| News Announcement |
Impact Analysis |
| The US Federal Reserve maintains status quo on rates |
- Despite pressure from Trump, the Fed chose to maintain status quo on rates but hinted at cuts in the future
- This dovish outlook had a positive impact on the US markets as well as other EMs across the world
|
| Iran shoots down an American drone in the midst of a simmering Middle East |
- While the US claimed the drone was in international airspace, Iran has affirmed that it was above Southern Iran
- Trump had ordered retaliatory attacks on Iran but withdrew in the last minute considering the volatile situation
|
| Monetary Policy Committee minutes hint at inflation risk |
- The members of the MPC, despite voting unanimously, underlined that rate cut was only to push growth
- The MPC minutes specifically highlighted the inflation risk arising from higher food and oil prices
|
| GST Council Meet decides to extend anti-profiteering by another 2 years |
- The first GST meet chaired by Sitharaman focused more on the penalties under the anti profiteering clause
- The Council extended the last date for filing full year returns by 2 months to August 31st
|
| Brent Crude soars above $65/bbl in the midst of rising Middle East tensions |
- The spurt in oil prices was visible after Iran shot down the US drone and US threatened to retaliate
- Oil traders panicked that a war in the Middle East could seriously impact oil movement in the area
|
| Government may not to budge on its Electrical Vehicles deadline |
- The deadline for EV shift is 2023 for 3 wheelers and 2025 for two wheelers up to 150 CC
- While the Niti Aayog has spoken about 2030 deadline for cars, the government has been silent on the issue
|
| Jet Airways gets referred to NCLT with the plea by SBI being admitted |
- With no buyers forthcoming in the Jet Airways issue, there was little choice for SBI but refer to NCLT
- With its aircraft being repossessed and employees having left, it is unclear how much creditors can really recover
|
| Reliance Capital reduces its outstanding CPs by over 90% |
- The proceeds from sale of stake were used by Reliance Capital to reduce outstanding CPs from Rs.950 crore to Rs.75 crore
- The ADAG group has been on a spree monetizing its key assets and using the proceeds to repay group debt
|
| CCI approves merger of Indiabulls Housing Finance and LVB |
- This will be the first instance of a larger NBFC merging with a smaller bank
- While Indiabulls Housing Finance gets a banking license, LVB gets a strong franchise in the West and the North
|
| Deloitte and KPMG question the jurisdiction of NCLT in audit ban |
- NCLT had proposed a ban of 5 years on Deloitte on taking up fresh audit works for alleged collusion in IFIN
- Currently, audit activities in India are fully regulated by the ICAI, which is a statutory body by itself
|
| India Ratings downgrades Reliance Infra to Default Status |
- The downgrade was necessitated after the company got into severe cash flow problems in the recent past
- However, the company has not participated in the rating exercise despite repeated requests from the rating agency
|
| Facebook launches proprietary payment gateway |
- The payment gateway will start by facilitating payments via Facebook and WhatsApp
- Over time, this will also be integrated with Facebook’s proposed crypto currency, Libra
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