1. NPCI to launch Rupay Debit Card in Oman
Tags: place in news Economy/Finance International News
Oman has become the latest country in the world where National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) will launch its RuPay Debit card.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on 4 October 2022 between the Central Bank of Oman and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for cooperation in digital payment systems.
The agreement was signed during the visit of the Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan to Oman. He was on a two day (3-4 October) visit to Oman.
This was his second visit to Oman and he met Oman’s foreign minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi .
Rupay Card
RuPay is an Indian payment gateway like Visa or MasterCard and is increasingly being expanded to India's neighbouring countries or nations with a huge Indian diaspora.
Rupay card was officially launched for public in India on 8 May 2014
Singapore was the first foreign country where it was launched in May 2018, followed by Bhutan and the Maldives.
In West Asia, UAE was the first country where RuPay was launched during PM Modi's August 2019 visit.
Agreement has also been signed with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, France and Nepal for its launch in the respective countries.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
- NPCI, an umbrella organization for operating retail payment and settlement systems in India, has been initiated by the 'RBI' and the 'Indian Banks' Association' (IBA) under the 'Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007'.
- It is a 'not-for-profit' company established under the provisions of Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 (as amended in 2013), with the objective of providing physical and electronic payment infrastructure to the entire banking system in India.
2. Prosus terminates the PayU deal to buy payment aggregator BillDesk
Tags: Economy/Finance
Prosus, owner of PayU, has announced the termination of its $4.7-billion deal to acquire India’s leading payments aggregator BillDesk.
On 31, August 2021, Prosus announced that its company PayU will buy the online payments firm BillDesk for $4.7 billion (about Rs 34,400 crore). It was approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on September 5, 2022.
The Netherlands based Prosus in a statement said that ““Certain conditions were not fulfilled by September 30, 2022, and the agreement has terminated automatically”.
Walmart’s $ 16 billion acquisition of e-commerce major Flipkart in 2018 is the biggest M & A (merger & acquisition) deal in the Indian fintech space.
Prosus has invested around $6 billion in Indian new tech companies like Swiggy, PharmEasy,Meesho,Byju,DeHaat, Mensa Brands, and Good Glamm Group.
3. BSNL to start 4G services from November
Tags: Economy/Finance
The Government of India owned Telecom Company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced that it will start its 4 G service from November 2022 and will gradually upgrade it to 5 G by August 2023. BSNL is the only telecom company in India which still offers 3G service.
This was announced by the BSNL chairman and managing director PK Purwar at the 6th India Mobile Congress held in New Delhi from 1-4 October 2022.
Prime Minister Narendra officially launched 5G service on 1 October and Airtel became the first company to launch 5G service in India.
According to R K Purwar, the company is in discussion with IT major TCS and state-run telecom research and development organisation C-DOT-led consortium to deploy indigenously developed 4G technology in the network.
BSNL was set up in 2000 by the Government of India under the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Telecommunication. Its Headquarters is at New Delhi.
4. India's economic growth to decline to 5.7% in 2022: UNCTAD
Tags: Economy/Finance
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Trade and Development Report 2022, the Indian economy growth rate is expected to decline to 5.7% in 2022(January-December period ). The report was released on 3 October 2022.
It also expects the Indian economy growth rate to reduce to 4.7 % in 2023.
The Indian economy grew by 8.7% in 2021-22. In the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year (2022-23) it grew by 13.5%.
The Reserve Bank of India also reduced the expected growth rate of the Indian economy for 2022-23 to 7% in its latest monetary policy review on 30 September 2022.
The main reason cited by the UNCTAD report for reducing the economic growth rate of India is the expected reduction in the capital expenditure of the government due to adverse global economic situations.
UNCTAD said it expects the South Asia region to expand at a pace of 4.9 per cent in 2022
UNCTAD projects that the US economy will grow at 1.9 per cent in 2022 will further slow down to 0.9 per cent in 2023.
Meanwhile, China's economic growth is projected to be 3.9 per cent in 2022 and 5.3 per cent growth in 2023.
