PM for global use of rupee, more digital bank transactions
In March, GST collections by Centre and states came in at ₹1.78 trillion, up 11.5% from a year earlier.
1.87
1.57 1.61
1.65
1.59 1.63
THE average monthly GST collection in FY24 stood at ₹1.68 trillion
1.72 1.68 1.65
1.74 1.68
1.78
NIRMALA SITHARAMAN
AFTER adjusting for refunds, GST revenue for FY24 was ₹18.01 tn
INDIA’S economy is estimated to grow at 7.6% this fiscal year
Lauding the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its astute management of the country’s financial system at an event on Monday to mark the central bank’s 90th anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out a roadmap for the next 10 years, saying India would need to become economically self-reliant to shield itself from external shocks.
Making the rupee more internationally accepted, increasing the reach of banking services and scaling up digital transactions would be key focus areas, Modi said. “Today, India contributes 15% to global growth and is a growth engine, and there should be an attempt that our currency becomes more accessible and acceptable across the world.”
In December 2021, RBI had formed an expert panel to generate incentives for using rupee in trade and financial transactions, invoicing and denomination, among others. The panel’s report was made public in July 2023, laying the roadmap towards internationalizing the rupee. Earlier, in July 2022, RBI had announced an arrangement for domestic traders to settle imports and exports in rupees.
Highlighting how India has remained resilient even in the face of external challenges, Modi said even as some large nations are trying to recuperate from shocks, the Indian economy is touching record heights. RBI’S ‘State of the Economy’ reports have been pointing out how India remains a “bright spot” amid global uncertainties. In its latest edition, the report said the global economy is losing steam, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowing in some of the
recently showed Biden’s campaign and allied committees had more than $155 million on hand at the end of February, compared with $74.4 million for Trump’s campaign and allied committees.
If the stock stays high and if Trump can sell or borrow against his shares, the numbers could be unprecedented in presidential politics. Candidates can invest unlimited amounts of their own money as long as they report it to the Federal Election Commission.
On Thursday, Biden brought in $25 million from an event in New York City with former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton , a huge amount for a single-day event.
That is a rounding error in Trump’s new fortune, which can rise and fall by that amount in every minute of trading.
It isn’t clear if he would put his own money into his campaign. Asked by reporters about it last week, Trump said, “I might do that. I have the option.”
Apart from the impact on the election, Trump’s stock has become a first-of-its kind way to play the outcome of the race. In the past, investors used shares of companies in policysensitive areas like clean energy to bet on election outcomes. Now, they have a heavily traded stock almost singularly tied to how Trump does in November.
Trump started his social-media company soon after he was tossed from X, which was then Twitter, and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising at the U.S. Capitol. The former president was toxic to many bankers and investors , making fundraising nearly impossible.
The company still hadn’t launched its social-media platform when late one night in October 2021 it announced that it would merge with a shell company, Digital World Acquisition, to go public. The blankcheck firm was part of a wave of so-called special-purpose acquisition companies that had been flooding the market .
The deal looked like a winner at first, then things nearly fell apart. Truth Social was late to the SPAC party, missing out on the euphoria that drove shares of sports-betting and space-tourism companies to be worth billions. Investors were fleeing speculative stocks , taking down Digital World with the rest.
Two messy run-ins with regulators further tarnished the company. Shares fell by more than 90% from their peak, causing big losses for some of the investors who flocked to Trump’s side.
More bad news came quickly. Elon Musk bought
Twitter , creating the welcoming place for conservative voices that Truth Social aimed to attract. Markets for speculative stocks were hammered by higher interest rates. Investors and analysts following that market questioned whether the merger would ever get done .
When 2024 began, Trump’s luck turned. Markets started to soar and Trump’s supporters returned to the stock. They were drawn in by Trump’s rapid march to the Republican nomination for president. The deal was approved and Truth Social’s parent hit the market on Tuesday.
Politics, SPACS and memestock momentum merged. The stock, with Trump’s initials as its ticker, is up some 250% this year, turbocharged by trading in options that give traders the right to buy or sell a stock at a specific price by a fixed date. “This is beyond what anyone could have expected,” said Steve Sosnick , chief strategist at brokerage Interactive Brokers .
The longer the stock defies gravity, the sweeter the deal becomes for Trump. He could receive tens of millions of additional shares if the stock stays above certain levels in the next few years.
“This is going to work until it doesn’t. It’s impossible to tell when it will stop,” said Evan Ratner, president at Levin Capital Strategies and a SPAC investor. He made money in recent days by buying the stock in anticipation of the merger’s completion, then selling after Trump supporters pushed it higher.