Giva Raises Fresh Capital to Strengthen Jewelry Business, Valued at ₹3,950 Crore

Business, Economy - May 1, 2020

New FDI rules not for Taiwan inflows

New FDI rules not for Taiwan inflows

In a developing country like India, the existence of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is requisite for the growth of economy. Total Foreign Direct Investment in India from year 2000-2019 is US $658,893 million. In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, many cosmopolitan investor’s are trying to gain an undue advantage by acquiring Indian companies. To keep a tight rein on this, the government announced new FDI rules.

New norms by Indian Government on FDI:

The new rules announced by Indian government stated that there will be a comprehensive look over in any acquisition or takeover executed in India on Indian Companies. Once the government approves and sanctions, then only the further process can be implemented. This new norms of FDI will be pertinent for all the countries sharing boundaries with India viz. Bhutan, China, and others. Government officials noted the new norms announced by FDI will not be relevant for Taiwan. Smooth flow of operation between Taiwan and India will be continued with no barriers.

India – Taiwan Relationship:

Major chunk of money invested by Taiwan in India exists in sectors like Infrastructure and Energy. India and Taiwan have established a robust economic relation since decades. Approximately 100 Taiwanese companies are doing business in India. The relation between India and Taiwan was established in 1995, since then we hold a powerful relationship with Taiwan. The big question arises, Can’t Taiwan is easily influenced by China with their decisions on Foreign Direct Investment?. Media reports noted that in coming weeks government may clear all the queries on new FDI norms.

Amazon Pay Later introduced in India

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IREDA Bonds Gain Tax Benefits to Promote Green Energy

Economy, Equities - May 1, 2020

Government may issue tax-free bonds

Government may issue tax-free bonds

Over the past weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a significant global challenge inducing turmoil in the economies. This outbreak is having a severe impact on people, economy and business. Countries are battling and taking every possible measure to combat the spread of corona virus. One of which is the lock down strategy. Lock down is the last resort and has actually helped to save lives. Along with this, it has invited a huge fiscal gap. This fiscal gap will broaden itself once the lock down is lifted. Lock down has hit the earning and spending cycle at an individual level, which will greatly impact future tax collections.

Government to raise funds:

Government plans to raise short term funds to fulfill temporary need. They plan to raise this money from the RBI through ways and means advances (WMA). Finance ministry suggested the issue of tax-free bonds. Under this, they plan to raise Rs 10,000 crore by giving multiple installments to ensure its success.. However, Rs 10,000 crore may not be sufficient enough for the anticipated immediate expenses.

It is yet under discussion, as to whether bonds should be sold by a direct public issue or issued via a public sector company. Historically, tax free bonds was sold by National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC). Further, discussions as to how many number of installments should be provided and other terms and conditions are in process. As per the prevailing marginal tax rates, calculation shows that 5.5%, 10-year tax free sovereign instrument will effectively cost 7.7%.

Good news for the retail investors:

Looking at the current scenario, if these bonds are kept open for retail savers and corporations, they will willingly opt for parking their hard earned money into these bonds. After the news of Franklin Templeton freezing 6 of their plans, investors have fear carved in their minds with respect to safe keeping and growth of their capital.

Government will issue these tax free bonds to raise funds for specific purposes. Generally, the funds are raised from debt market by the Central government in the form of weekly securities auctioned by the Central bank. In contrast to last FY target of Rs 4.74 lakh crore, borrowing target of FY21 is marked at a net amount of Rs 5.11 lakh crore.

If retail investors get a chance to participate, this scenario will be the first of its kind and create history. Issuing tax-free bonds to retail savers and corporations will provide them a window of safer investment. At the same time, raising money through these government instruments will over populate the market and increase rates. The CARE estimates reveal that until today, the lock down would have sucked a huge chunk of Rs 1 lakh crore of GST monthly collections.

Gold set for best month in 4 years

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Safe Havens in 2025: Gold, Yen and Alternatives in a Volatile Year

Commodities, Economy, Market News, Markets - May 1, 2020

Gold set for best month in 4 years

Gold set for best month in 4 years

On 30th April, the gold prices had a surge, en routing to its best month in the last 4 years. This is because of the increase in expectations about the monetary ease provided by the central banks and the continuous stress over the global recession which increased the demand. Spot gold showed a surge of 0.2% at $1,713.75 per ounce by. The US gold futures showed an increase of 1.1% to $1,732.10 per ounce.

How the gold prices surged?

