The US dollar is on track for its eighth consecutive week of gains against a basket of major currencies, marking its strongest performance since the winter of 2014-2015. According to CNN, it has surged by 5% since mid-July.
Published Date – 12:52 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
Representational Image
London: The US dollar is enjoying its longest winning streak in nearly nine years, CNN reported.
The greenback was heading for its eighth-straight week of gains against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, its best run since winter 2014-2015. It has gained 5 per cent since mid-July, CNN reported,
The rally comes after months of volatility, fueled by concerns that the dollar may be losing its status as the world’s reserve currency. Speculation about the potential de-dollarization of global trade rose again last month after the Chinese-led expansion of the BRICS group of nations to include major oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia.
“Rumors of the US dollar’s demise continue to be greatly exaggerated,” James Athey, investment director at Abrdn, an asset manager, told CNN.
The US Dollar Index, which now stands at its highest level in six months, has been buoyed by a slew of positive economic data from the United States in recent weeks — fueling expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer. Higher interest rates tend to boost the value of a country’s currency by attracting more foreign capital, as investors anticipate making bigger returns, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, storm clouds have gathered over the economies of China and Europe.
“The US economy continues to demonstrate remarkable strength, while matters in China and Europe, in particular, seem to be descending into a much more recessionary place,” Athey added.
The US unemployment is hovering near its lowest level in 50 years. Hiring remains solid, having notched its 32nd consecutive month of growth in August. And wages, when adjusted for inflation, are rising, CNN reported.
Reserve Bank is likely to launch the pilot of Central Bank Digital Currency for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market by October
Published Date – 12:55 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank is likely to launch the pilot of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market by October, central bank Executive Director Ajay Kumar Choudhary said on Sunday.
The pilot of the wholesale CBDC, known as the Digital Rupee-Wholesale (e-W), was launched on November 1, 2022, with the use case being limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities.
“The RBI will introduce the wholesale CBDC in the call market either this month or next month,” Choudhary said on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit here.
The introduction of CBDC was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and necessary amendments to the relevant section of the RBI Act, 1934, were made with the passage of the Finance Bill 2022.
The RBI picked nine banks — State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC — for its pilot project for wholesale CBDC.
Besides, the central bank has already rolled out a pilot in the retail version of the CBDC (e-R) on December 1, 2022. The e-R is in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender.
It is being issued in the same denominations as the paper currency and coins. It is being distributed through financial intermediaries like banks. Users can transact with e-R through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks.
The RBI is showcasing various digital initiatives in the financial sector at the exhibition pavilion during the G20 Summit.
These include Public Tech Platform (PTP) for Frictionless Credit, CBDC, UPI One World, RuPay On-The-Go and Bharat Bill Payment System.
Boeing has said that significant skilling of people to meet demand, rationalisation of fuel taxes and continued infrastructure investments will keep the growth going
Published Date – 02:00 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
Representational Image
New Delhi: Asserting that the Indian aviation sector’s growth fundamentals are strong, aircraft maker Boeing has said that significant skilling of people to meet demand, rationalisation of fuel taxes and continued infrastructure investments will keep the growth going.
Boeing, which has hundreds of aircraft on order from Indian carriers, has also announced various investments, including USD 100 million for training pilots in the country. Besides, it has maintenance training partnerships with partners for having enough skilled mechanics in India.
“We see no slowdown (in India) and we continue to see very high load factors, extremely high rates of profitability amongst the airlines and we see extremely strong demand for aeroplanes as we have seen in some of the largest orders ever placed in the world.
“Overall, we see that demand grows. We are also seeing significant advancements in infrastructure as new terminals come up… new greenfield airports come up…That is going to be a boon to Indian aviation,” Boeing India President Salil Gupte told PTI in a recent interview.
For many many years, he said all were expecting to see the significant growth in Indian aviation and it is now occurring in a very real way. India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world and Indian carriers have around 1,500 planes on order. Earlier this year, Air India placed an order for 470 aircraft, including 220 planes from Boeing.
