Daily Financial News Analysis – 2nd Sep’20

Table of Contents

MCLR

Indian Bank has announced a cut of 5 basis points to 7.30%, in its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for one-year tenure.
On Monday, the country’s second largest lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) had raised its RLLR by 15 basis points to 6.80 per cent, making loans costlier for new borrowers.
All new retail loans (housing, education, vehicle), credit to MSMEs are linked to RLLR now.

Marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR)
It is used to define the minimum rate of interest that a bank can charge lenders on the loans it provides.
Repo linked lending rate or RLLR which will keep varying each time the Reserve Bank of India or the RBI revises the repo rate.

Gross GST revenue collection

The gross GST revenue collected in August is Rs 86,449 crore.
The revenue for the month is 88 per cent of the GST revenue in the same month last year.
During the month, the revenue from import of goods was 77 per cent and the revenue from domestic transactions were 92 per cent of the revenue from these sources during the same month last year.
The taxpayers with turnover less than Rs 5 crore will continue to enjoy relaxation in filing of returns till September.

Trade Ministers: India, Australia, and Japan

Trade and Commerce ministers of India, Australia, and Japan have underscored the necessity and potential to enhance the resiliency of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region.
Ministers shared their intention to work toward the launch of a new initiative to achieve the objective through cooperation.

The details of the new initiative slated for launch later this year will be worked out by senior officials.
The ministers also invited other like minded countries in the region to participate in the initiative.
Piyush Goyal said that the initiative could not have come at a more opportune time in the post COVID scenario when there is a likelihood of rechurning of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region and it is incumbent upon us to take the initiative.
Referring to Prime Minister Modi’s remarks, he said it is the need of the hour that India should play a big role in the supply chains.
He said that the initiative also dwells on improving the competitiveness of sectors.
Describing Australia, India, and Japan as crucial players in the region, Goyal said that during 2019, the cumulative GDP was $ 9.3 trillion while cumulative merchandise goods and services trade were $ 2.7 trillion and $0.9 trillion respectively.
“With such a strong baseline, it is important that we use this opportunity to work towards enhancing the share of our trade and investment in the region”, the Minister said.
The Ministers also reaffirmed their determination to take a lead in delivering a free, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable, and stable trade and investment environment and in keeping their markets open.
Goyal expressed the hope that the proposed initiative must clearly try to bridge gaps and work towards enhancing mutual trade.
He said that India, in its tradition of treating the world as a family, played a crucial role during the COVID crisis with the export measures for the supply of critical medical products put in place only to ensure equitable distribution.
“All these measures indicate our credibility and reliability as a partner and I am sure this is an important parameter as we venture into this new initiative for ensuring the resiliency of supply chains. Transparency and trust have to be the hallmark of our initiative if we seek to expand its footprint”, Goyal said.

Coal India Projects

Union Minister of Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi: India aims to achieve 1 billion tonnes (BT) coal production by the year 2023-24.
Aatmanirbhar in Coal
Coal India Ltd (CIL) will invest over Rs. 1.22 lakh crores on about 500 projects related to coal evacuation, infrastructure, project development, exploration and clean coal technologies.
The company would be investing around Rs. 14,200 Crores by the year 2023-24, in two phases for its 49 First Mile Connectivity projects.
He added that first Mile Connectivity is the transportation of coal from pitheads to dispatch points.
He further said that this is being done to bring in improved efficiency in coal transport and to undertake computer-aided loading replacing the existing road transport between the two points.
The Minister said that Coal India and its subsidiaries are engaged in procurement of various types of Goods, Works and Services amounting to approximately Rs. 30,000 crores per year.
This is where the role and importance of stakeholder steps in.