Eugen Weinberg, the Commerzbank analyst stated the immense monetary support received at the movement is helping gold. Regardless of the increasing risk appetite, the gold prices stayed above $1700 ounce even though it has faced pressure from the equity markets. Carlo Alberto De Casa, Kashif analyst of Activtrades said to the media that the investors will remain confident about quick solutions for the coronavirus. The central banks will be forced to print a large amount of money leading to hyperinflation in such economic turmoil.

Interest rates:

United States Federal Reserve preserved the interest rates and it should be left unchanged for sometime. The unexpected monetary influence provided by both the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve will probably increase the demand for gold in the future.

Over the last six weeks, the European Central Bank left the interest rates unchanged after revealing various stimulus measures including a plan to buy 1.1 trillion euros worth of debt this year. The Federal Reserve kept the interest rates near zero on April 29. They also promised to extend the emergency series of measures needed to help the battered and bruised economy.

In the first quarter, the US economy contracted at its shortest pace since the Great Recession. In the second quarter, it is likely to show a more sharper contraction. The Bullion showed an increase of more than 9% in the last month. It is boosted by several stimulus measures from the central banks to handle damage caused from the corona virus outbreak. The unchanged lower interest rates will reduce the alternative cost of holding non yielding gold. It is always considered as a risk against inflation and canker currency.

Amazon Pay Later introduced in India

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India's Insurance Sector Booms Amid Rising Demand

Economy, Market News, Markets - April 30, 2020

Mutual fund industry in crisis due to pandemic

Mutual fund industry in crisis due to pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit nearly all sectors of businesses, people, economy, trade and the financial system worldwide. Mutual fund industry has been adversely affected due to corona virus. All mutual fund investors have incurred huge losses in NAVs, specially those investing into categories of equity related mutual fund schemes.

Nearly 20 categories of mutual funds viz. energy funds, International funds, banking funds, large cap funds, mid cap funds, dividend yield funds, PSU funds, infrastructure funds, etc. are some of the mutual fund schemes that have faced losses tremendously in the last month. The energy sector saw a downfall of 20.08% in the last month. It was followed by the International funds category which dipped to 20.07%. The banking sector funds also had a downfall not only because of the corona virus threat but also because of the non performing assets crisis. The gold funds category is the only sector which has given positive returns in the last month.

Winding of 6 mutual fund schemes by Franklin Templeton:

Franklin Templeton, the leading global investment management company announced the winding up of 6 mutual fund schemes on 23rd April, 2020.

Fear of Investors:

All these issues have led to fear in the minds of investors making them pull out Rs. 9,000 crores out of the credit risk mutual fund schemes. As per the data collected by Pulse Labs, the asset under management of these mutual funds have dropped by 19%.

A lot of tension can be seen in the credit risk fund category because of the redemption and unavailability of liquid underlying assets. The HDFC credit risk fund has the highest loss in comparison with other credit risk funds. The asset under management of the credit risk funds show the tremendous depth in comparison to the last month.

Lakshmi Iyer, chief investment officer of debt, Kotak Mutual Funds said to the media that without even considering the quality of the portfolio, investors have started redeeming the money from the funds. One of the ICICI Prudential spokesperson said to the media that the company assures the portfolio is well differentiated on the asset side and liability side.

RBI’s help:

RBI has recently announced rupees 50,000 crore special liquidity funds for Mutual Funds. This was announced after the winding up of 6 mutual fund schemes by Franklin Templeton. It is a measure taken by RBI to calm down the investors and reduce their panic by providing a guarantee of having adequate liquidity to meet the redemption. These funds can be borrowed by the companies from banks at a repo rate of 4.4% for 90 days. The Targeted Long Term Repo Operations is to help several financial services companies to manage their cash flow problems amid COVID-19 outbreak.

Industry bodies urge government to create funds for startups

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Business, Economy - April 30, 2020

Industry bodies urge government to create fund for startups

Industry bodies urge government to create fund for startups

In January 2016, Start-Up India initiative was launched by the government of India to encourage young entrepreneurs in the country. The main objective of this initiative is to transform India into a Start-up nation. India is a highly diverse country with 28 states and 8 union territories. This diversity has the aid to build opportunities to cross learn from each other. Now, there are more than 14,600 start-ups in the country with 231 angel investors and 8 angel networks. India is now the 3rd largest unicorn community and has 16 high valued start-up companies. This community has an overall valuation of $58 billion. They have raised more than $17.27 billion funds.

Government measures:

Various measures are taken to encourage the entrepreneurs like reduction in patent registration fees, improved bankruptcy code to ensure 90 day exit window, freedom from inspection and tax for first 3 years, schemes to provide IPR protection to start-ups.