Indian carriers are expected to require more than 2,200 aircraft in the next 20 years. In order to tap the growth opportunities, Gupte said a few ingredients need to be put in place, including ensuring that there are enough pilots and mechanics to fly all these aeroplanes.
“That is going to require significant skilling, it is going to require us to train 37,000 pilots and 38,000 mechanics over the next 20 years. That is one reason why Boeing has announced a USD 100 million investment in pilot training, which includes infrastructure and curriculum… in India to ensure that we are doing our part to skill those pilots.
“This is also the reason why we are entering into maintenance training partnerships among our partners to ensure that we have enough skilled mechanics in India as well,” he said. Further, Gupte noted that rationalisation of fuel taxes must continue.
“There has been a good progress made with states in the last few years but we need to continue to make that progress, especially in some larger states, so that the rate of taxation of jet fuel can come down closer to the global level.
“Right now, the cost of fuel for Indian airlines is far higher than many airlines outside India. That needs to be done to tap the growth as well. Then the continued investments in infrastructure,” he said.
Gupte spoke to PTI on the sidelines of an aerospace conference recently held in Gwalior. India’s domestic air passenger traffic is projected to grow further in the current fiscal.
Credit rating agency Icra, this month, said that after the fast-paced recovery in FY2023, the growth in domestic air passenger traffic is projected to be 8-13 per cent and touch 150-155 million in the current financial year. In FY20, before the coronavirus pandemic, the traffic was at 141.2 million passengers.
Against the backdrop of supply chain woes impacting the aviation industry, including resulting in delayed aircraft deliveries in some cases, Gupte said the supply chain situation is “certainly healing” and definitely getting better.
On February 14, it was announced tha Air India will purchase 220 planes from Boeing for USD 34 billion and there is also an option to buy 70 more aircraft. Air India will purchase 190 B737 MAX, 20 B787, and 10 B777X valued at USD 34 billion at list price. The deal will also include customer options for an additional 50 Boeing 737 MAX and 20 Boeing 787, totalling 290 airplanes for a total of USD 45.9 billion at list price.
The frictionless credit initiative being piloted by the Reserve Bank is helping lenders slash their customer acquisition cost by a whopping 70 per cent
Published Date – 02:35 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
Mumbai: The frictionless credit initiative being piloted by the Reserve Bank is helping lenders slash their customer acquisition cost by a whopping 70 per cent, while for borrowers the saving is 6 per cent of the loan amount, a senior central bank official has said.
The pilot started with an all-digital KCC (kisan credit card) lending, developed by the RBI Innovation Hub on the public tech platform, in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh this April.
The pilot has been extended to four more states — Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat (for dairy farmers) from August 17 this year.
The pilot launch of the public tech platform for frictionless credit to farmers has helped reduce operational costs for lenders by more than 70 per cent, while for the farmer, the saving is 6 per cent of the loan amount, Ajay Kumar Choudhary, an executive director and head of the fintech department at the RBI, said here over the weekend while addressing the three-day global fintech festival.
Moreover, there is massive savings in opportunity cost, as earlier a farmer had to make six to eight weekly rounds to the bank which has come down to a maximum of 0 minutes now, Choudhary said.
Choudhary further said this has also reduced traditional charges that banks used to levy from borrowers, as with all documents available digitally, there is effectively no cost in customer acquisition with this model of lending.
The platform was created by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, an independent subsidiary of the central bank, enabling seamless flow of necessary information to lenders. This in turn will help in disbursing frictionless credit.
On April 17, the RBI rolled out a pilot project for pure retail products such as kisan credit card loans up to Rs 1.6 lakh per borrower, dairy loans, un-collateralised MSME loans, personal loans, and home loans, in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The platform is an open architecture, based on open application programming interfaces (APIs) and standards platform where all financial sector players can connect seamlessly in a plug and play model.