Forecast for Indian Economy Growth Rate by various agencies (till 3rd October 2022)
Agency /Institutions | Forecast for 2022-23 |
RBI | 7.0% |
World Bank | 7.5% |
International Monetary Fund | 7.4% |
Asian Development Bank | 7.2% |
SBI | 6.8% |
Moody Investor Service | 7.70% |
India Rating | 6.9% |
Standard and Poor Rating | 7.3% |
UNCTAD | 5.7 % |
OECD | 6.9% |
Fitch rating | 7% |
UNCTAD (United Nation Conference on Trade and Development)
UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964.
It was set up to promote the interests of developing countries in world trade.
It also releases the World Investment Report.
Headquarters of UNCTAD: Geneva, Switzerland
Offices of UNCTAD: New York in the United States and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
Secretary-General: Mrs. Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica
5. PNB launches WhatsApp banking for customers and non-customers
Tags: Economy/Finance
Government of India owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) on 3 October 2022 said that it has introduced banking services through WhatsApp for both customers and non-customers. The customer of the bank has to first register with the bank for this facility.
At present, Punjab National Bank would be offering non-financial services such as balance inquiry, last five transactions, stop cheque, request cheque book to its account holders through the WhatsApp banking service.
Other informative services that would be provided to both account and non-account holders include online account opening, enquire bank deposit/loan products, digital products, NRI services, locate branch/ATM, opt-in, opt-out options.
The WhatsApp banking service will be available 24x7, including holidays, on both android and iOS-based mobile phones
Punjab National Bank (PNB)
It is a Public Sector Bank which was set up in 1894 and started its functioning in 1895.
It is the first Swadeshi bank which was set up by Indians with Indian capital.
Lala Lajpat Rai was the first person to open an account with the bank.
It was nationalized in 1969 and it is owned by the Government of India.
It is the third largest public sector bank after SBI and Bank of Baroda.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer: Atul Kumar Goel
Headquarters: New Delhi
Tagline of the Bank: A name you can bank upon.
6. ICICI bank has announced a new bank account for Indian students in UK
Tags: Economy/Finance
ICICI Bank UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of India’s 2nd largest private sector bank ICICI Bank, has announced on 3 October 2022, the launch of a new account designed for Indian students going for higher education in the United Kingdom.
The account named “The HomeVantage Current Account (HVCA)”, comes with a Visa debit card valid for use anywhere in the world and can be activated digitally before the students leave India for the UK.
It is an equivalent to a savings account in India, the account holder can activate internet banking and mobile banking once it has been activated.
ICICI BANK
It is a private sector bank which was set up in 1994 by ICICI. In 2002 ICICI merged with ICICI bank.
It is the second largest private bank in India after HDFC Bank.
In 1999, ICICI became the first Indian company and the first bank or financial institution from non-Japan Asia to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer: Sandeep Bakshi
Headquarters: Vadodara, Gujarat
Tagline of the Bank: Khayal Apka
7. Indian merchandise goods exports registers a growth of 15.54% in the first six months of financial year 2022-23
Tags: Economy/Finance
According to the data released by the Union Ministry of Commerce on 3 October 2022, the Indian merchandise export from India in the first six months (April-September) of the financial year 2022-23 was $229.05 billion. It registered a growth of 15.54% over the same time period last year
The import of the merchandise goods during the first months (April-September) of the financial year 2022-23 was $ 378.53 billion with an increase of 37.89% as compared to the same period last year.
The trade deficit (Import-Export) in the first six months (April-September) of the financial year 2022-23 was $ 149.47 billion.
Merchandise export and import in 2021-22
The total merchandise export from India in 2021-23 was a record $417.81 billion with a growth rate of 43.18% as compared to the last year.
India’s merchandise import in 2021-22 was $ 610.22 billion with an increase of 54.71% over the last year.
Top exported goods from India during the first six months (April-September) of the financial year 2022-23
All figures are in million dollars (1 million = 10 lakhs)
Commodity | April-September 2022-23 | Percentage in total merchandise export |
Engineering goods | 54456.02 | 23.77% |
Petroleum products | 49889.66 | 21.78% |
Gems and Jewellery | 20484.36 | 8.94% |
Organic and Inorganic chemicals | 15744.19 | 6.87% |
Drugs and Pharmaceuticals | 12580.51 | 5.49% |
Electronic goods | 10192.88 | 4.45% |
Top imported goods by India during first six months (April-September) of the financial year 2022-23
All figures are million dollars.