Start-up association of India:

Start-up association of India asked the government to create 25,000 crore funds and keep the start-up India fund as a priority as liquidity crisis may arise due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This start-up industry was founded in 2017 altogether by the entrepreneurs to help start-ups in India in all the sectors and stages of maturity. This association connect start-up to the policy makers and investors so that broad network is created. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, start-ups play a vital role especially tech start-ups. Since digital platforms are used for all purposes they play an important role.

The association includes top entrepreneurs of India Mart, Make My Trip, Info Edge and Venture Gurukool. They collectively suggested that funds can be registered as an Alternative Investment category-II Fund, with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, managed by professional fund managers. They also said that 10,000 crore funds which is under SIDBI, can be allocated for the start-ups.

Why fund is required?

Recently because of the COVID-19 breakdown, whole country has been affected socially and economically. This breakdown has directly affected the start-ups too as start-up companies are most vulnerable. Other reasons like sudden decline in productivity, supply chain breakdown, closing down the premises have also affected the performance of start-ups. On the other side, government is also taking measures to help start-ups such as extending the period for paying taxes, allocating the funds for labourers and workers. Not just the government but private companies have also taken initiative.

Facebook announced to offer $100 million in cash as well as credit to small businesses where Facebook operates. Citibank has offered assistance to the small businesses by waiving their fees and penalties. Many tech companies are also playing a major role as due to the lock down, digital platform are the ultimate saviors for the country. Tech companies like Microsoft, Google, Zoom and Cisco have offered their services for free to businesses conducting meeting, conferences online.

Just dial announces buyback of shares

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RBI Lowers CPI Inflation Forecast to 3.7% for FY26 Amid Stable Price Outlook

Banking, Economy - April 30, 2020

RBI introduces Operation Twist

RBI bond introduces Operation Twist

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came up with a bond-swapping programme and coined it as Operation Twist. RBI had announced that it would conduct a synchronous buying and selling option under the Open market operations (OMO). So, an OMO of ₹10,000 Crores each was held on 27 April, 2020. The RBI mentioned that the 10,000 Crores amount will be made up of purchase of long term securities having tenure of 6 to10 years.

The sale amount of 10,000 Crores will be made up by selling short term securities having maturity dates like June 2020, October 2020 and April 2021. Short term further having two categories of cash management bills, one of 77 days and another of 84 days and two treasury bills of 182 and 364 days respectively. These short term bills are being put on sale by the RBI keeping in mind the interim cash mismatches the government is facing recently due to economic difficulties the pandemic has produced.

Auction result reveals that the cut-off yields on which the RBI bought securities was much higher than secondary market.

To illustrate:

1) 7.26% Government security (G-sec) 2029 which had secondary market return of 6.38% was bought at 6.4%.

2) 7.59% G-sec 2026 was bought at 5.9% versus the secondary market that gave 5.8%.

Under this programme, the aggregate amount of Face Value (FV) notified by RBI was 10,000 crores, against which the participants offered a total amount of 64,746 crores . RBI received bids that were six times more than the FV of the bonds. On the other hand, bids received for the sale of securities were nearly five times than the offer, which amounted to nearly ₹50,260 Crores. The near term paper was giving lower yield than normal. The Operation Twist further aggravated the same.

When and why does the Central Bank conduct an OMO?

Generally, the OMO sales are undertaken when the RBI wants to take out excess liquidity from the system. Whereas, OMO purchases are done to infuse instant money into the market. Recently, RBI was seen carrying out these operations to balance the sovereign yield curve. Particularly, ensuring lower returns at the shorter end of the curve.

Referring to the auction results, Naveen Singh, senior VP, ICICI Securities Primary Dealership says since RBI could buy securities at higher percentages, this believably implies that the banks are interested to book profit on the stock.

The Stocks which were held previously for maturity were made available for sale. Inversely, the cut-off rates on the sale of near-term paper was lower than prevailing market rates. For example, the 364-day T- bill was auctioned at 3.9%, when the market rate stood 4.074%. Distinctly, the RBI is desirous to lower the interest rates at the shorter end. This move is taken to enable an economic comeback against the upset which the pandemic has produced.

