ISSUE: 363 2023 01 Nov 2023

Govt hikes windfall tax on petroleum

crude to Rs 9,800/ton: India on October 31
hiked windfall tax on petroleum crude to Rs
9,800/ton from Rs 9,050/ton with effect from
November 1, according to a government
notification. The windfall tax on aviation
turbine fuel has been cut to nil from 1 rupee per
litre and diesel reduced to Rs 2/litre from Rs 4/litre, the notification
added. Crude oil prices are trading around $85 per barrel on account of
supply tightness and geopolitical tensions. In the last fortnightly review
on October 17, the government had cut special additional excise duty
(SAED) on crude petroleum to Rs 9,050/ton with effect from October 18.
India imposed the windfall tax on crude oil producers in July, 2022 and
extended the levy on exports of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel after
private refiners wanted to make gains from robust refining margins in
overseas markets, instead of selling at home.
(Moneycontrol)
Creator Economy Summit: Finfluencers self-policing as a
community will be ideal, says SEBI official: Self policing the
finfluencer community would be the best for everyone, Ananth Narayan,
whole-time member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
said while speaking at the Moneycontrol Creator Economy Summit at
Mumbai on October 31. ―If you want your community to gain, tell us what
is going wrong. It gives us a lot of comfort to know that there is a
community that is taking care of its problems,‖ Narayan elaborated
saying that the finfluencer community is in the best position to show the
bad apples in the industry. Narayan said that finfluencers need to
communicate and help the market regulator form better regulations.
―Help us, come back with feedback. Refer to other jurisdictions and show
us the way. Talk to us about how something can slip through the
regulations and how we can prevent this," he asked the finfluencers.
(Moneycontrol)
Creator Economy Summit: Finfluencers self-policing as a
community will be ideal, says SEBI official: Self policing the
finfluencer community would be the best for everyone, Ananth Narayan,
whole-time member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
said while speaking at the Moneycontrol Creator Economy Summit at
Mumbai on October 31. ―If you want your community to gain, tell us what
is going wrong. It gives us a lot of comfort to know that there is a
community that is taking care of its problems,‖ Narayan elaborated
saying that the finfluencer community is in the best position to show the
bad apples in the industry. Narayan said that finfluencers need to
communicate and help the market regulator form better regulations.
―Help us, come back with feedback. Refer to other jurisdictions and show
us the way. Talk to us about how something can slip through the
regulations and how we can prevent this," he asked the finfluencers.
(Moneycontrol)
Fiscal deficit in H1 hits 39% of BE: Railways, fertiliser, and road
ministries led the government expenditure during the first six months of
the current fiscal, data released by the Controller General of Accounts
(CGA) on Tuesday showed. However, ministries, including Petroleum &
Natural Gas and Co-operation, need to accelerate spending in the next six
months to meet the budget target. Data showed that the fiscal deficit, the
difference between expenditure and income, for FY 24 reached over 39
per cent of the budget estimate during the April–September period,
higher than 37 per cent for the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
(Business Line)
Core industries’ output slips to 4-month low of 8.1 per cent in
September 2023: The eight core industries’ output growth eased in
September 2023 to 8.1 per cent, lower than August’s 14-month high of
12.1 per cent. The Government has now revised upwards the August 2023
print to 12.5 per cent. The latest reading is also lower than the 8.3 per
cent growth recorded in September last year. Except for crude oil, the
other seven industries recorded positive growth in September 2023. Coal
output continued to shine, with 16.1 per cent growth in September 2023,
higher than the 12.1 per cent growth seen in September last year. It was
slightly lower than the robust 17.9 per cent growth seen in August this
year. The eight core industries — Coal, Natural Gas, Crude Oil, refinery
products, fertilisers, Cement, Steel and Electricity — comprise 40.27 per
cent of the weight of items included in the IIP.
(Business Line)

RBI 'closely' watching high attrition at some

private banks: Shaktikanta Das: RBI Governor
Shaktikanta Das on October 31 said attrition is seen
to be high at some private sector banks and that the
central bank is watching the issue "closely". Speaking
at the annual BFSI Insight Summit organised by
Business Standard, Das said the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) is looking at the issue as part of the regulatory supervision
efforts. In the comments that come amid some major banks reporting
attrition rates of over 30 per cent, Das said every bank has to build a core
team to take care of such issues. He also said that the career outlook of
youngsters has changed with regard to job switching and added that the
youth is "thinking differently" on the aspect now. According to Das, the
growth momentum in the economy continues to be strong, and that the
GDP number for the second quarter will surprise everyone on the upside.
He said that geopolitical uncertainty is the biggest risk to global growth
but was quick to add that India is better placed to deal with any
potentially risky situation.
(Moneycontrol)
‘SBI and LIC should be recognised as Maharatnas’ SBI Said:
While two public sector financial institutions — State Bank of India (SBI)
and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) — are in the list of top 10
most profitable companies, they remain conspicuous by their absence in
the Maharatnas list, posing a question as to the
appropriateness/relevance of the composite list, said SBI’s economic
research department (ERD). The report card of the top ten profit-making
companies of India Inc in FY23 dispels the belief that
Maharatnas/Navratnas are the best in terms of performance, as only one
Maharatna (ONGC) features in the top 10 list, according to the ERD’s
special report. The ERD made a case for balancing the Maharatna list
through representation from BFSI (banking, financial services and
insurance) sectoral champions whose 360° contribution supersedes most.
―SBI and LIC, the market leaders in their segments, have no Maharatna
Status but they are way more than Maharatna CPSEs (central public
sector enterprises) in terms of size of the balance sheet ... they can reach
new heights with enhanced autonomy and independent, faster decision-
making process, which also raises the bar for other systemic players to
adopt best practices...,‖ Group Chief Economic Adviser, SBI, said.
(Business Line)