It’s akin to a Google search for retail lending as the platform just collates data (Aadhaar e-KYC, Aadhaar e-signing, account aggregation by account aggregators and PAN validation, to sanction and disburse loans as part of KYC verification.
“The frictionless credit platform is intended to be rolled out as a pilot project in a calibrated fashion on August 17, both in terms of access to information providers and use cases. It shall bring about efficiency in the RBI lending process in terms of reduction of costs, quicker disbursement, and scalability,” the RBI said in a public release on August 15.
“During the pilot, the platform will focus on products such as KCC loans up to Rs 1.6 lakh per borrower, dairy loans, MSME loans (without collateral), personal loans and home loans through participating banks,” the apex bank said.
Based on the learnings, the scope and coverage will be expanded to include more products, information providers and lenders during the pilot, the RBI release said.
The official said there are risks associated with cryptocurrencies as there are the same set of entities who act as depository and clearing systems, unlike that in the stock market.
Published Date – 04:53 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
New Delhi: India will decide on implementing cryptocurrency regulations after extensive discussions with other countries, a senior official said on Sunday, virtually ruling out a ban on such assets.
Ahead of G20 leaders’ summit, the IMF and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) had last week made a strong case for a coordinated global policy action to deal with risks posed by cryptocurrencies and said that there should not be any blanket ban.
The IMF-FSB recommendations laid out a “roadmap” and suggested “bare minimum” regulations that every country should have on cryptocurrencies.
If any country wants to have a more stricter regulation, it can frame a more restrictive regulation depending on the risk it sees from cryptos, the official said.
“Now G20 leaders have endorsed it and now ministers and governments will discuss it and take it forward. We expect a lot of discussion to happen on how to implement it faster, swifter and in a comprehensive manner. We have a good framework to decide our own way forward. The foundation is ready, beyond that how much we want to go it is for us to decide in coming months and then take a call,” the official said.
India has been pressing for a global regulation on cryptocurrencies to tackle tax evasion and round tripping of funds. India’s central bank RBI has been asked for a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ether, saying they are akin to gambling.
The official said it would be difficult for one country to ban cryptocurrencies and globally a consensus has to be reached that all countries follow the “bare minimum” regulation that the IMF-FSB paper has outlined.
“If you want to ban it (cryptocurrency), go ahead and ban it. But if the rest of the countries are not banning it, it will be extremely difficult for one country to ban it. Now that discussion, we have to take up and try to build a consensus on regulation. Then we gradually decide on our own system. The discussion will happen now in our system. It is not an easy one,” the official said.
The fourth meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors is scheduled to take place in Marrakech, Morocco, on the sidelines of the 2023 annual meetings of World Bank and IMF from October 9-15.
The official said there are risks associated with cryptocurrencies as there are the same set of entities who act as depository and clearing systems, unlike that in the stock market.
“The purpose of regulation is that the risk is well managed. Any country which feels they have more risk can make their regulation more restrictive,” the official said, adding if all countries agree on the same regulation there will be no arbitrage.
The IMF-FSB in its paper had said that its proposed regulation apply the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulation”, establish a minimum baseline that jurisdictions should meet, and aim to address the set of issues common across majority of jurisdictions.
A two-member Chennai bench of the appellate tribunal held earlier that there was a pre-existing dispute over the payment between Wipro and the petitioner and observed that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was not framed for being a “mere recovery legislation for creditors”.
Published Date – 05:53 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has dismissed an operational creditor’s petition to initiate insolvency proceedings against Wipro Ltd.
A two-member Chennai bench of the appellate tribunal held earlier that there was a pre-existing dispute over the payment between Wipro and the petitioner and observed that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was not framed for being a “mere recovery legislation for creditors”.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has upheld the order of the NCLT.
Earlier, the Bengaluru Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), on January 16, 2020, dismissed the plea by Tricolite Electrical Industries in the capacity of operational creditor.
The order was challenged by the Delhi-based operational creditor, a manufacturer of ‘LT/ HT Electric Panels’ before the appellate body NCLAT.
