by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate finance, Corporate Governance, Finance, News, Politics

Piyush Goyal
New Delhi : The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday said that Finance Minister Piyush Goyal will address its Central Board on February 18.
In a late night statement, the RBI said that FM will address the Central Board of Directors in its customary post-budget meeting.
The RBI’s Central Board of Directors consists of 18 members including Governor Shaktikanta Das.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics

SDPI national president M. K. Faizy
By Pervez Bari, Maeeshat.in,
New Delhi : The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has described the interim Union budget 2019 as vote garnering election budget of the BJP-led NDA Government. The Interim Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal has announced doles for the farmers, tax rebate to salaried class and sops to workers of the informal sector to entice them to vote for the BJP.
SDPI national president M. K. Faizy in a statement has said that the budget is focussed to tempt and bribe middle class, farmers and the unorganised sector voters to propel BJP to retain power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which is due in April-May this year. He said that the interim budget is sheer number games, political gimmicks and far from reality. Had the BJP wanted to please farmers, salaried class and informal workers with rain of exemptions and freebies, they should have done in 2018 Budget itself? Since it is the interim budget, show of this kind of pleasing Budget in the election period is nothing but indirect inducement to voters.
Faizy sad that people would have appreciated the government had the measures been taken at least a year before elections, else it is considered as not people friendly but power friendly. Earlier, when UPA declared the Food Security measure in the last interim 2014 budget by the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, it was argued that it was so glaringly last minute hasty insincere measure since there was no corresponding financial provision in the budget. Every government, thus, wishes not to serve the people’s welfare but to hold on to its own chairs of power. There is no joy when the measures are blatantly self-serving!
He said that even the middle class is fooled. The government is talking as if it gave a big relief to middle class. Only those with taxable income less than 5 lakhs rupees will get the tax exemption and that too a maximum of around 13000 rupees per year. If you earn more than Rs.5 lakhs then there is no change in tax. The increase in the income tax exemption limit is with an eye on elections. Will the salaried class be lured by such carrot and stick announcement? No middle class is going to benefit by this and it’s an insult to the middle class…another “Jumla”!
The statement said that while the government announced a scheme called PM-Kisan or ”Pradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi” wherein small and marginal farmers, who own less than two acres of land, will receive direct annual handouts of around Rs. 6,000. The amount would be deposited directly in their bank accounts in instalments of Rs.2, 000. First handout of Rs.2000 is indirect bribe for vote because the effective date is back dated to December 2018 which is principally wrong. A family of 5 will just get about Rs. 3.40 per day which may be just equal to the price of half cup of tea. It is an interim budget only valid till next government takes over and presents routine budget. Clearly, it is a clever attempt to purchase the voters officially by making payments directly in their bank accounts out of the tax payers’ money. The ‘PM-Kisan’ scheme is nothing but rubbing salt on wounds of farmers in the light of the persisting agrarian crisis, he added.
He questioned whether the provision of rebate in income tax limit only provided due to the complex return processes? Will it be going to be discontinued by the government once the return process is reduced to one day? Secondly, will “Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan” scheme announced for the informal sector workers supersede the APY, (Atal Pension Yojna) which is currently providing similar pensions guarantee on attaining the age of 60 year against fixed periodic contributions?
Faizy stated that one thing is clear that neither the Congress nor BJP have Developmental plans, programmes for the country. These political class people just have ad hoc policy with short-sighted gains, not having long term and durable plans and policy which will make our country really a Super Power. Instead they will be playing with words like Emerging Economy or moving towards advanced economies globally at a faster pace, this kind of phrases we have been listening since UPA rule. Now, BJP is playing the same card. Both the parties think that the people of India are fools, illiterates, hence can be fooled every time with this kind of populist Budget? In every sphere of economic, social, educational we are lagging behind as compared to other countries like Japan and China. It is painful to see Indian markets and cities flooded with Chinese products and foreign goods.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate finance, Corporate Governance, Economy, Markets, News
New Delhi : Setting aside all conventions with an eye on the coming elections, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday showered tax sops for the middle class and salaried tax payers including zero tax liability for those with income is up to Rs 5 lakh and announced an annual income support of Rs 6,000 for small farmers and contributory pension for labourers in the demonetization-hit unorganized sector.