MSME seek fiscal aid amid crisis

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Business, Economy - April 30, 2020

MSME seek fiscal aid amid crisis

MSME seek fiscal aid amid crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly all areas and sectors of businesses, people, economy, trade and the financial system worldwide. The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced $ 22.3 billion funds to help the poor people striving for all the necessities during this lock-down period. The biggest effect of covid-19 pandemic is on the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) exporters. This is because this sector constitutes nearly 45% of the total outbound shipments. It also contributes nearly 25% to the GDP of the country.

MSME’s problems:

The CEO of one of the MSME, Anntech Offshore Engineering Pvt. Ltd. Ashokan Puthenpurackal said to the media that the major clients are refusing to make payments to the company. Thus impacting the cash flow of the company. All the small mid-sized and large companies are trying to borrow credit from banks and other financial institutions, calls for tax deferrals to ensure a continuous flow of operations and to maintain stability in the economy. The decreasing cash flow with no financial support will lead the company to lay off of its employees.

The government is trying to provide incentives to the most affected sectors like hospitality, tourism, etc. and is also planning for tax deferral payments. The other countries are trying to help the companies by providing Bank guarantees and fiscal support of at least 30% of the GDP. In India, it is less than 1% of the GDP. Experts say that the government should provide support of at least $8 trillion.

RBI’s support:

The RBI has headed to provide support for the economy but the governor Shaktikanta Das explained the significance of fiscal measures during this pandemic situation. The condition will continue to be unstable and there will be an increase in the NPAs, insolvencies, unemployment problems, etc. The Indian Government has not announced any special packages for the MSME sector but is now concerned mainly for the people of the country and to control the number of COVID patients.

Any chaotic and constant measures announced will lead to increase in the fiscal debt. Before taking any measure/decision, the government has to look into all the aspects and their impact on the people. The Central Government is also planning to provide $39 billion of loans to MSMEs. It will help to recover the businesses thereby helping to revive the economy. This proffer can be used by the firms to borrow 2/10th of their credit limit. It will also have a fund to pay for defaults, if any. The government is considering the problems of the manufacturing units who are struggling to operate their business amid lock-down.

Real estate sees investment growth in 2019

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Kalpataru IPO Set to Raise ₹1,590 Crore, Signaling a Bold Move in Real Estate

Economy, Real Estate, Real Estate News - April 30, 2020

Real estate sees investment growth in 2019

Real estate sees investment growth in 2019

Real estate market witnessed an increase by 27% in investment during the year 2019. This increase is due to the Real estate sector now being transparent in operation and money-making. Many foreign investors and domestic investors have a great interest and belief and have invested in this sector in hope of making profits. Also, many government policies played a key role in helping this sector escalate.

Real estate witnessed a record of $6 billion during the financial year 2019. Investment compared to last year was $4.76 billion which has now increased by 27% to reach a record high of $6 billion. Major investment was 10% in hotel, 40% in office and development sites by 41%. Cities with high investment rates are Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, etc. There were many steps taken by Government to increase the liquidity of cash to create interest for the investors. Major contributors were foreign investors with 65%. On the other hand, domestic players were 35%. Hotels saw a 10% increase compared to 2018 report and development sites saw 5% growth compared to 2018. India is a hub for many developed countries searching land, warehousing, and office space. Quick urbanization looks good for this part. Interest for private properties has flooded because of expanding urbanization and rising family unit pay.

Real estate sees growth in investment in 2019

India is among the top 10 Real estate markets globally. Government allows 100% FDI inflow in this sector. They have also passed a scheme which states 60 million houses are to be built by 2022 where 40 million are in rural region and 20 million are in urban region. Government is aiming to build 100 smart cities which will help to reduce number of people migrating to urban areas. Relaxation in certain norms has helped to elevate this sector. Key drives to increase are easy finance, increase in population, rapid urbanization, increase in the income of people, increase in economy, growth in tourism and policy support by Government.

As of now, COVID-19 is affecting various sectors all over country due to lock-down. There is a 20% decline in Real estate. Due to low-income and decrease in spending power of people there will be a decline in sale. COVID-19 pandemic may have serious declining impact in the present year. Quick urbanization looks good for the part. As per the Government, the sector will witness a $1.3 trillion investment by 2025. The increasing young population of India will help in building education space. The healthcare space is expected to grow to $372 billion by 2022. With an increase in number of tourists, there will be increase in number of guest houses and service apartments. Also, increase in demand for hotels industry is expected to increase up to $15.3 million by 2025.

