected to be 6.6%, markedly higher than the 6.1% in 2022-23. The RBI's crackdown on Paytm Payments Bank has adversely affected small investors.

The shares of its parent company, One97 Communications, have plummeted following the central bank's suspension of most of the bank's operations due to repeated non-compliance with regulations. Retail investors had significantly increased their stake in Paytm during the December quarter, from 8.28% to 12.85%, Mint reported. The decline in share prices comes as an unpleasant surprise for both new and existing investors.