Taking the place of an ailing Arun Jaitley, in his 100-minute speech, Goyal also announced raising the Standard Deduction for the salaried class and pensioners from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 and proposed exemption from tax on notional rent on second self-occupied home. This would help families maintaining homes at two locations due to their jobs.
In a big relief for the middle income group, he increased the rebate under Section 87A of the Income Tax Act from Rs 2,500 to Rs 12,500 – the equivalent of 5 per cent tax on Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh slab – and also raised the eligibility criterion for claiming the rebate to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 3.5 lakh earlier. This effectively reduces the tax liability of those with net taxable income upto Rs 5 lakh to nil.
However, tax liability for those with net income above Rs 5 lakh would still start from Rs 2.5 lakh as earlier. The Interim Budget neither changed the existing tax rates or the slabs.
The tax giveaways involve a revenue sacrifice of Rs 23,100 crore a year to benefit more than three crore salary earners and pensioners – Rs 18,400 crore on account of Rs 12,500 tax rebate and other changes and Rs 4,700 crore on account of raising the standard deduction.
In the wake of the BJP’s defeat in the Hindi heartland states in December on perceived stress in agriculture and informal sectors, the Budget came out with a direct income support of Rs 6,000 per annum for small farmers with land-holding size up to two hectares which would be transferred directly into their bank accounts.
The scheme would be funded completely by the Central government and would directly benefit 12 crore farmer families, he said to the cheers of the ruling benches.
Acknowledging reduced returns for farmers due to falling food prices in the international market and declining inflation, Goyal said the scheme would be implemented from December 1 last year for which Rs 20,000 crore has been allocated in the revised estimates for the current fiscal and Rs 75,000 crore in the Interim Budget for the whole of next fiscal.
For the demo-hit unorganised sector, Goyal announced a contributory pension scheme providing for Rs 3,000 per month on attaining 60 year that will benefit 10 crore workers in the unorganized sector.
Those who enter the scheme at 18 years will have to pay a monthly premium of Rs 55 while those who enter at 29 years will have to pay Rs 100 per month till they reach 60. The government will contribute a matching share in the pension account of workers.
This scheme, he said, will be implemented from the current year and a sum of Rs 500 crore has been allocated and more will be given if needed.
In a big relief to pensioners and senior citizens, he also raised the threshold for Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) on interest received on bank deposits from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000, and TDS on rent from Rs 180,000 to Rs 240,000.
“Once you account deductions under Section 80(C), middle class tax payers with gross income upto Rs 6.5 lakh will have no need to pay income tax,” he said amidst prolonged thumping of desks by the ruling NDA members who kept shouting “Modi, Modi, Modi”. The Prime Minister was himself seen thumping the desks every time Goyal made fresh announcements.
Taken along with Standard Deduction and other sops like interest paid on home loans, education loans, contribution to National Pension Scheme, medical insurance premium and medical expenses on senior citizens, the effective exemption would go up further.
He said while the changes in the tax structure would be made in the regular Budget, people needed a certainty in their minds in the beginning of the year about what taxes they would have to pay and went on to announce the tax sops in the Part B of his speech.
The budget also stepped up defence allocation which he said will be crossing Rs 3 lakh crore for the first time in 2019-20. “If necessary, additional funds would be provided for securing our borders and to maintain preparedness of the highest order.”
Part of the funding for the agriculture and unorganized sector schemes may come from the Rs 20,000 hike in the RBI and PSU dividends from Rs 54,000 crore in 2018-19.
Turning to macro finance in the budget, Goyal revised the fiscal deficit target for 2019-20 at 3.4 per cent of the GDP, up by 0.1 per cent targeted this year.
“We would have maintained fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent for 2018-19 and taken further steps to consolidate fiscal deficit in 2019-20. However, considering the need for income support to farmers, we have provided Rs 20,000 crore in the revised estimate of the current fiscal and Rs 75,000 crore in the budget estimates of 2019-20.
“If we exclude this, the fiscal deficit would have been less than 3.3 per cent for 2018-19 and less than 3.1 per cent for 2019-20.”
The Interim Budget pegged the total expenditure for 2019-20 at Rs 27,84,200 crore, up from Rs 24,57,235 crore in the revised estimates of the current fiscal, which is a rise of approximately 13.3 per cent.
At the outset, Goyal said the paralysis of the past had been broken and India solidly put back on track and marching towards growth and prosperity.
The government had succeeded in breaking the back of the “back breaking” inflation which stood at 2.19 per cent in December. “If we had not controlled inflation, our families would have been spending around 35 to 40 per cent more today on basic necessities.”