Commodity | April-September 2022-23 | Percentage in total merchandise import |
Crude Petroleum oil and products , Crude & products | 114982.23 | 30.38% |
Electronic goods | 39588.41 | 10.46% |
Coal, Coke & Briquettes, etc. | 30245.98 | 7.99% |
Machinery, electrical & non-electrical | 21790.35 | 5.76% |
Gold | 20077.82 | 5.30% |
8. Union Finance Ministry to launch a special financial inclusion drive from 15 October
Tags: Economy/Finance
The Union Finance ministry has announced a special campaign to further deepen the Financial Inclusion (FI) framework by completing the task of providing bank accounts to unbanked, providing loans for putting up cold chain infrastructure and expanding the coverage and penetration of Mudra and KCC to newer segments. The campaign will be from 15 October to 26 November 2022.
Focus on seven district
According to the ministry , the campaign will be initially be rolled out at the gram panchayat level in seven districts across India including Cuttack (Odisha), Aurangabad and Pune (Maharashtra), Kakinada (AP), Kaushambi (UP), Datia (MP), Barpeta (Assam).
Main focus of the special campaign
The main focus of the special campaign will be ;
- achieve targets in respect of opening bank accounts, insurance/pension schemes for eligible individuals,
- distribution of loans to Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Group (SHG) for establishment of Cold-Chain infrastructure,
- expanding the coverage of MUDRA & Kisan Credit Cards penetration for persons engaged in animal husbandry, dairy & fisheries,
- bringing SHG members within the ambit of the Financial Inclusion ecosystem of the country,
- Linking of existing bank accounts with Aadhaar and mobile number of the existing accounts with special focus on making BSBDA (Basic Saving Bank Deposit Account) Small account into a normal account by doing full KYC (Know Your Customer).
Financial Inclusion
Financial inclusion refers to the inclusion of the unbanked population of the country under the formal credit system. It simply means that banks shall be present in every area of the country so that people can open accounts with the bank and have access to cheap credit and other financial services.
The National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2019-24 has set certain targets. They are as follows;
- Providing banking access to every village within a 5 km radius and in the hilly areas banking access is to be provided in an area having 500 households.
- The milestone has been fully achieved in 25 states and 7 UTs as on March 31, 2022 and 99.94 percent of the identified villages/hamlets across the country have been covered. Efforts are on to achieve the target for the remaining villages/ hamlets.
- Opening of BSBD accounts with overdraft facility up to Rs 5000.
- Providing insurance, pension facilities to the account holders.
9. Government cuts windfall tax on crude oil as global oil prices eases
Tags: Economy/Finance
The government of India has announced a cut in the windfall tax on the domestically produced crude oil on 2 October 2022 after the fall in the international crude oil prices.
The windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil has been reduced to Rs 8000 per tonnes from earlier Rs 10,500 per tonne.
Similarly the government has reduced the export duties on diesel to Rs 5 per liters from earlier Rs 10 per litre.
The export duty on Jet aviation fuel was also reduced to 0%.
The special taxes on the oil sectors were imposed by the government on 1 July 2022 after a steep increase in the price of crude oils in the International market. The special taxes were imposed as the government claimed that the oil companies were earning abnormal profits.
The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had promised that the government will review the taxes every fortnight and reduce the taxes if the International oil prices come down.
The duties were partially adjusted in the previous five rounds on July 20, August 2, August 19, September 1 and September 16 and were removed for petrol.
10. Government to set up 100 5G labs to boost innovation
Tags: National Economy/Finance National News
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on 2 October that the government plans to set up 100 labs for 5G technology across India and at least 12 of them will be used to train students and conduct experiments.
Important facts
The minister also asked companies participating in the Indian Mobile Congress to provide their inputs for the new telecom bill, through which the government aims to simplify the licensing regime.
He said that the government is working significantly towards simplifying the licensing regime for all telecom companies.
Indigenous telecom gear maker HFCL announced the launch of 5G Lab-as-a-Service to accelerate the rollout of 5G solutions and services.
It will provide an automated testing environment for the private sector, academia and the government to work together on innovations.