However, the NCLAT also dismissed it after observing, “We are satisfied that a ‘dispute’ truly existed for the Respondent Company (Wipro) to have withheld 3 per cent of the total invoice amount”.
Under the IBC, the insolvency process against any corporate debtor is generally initiated only in clear cases where a real dispute between the parties as to the debt owed did not exist.
The dispute is related to the supply of goods for a government project implemented by Wipro, where it was awarded the work of design, manufacture, supply and installation of MV Panels.
Pursuant to that, Wipro had placed purchase orders for a total supply worth Rs 13.43 crore.
According to the appellant, it supplied the goods in a timely manner and raised various invoices, for which Wipro made a payment of 97 per cent of the value of the invoices, but 3 per cent of the total value of the invoices, which is a substantial amount, was kept outstanding.
Despite several reminders, it was not paid and did not reply to the Demand Notice issued by it.
Wipro denied the allegations, arguing that there is a pre-existing dispute between the parties, which is reflected in their email. It has already paid 97 per cent of the amounts due, and the appellant had sought to question the basis and the right of the respondent to levy liquidated damages to the tune of 3 per cent of the contract value.
Agreeing with it, the NCLAT said: “It is the consistent stand of Wipro that 97 per cent of the amount was paid and the balance 3 per cent was kept on hold only on account of evaluating customer satisfaction and it was established that there was a delay of six weeks on behalf of the Appellant Company in executing the job assigned to them on account of which liquidated damages/Penalty of Rs 40,56,539, which is as per the terms of the contract was levied”.
“Therefore, this Tribunal is of the considered view that there is a pre-existing dispute, which is not a spurious defence which is a mere bluster,” said the NCLAT bench comprising Justice M Venugopal and Shreesha Merla.
The rupee continued its upward trend for the second straight session and appreciated by 9 paise to 82.93 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday
Published Date – 10:50 AM, Mon – 11 September 23
Mumbai: The rupee continued its upward trend for the second straight session and appreciated by 9 paise to 82.93 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, tracking positive cues from domestic equity markets and a weak American currency against major overseas rivals.
However, firm crude oil prices hovering above USD 90 per barrel and outflow of foreign funds weighed on the Indian currency, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened 9 paise higher at 82.93 and traded in a narrow range of 82.90 to 82.96 against the greenback. On Friday, the rupee closed at 83.02 against the US dollar.
Gaurang Somaiya, forex and bullion analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said this week the domestic inflation number will be important to watch and could trigger volatility for the currency.
“Today, volatility for major crosses including the rupee could remain low as no major economic data is expected to release. We expect the USDINR (Spot) to trade sideways with a positive bias and quote in the range of 82.80 and 83.40,” Somaiya added.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.35 per cent to 104.72. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.24 per cent lower at USD 90.43 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 201.56 points or 0.30 per cent higher at 66,800.47. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 69.45 points or 0.35 per cent to 19,889.40.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 224.22 crore, according to exchange data.
Equity benchmark indices extended their rally for the seventh day running on Monday as investors continued to remain optimistic about the domestic markets
Published Date – 11:00 AM, Mon – 11 September 23
Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices extended their rally for the seventh day running on Monday as investors continued to remain optimistic about the domestic markets.
Buying in index majors Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services also added to the winning momentum in equities. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 293.7 points to 66,892.61 in early trade. The Nifty advanced 95 points to 19,914.95.
Among the Sensex firms, HCL Technologies, Maruti, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Wipro, Nestle, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers. IndusInd Bank and Bharti Airtel were the laggards.
In Asian markets, Shanghai quoted with gains while Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong traded lower. The US markets ended in the positive territory on Friday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.18 per cent to USD 90.49 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark had jumped 333.35 points or 0.50 per cent to finish at 66,598.91 on Friday. The broader Nifty advanced 92.90 points or 0.47 per cent to settle at 19,819.95.