Critics of the budget said the exercise was one of optics and rhetoric. They raised questions like where the money would come for funding the schemes to benefit farmers and labour in the unorganised sector.
The government may bank on the gross borrowing that has been estimated at over Rs 7 lakh crore but on the direct taxes front contrary to claims of buyoancy and compliance ramping up, there is a defict.
Government sources indicated that all eyes would now be on RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, who was appointed recently, to come to the aid of the government to come out with an interest rate cut on the back of a benign inflation.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Hailing the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha, BJP president Amit Shah on Friday said the Budget has met the expectations of every section of society, including farmers, labourers and the middle class.
“The Budget has fulfilled what was being expected by the people from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has met with the expectations of every section of the society,” Shah said.
By bearing a cost of Rs 75,000 crore, he said, the government will implement the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme providing Rs 6,000 to each farmer owning land up to two hectares. This scheme will also benefit those farmers who do not take loans.
Speaking on ‘Kamdhenu Yojana’, Shah said it is a great step taken by the Prime Minister for the welfare and protection of cows.
“A Kamdhenu Samvardhan Aayog will look after the welfare and protection of different breeds of cows. The Aayog will also manage construction of cowsheds and other schemes for cows.”
Shah congratulated the Government for announcing an over Rs 3 lakh crore outlay for the defence sector.
“Modiji has tried to ensure the security of the country by providing One Rank One Pension and a record amount for defence sector in this Budget,” Shah said.
The government in the Budget, Shah said, has also given space to fishermen as they play a big role in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“By making a separate department for fisheries, the Modi-led government will have more focus on the sector.”
The BJP chief said that the Rs 3,000 pension for labourers after attaining the age of 60 years will benefit them at a time when they will not be able to do hard work. The Budget, he said, also mentions about the bonus for labourers working in the organised sector.
He said the government is also committed to the development of the northeastern states. “After putting the North-East on the railway as well as the airport map, the government now has increased the budget by 21 per cent over the previous year. This is the highest budgetary increase so far.”
Shah also said the government will create an Aayog for the nomadic community for their welfare.
“To benefit the middle class, the Government has doubled their income tax limit from Rs 2.50 lakh to Rs 5 lakh in this Budget. The Prime Minister has given more than what was expected.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Banking, Corporate, Corporate finance, Corporate Governance, Economy, Finance, News, Politics
New Delhi : The BJP on Wednesday attacked the Congress-led UPA government for blindly giving loans and weakening the banks due to which their losses increased from Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 53,000 crore, and said the NDA government brought transparency and forced people to repay their loans.
“Swachh Bharat Mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not restricted only to the cleanliness of courtyards but is also about the cleanliness in our economic system,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal told a press conference here.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that after assuming the office in 2014, the Modi government inherited an extremely fragile banking sector.
“But the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a wise decision not to bring any such white paper and they responsibly ran the government and brought sustainable solution to only strengthen the economy,” Goyal said.
Slamming the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for giving loans without doing the fact-check of projects, Goyal said: “The UPA government started distributing loans from 2006 and the procedure went on till 2014. The bank losses increased from Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 53,000 crore in those years.”
“Due to blindly giving of loans overcapacity was created,” he said.
Citing example of the Indian Bank, Goyal said: “Same situation of the non-performing assets (NPAs) was prevalent when Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji’s government had come to power. And at that time, he brought the transparency and the Indian Bank is running in profit.”
“And today, we have also brought transparency in the NPA loans and tried to resolve the entire mess that Congress gave us,” he said.
Attacking the Congress-led government, Goyal said: “UPA blindly gave out loans and weakened the banks, but the Modi government ushered in transparency and forced all the responsible individuals to repay the loans.”
“In case they couldn’t repay the loans, we tried to resolve through Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code,” he said.
The Railway and Coal Minister also said that during the UPA government, a lot of big people took loans without taking into account the responsibility that comes along with it.
“But it is Modi government which has acted tough with these people and forced them to pay back,” he said.
Goyal further said that the strictness of the government also led to the implementation of the Fugitive Law, under which the properties of the defaulters are attached.
This is the first government which has taken strict action against the rich people to repay loan, he underlined.
Citing the achievements of his government, Goyal said: “Our government implemented the Benami Act. We brought GST instead of 40 different taxes,” the BJP leader added.
—IANS