Lenders seek replacements for debt schemes

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Easing of risk weights on loans given to MFIs and NBFCs

Economy, Market News, Markets - April 30, 2020

Lenders seek replacements for debt schemes

Lenders seek replacements for debt schemes

Debt mutual funds are the funds which are invested in instruments like treasury bills, certificate of deposits and c-papers. This instruments have fixed interest earnings with fixed tenure. Although, this interest is fixed for throughout the period of investment on the underlying asset. The main goal is to collect wealth through the interest earned and increase the overall investment value. Best debt scheme is decided on the basis of the credit rating given to them. If the credit rating is high. it means debt security have higher chances of paying the interest and principle during the time of maturity.

Debt schemes are usually taken by the investors and high network individual (HNI). They are risk averse and not ready to invest in equities. They choose debt funds according to their requirement for short to medium term. While investing in any scheme, investor considers points like what is the objective of funds? In which category this funds fall, how much risk is involved. Factors like cost, investment horizon and financial goal is also considered. Debt funds are evaluated on the factors like fund history, fund returns and ratios like financial ratios and expense ratios. Some best performing debt funds are SBI magnum constant maturity fund, ICICI prudential constant maturity gilt fund, UTI gilt fund, Axis banking and PSU debt fund and Kotak dynamic debt fund.

Franklin Templeton’s decision:

Franklin Templeton is one of the biggest mutual fund house and stands in 9th position in the country. They have recently announced that they are winding up the their 6 debt schemes. They are credit risk fund, duration fund, dynamic accrual fund, short term income plan, ultrashort bond fund and income opportunities fund. If valued altogether, this 6 schemes hold around 30,000 core asset of investors. After these scheme got windup, investors who had invested in this scheme cannot withdraw their cash on the basis of the asset they have put and their money is locked.

Liquidity concerns:

After Franklin Templeton scraped six debt schemes, liquidity became the main concern for the financial institution. Therefore they have asked investors and HNI’s who have borrowed fund from the banks and other financial institution to bring additional margins in debt mutual fund. This also includes franklin Templeton’s schemes. Investors and promoters have invested money in these schemes to raise money so that they can invest in the market or any other short term scheme to meet their short term capital requirement. Many high network individuals have borrowed money from NBFCs and bank to invest in the mutual funds. They are giving more than 8% returns and are more risky.

How will businesses survive social distancing?

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Currency, Economy, Market News - April 29, 2020

Effects of Covid-19 on cryptocurrency market

Effects of Covid-19 on cryptocurrency market

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency secured by cryptography which is not issued by banks or governments. In other words, a virtual currency which doesn’t have any physical embodiment is called cryptocurrency. Bitcoins(BTC), Litecoin(LTC), Ripple(XRP) Ethereum(ETH), Bitcoin cash, Ethereum classic, Zcash(ZEC) are some of the types of cryptocurrencies. In the present scenario, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly all areas of businesses, people, economy, trade and the financial system worldwide.

Impact of COVID-19:

But at the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has also helped the world to connect digitally for different reasons like work, purchase of goods, health, etc. One of the most propelling and safe investments was gold but when a liquidity crisis occurs, investments in gold are not up to the mark and fail to generate profits. Here comes the role of cryptocurrencies. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the physical paper money usage to be minimized to control the spread of corona virus. This is because the virus stays on the objects for a longer time period. Cryptocurrencies acts as a solution to this problem.

Benefits of Cryptocurrency:

Cryptocurrency gives the freedom of converting it into money without any manipulation on behalf of the banks and other financial institutions. Cryptocurrencies have made transactions faster by helping the trade system to be efficient. Using the traditional method for transferring funds overseas nearly takes 3 to 5 days. With cryptocurrencies, the transactions can be done in a much shorter time period.

The block-chain technology used in cryptocurrency can serve as a solution in different ways. It can track the supply chain of medical and pharmaceutical products which are considered as essential goods. It can also be used for tracking the amounts received as donations for the cause of corona virus, for tracking the proximity of virus, etc

Opportunities brought by Cryptocurrency:

Cryptocurrencies can bring out new growth opportunities for emerging economy like India and also for developed countries. This is because cryptocurrencies provides faster payments between countries with no transfer fees or remittance charges. The stock prices have been hit tremendously and other investment avenues have also seen a downfall due to this outbreak. Investors are looking for much safer investment options in the long run.

Secondly, the growth in the usage of Fintech applications have made many companies to become curious. It could easily adapt to the new working conditions as they are using digital money for payments which has reduced the use of virus infected currencies. It acts as one of the best currencies developed so far and is one of the best alternative for fiat currencies. In future, the value of cryptocurrencies is likely to grow thus helping to be a digitalised paperless economy.

Production target makes Coal India stakeholders anxious

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