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GST to transform India, Demonetization, NPAs key risk: RBI
Admiring the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetization action by the government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said these actions can transform the economy, disturbance to public and impulsive impact on growth notwithstanding. In a statement to the media on Thursday, RBI Governor Urjit Patel said withdrawal of stated bank notes will impart far reaching changes going forward, adding that demonetization will extremely transform economy in due course. These observations were made in the Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2015-16 (RTP) and the 14th issue of the Financial Stability Report (FSR).
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley junk Critics, Says Note Ban Effect Not Adverse
Rubbishing critics, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the effects of demonetization were not as adverse as was predicted and asserted that there has been a sharp jump in tax collections and economic activity including in winter crop sowing. Ahead of expiry of the 50-day deadline for depositing the junked 500 and 1000 rupee notes on Friday, he said the demonetization process has substantially advanced, significantly without a single incident of unrest anywhere in the country. Direct tax collection has jumped to Rs 5.57 lakh crore in April 1 to December 19 periods when compared with Rs 4.87 lakh crore collections in the same period a year ago. This makes up for 65 per cent of the Budget estimate.
I will give my level best in the new role: Viral Acharya
“I am honored at being offered the opportunity and hope to give it my best,” Acharya told PTI .A day after being named the Deputy Governor. Acharya, who has been appointed for a term of three years, would take charge on January 20, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a late evening statement on Wednesday. He would look after the Monetary Policy and Research cluster and would fill the post that became vacant after Urjit Patel was made RBI Governor.
Acharya has often praised Rajan for his work and once said “Raghu has been a great source of inspiration for me”. When someone asked him on a flight whether he was Raghuram Rajan, after seeing him, an Indian, with papers on banking and Crises.
Israeli right dismisses John Kerry speech, waits for Donald Trump’s appointment
Israel’s right wing on Thursday dismissed US Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech on the conflict with the Palestinians as a parting shot of little consequence, especially with Donald Trump soon taking office. One minister repeated his assertion that a Palestinian state will be “off the agenda” once expected ally Trump takes over, while others from what is seen as Israel’s most right-wing government ever mocked Kerry. Kerry’s speech included forceful criticism of Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, warning that it was helping put the two-state solution in “serious jeopardy.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he still supports a two-state solution, but he has also described his government as Israel’s most pro-settlement, leading many analysts to question his sincerity.