“The G20 Delhi declaration and India’s diplomatic triumph can trigger continuation of the positive market mood and momentum,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
In the present favourable market mood, Nifty is likely to make another attempt at a record high trying to conquer the psychological mark of 20,000, Vijayakumar said adding that however, investors have to be cautious since fundamentals do not support a sustained rise above 20,000.
“The market is ignoring worries arising out of crude at USD 90 a barrel,” he added.
Nifty is likely to make another attempt at a new record high trying to conquer the psychological market of 20,000
Published Date – 11:30 AM, Mon – 11 September 23
New Delhi: In the present favourable market mood, Nifty is likely to make another attempt at a new record high trying to conquer the psychological market of 20,000, says V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
But investors have to be cautious since fundamentals do not support a sustained rise above 20,000. Large FII selling may re-emerge at higher levels, he added.
The market is ignoring worries arising out of crude at $90. Some profit booking in small-caps is advisable. Now, safety is in quality large-caps, he said.
Vaishali Parekh, Vice President – Technical Research, Prabhudas Lilladher said Nifty extended the gains further ahead with sentiment getting better and ended above the 19,800 zone to register the highest weekly closing, turning up the weekly trend after five weeks and strengthening the overall trend further.
The index is expected to march towards the 20,000 zone in the coming sessions with 19,600 maintained as the near-term support level. The support for the day is seen at 19,700 levels while the resistance is seen at 20,000 levels, Parekh said.
BSE Sensex is inching towards the 67,000 mark. BSE Sensex is up 346 points at 66,944 points. Maruti and HCL Tech are the top gainers, up 1.4 per cent.
Indian pharmaceuticals industry is expected to log in a revenue growth of 8-10 per cent in current fiscal aided by a steady domestic growth and increased exports to regulated markets
Updated On – 01:37 PM, Mon – 11 September 23
Indian pharmaceuticals industry is expected to log in a revenue growth of 8-10 per cent in current fiscal aided by a steady domestic growth and increased exports to regulated markets
New Delhi: The Indian pharmaceuticals industry is expected to log in a revenue growth of 8-10 per cent in current fiscal aided by a steady domestic growth and increased exports to regulated markets, even as semi-regulated markets face headwinds, according to a report.
A study of 186 drug makers, which accounted for about half of the Rs 3.7 lakh crore annual revenue of the sector last fiscal, indicates as much, Crisil said on Monday.
“Similar to last fiscal, domestic growth in fiscal 2024, will be led by 5-6 per cent increase in realisations, supported partly by high price hikes allowed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) for drugs under price regulation,” Crisil Research Director Aniket Dani said.
In addition, sale of existing drugs and new launches will drive 3-4 per cent volume growth, he added.
Operating profitability is also seen improving 50-100 basis points (bps) to 21 per cent this fiscal, supported by moderation in input and logistics costs, and abating pricing pressure in the US generics market, it said.
This follows two consecutive years of margin contraction due to high pricing pressure in the US and a sharp rise in input costs caused by supply chain disruption during the Covid pandemic, and thereafter, Crisil noted. Credit profiles will remain stable owing to low-leverage balance sheets and moderate capex plans, it stated.
In the ongoing fiscal, domestic sales are expected to witness 8-10 per cent growth with the chronic segment expected to be the key contributor to revenues, because of the steady increase in lifestyle-related diseases and continued emphasis on health awareness, post the pandemic, Crisil said.
Formulation exports are seen up 7-9 per cent in rupee terms this fiscal, more driven by volumes, from new product launches, and abating price pressure in the US generics markets, it said.
On the other hand, increase in claw-back taxes in select European markets could lead to lower growth in exports to Europe this fiscal, it added.
“Growth in exports to Asia will improve this fiscal, after clocking a modest growth last fiscal, while exports to Africa will continue to remain sluggish on account of low forex reserves (impacting the purchasing power) and high currency volatility,” Crisil said.
Lower input prices and normalisation of supply chains should cull inventories to pre-pandemic levels, resulting in smaller incremental working capital debt this fiscal, it added.