Retail inflation for industrial workers

eases to 4.72 pc in September: Retail
inflation for industrial workers eased to
4.72 per cent in September, compared to
6.91 per cent in August this year, mainly
due to lower prices of certain food items
and cooking gas. "Year-on-year inflation for
the month stood at 4.72 per cent compared
to 6.91 per cent for the previous month
(August 2023) and 6.49 per cent during the corresponding month
(September 2022) a year before," a labour ministry statement said.
Similarly, it stated that the food inflation also reduced to 6.52 per cent
against 10.06 per cent of the previous month and 7.76 per cent during the
corresponding month a year ago. According to the statement, the All-
India CPI-IW (Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers) for September
2023 decreased by 1.7 points and stood at 137.5. It was 139.2 points in
August 2023.
(Business Line)
Govt mulls separate PLI for electronics component
manufacturing: The ministry of electronics and information
technology (MeitY) is currently evaluating a proposal to introduce a
separate production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for electronics
component manufacturing, sources familiar with the matter stated. The
ministry is expected to discuss this proposal with the ministry of
commerce and industry as well as NITI Aayog to explore the prospects
and structure of the scheme. The need for a separate PLI for local
manufacturing of electronics components has emerged from multiple
discussions between the government and the industry. Many players,
including Dixon Technologies, have urged the
government to establish a distinct PLI scheme for
electronics components, separate from the scheme
for the promotion of manufacturing of electronic
components and semiconductors (SPECS), in
order to make India self-reliant in the entire value
chain of electronics ecosystem, government
officials said.
(Financial Express)

Thailand scraps visa requirement for Indian travellers: Thailand

is set to waive visa requirements for travelers from India and Taiwan,
starting next month and continuing until May 2024. The move aims to
attract more tourists, particularly as the high tourism season approaches.
According to spokesperson Chai Wacharonke, arrivals from India and
Taiwan will be permitted to stay in Thailand for a duration of 30 days.
India has emerged as Thailand's fourth-largest source market for tourism
this year, following Malaysia, China, and South Korea, with
approximately 1.2 million arrivals.
(Economic Times)
RBI KEY RATES FOREX EQUITY
(RBI REF. ) /COMM. MARKET
Repo Rate: 6.50% INR / 1 USD : 83.2692 Sensex: 63874.93 (-237.72)
SDF: 6.25% INR / 1 GBP : 101.1643 NIFTY: 19079.60 (-61.30)
MSF /Bank Rate: 6.75% INR / 1 EUR : 88.3236 Bnk NIFTY: 42845.95 (-193.25)
CRR: 4.50% INR /100 JPY: 55.4200 Gold: 60,918.00 (-362.00)
SLR: 18.00% Silver: 71,657.00 (-1098.00)
FINANCIAL CONCEPTS
MARKET STABILIZATION SCHEME
 The Market Stabilization Scheme is a policy introduced by the RBI in
2004. The main aim of this scheme is to withdraw excess money supply
from the system by selling securities in the economy. The sale of
government bonds achieves this. These securities are issued not to meet
the government’s expenditure.
 The bills/bonds issued under MSS have all the attributes of the existing
treasury bills and dated securities. These securities will be issued by way
of auctions to be conducted by the RBI. The timing of issuance, amount
and tenure of such securities will be decided by the RBI.
 The securities issued under the MSS scheme are matched by an equivalent
cash balance held by the government with the RBI. As a result, their
issuance will have a negligible impact on the fiscal deficit of the
government.
 The amounts raised under the MSS would be held in a separate
identifiable cash account titled the Market Stabilisation Scheme Account
(MSS Account) to be maintained and operated by the Reserve Bank.

Have a nice day

CLICK HERE FOR DAILY UPDATES
(With Name & Bank Name)
(If not joined our group so far)
The unique and widely circulated monthly e-magazine
exclusively for Bankers
Covers all RBI notifications and circulars during the
month.
All guidelines from other regulators such as CGTMSE,
SEBI, IBA, MoF etc released during the month.
Relevant economic and financial awareness
Recalled questions of Bank promotion tests, MCQs etc.
One subject note with updated contents
Exclusively useful for Bank promotion and to get updated for
JAIIB/CAIIB aspirants.