The pandemic had impacted Uttar Pradesh’s own tax revenue (OTR) during FY21 and the total collection was only 73.1% of the target (Budget estimate). Against the target of Rs 1,66,021 crore in 2020-21, the actual revenue was only Rs 1,21,379 crore. On a year-on-year basis, the OTR during 2020-21 was 1.6% lower. The collections under VAT and GST heads fell short by 26.8% of the target during the fiscal. While the target was to collect 91,568 crore, the actual collections were Rs 67,057.39 crore.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday gave ex-post facto approval to the official amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021, which were aimed at clarifying and rationalising tax proposals for 2021-22. The amendments were essential to clarify and rationalise the proposals further and address stakeholders’ concerns arising out of the proposals enumerated in the Finance Bill. The Finance Bill became the Finance Act, 2021 on March 28, 2021 after receiving the President’s nod.

India on Tuesday rejected grounds used by the US treasury department for putting the country on the currency manipulator watchlist, saying the central bank’s activities in foreign exchange market were perfectly balanced and it was not accumulating forex reserves. For the second time since the start of the pandemic, India on Monday figured on the US treasury department’s watchlist of currency manipulators.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday gave its ex post facto approval to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India’s Director General of Trade Remedies and the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission to increase cooperation in the area of trade remedies, an official statement said. The MoU was signed on March 27 in Dhaka. The primary objective of the MoU is to promote cooperation between the two countries in the area of trade remedies, exchange of information.

Domestic rating agency Icra on Tuesday cut its 2021-22 growth estimate by 0.5 per cent on the upper end, as a newer spate of lockdowns and restrictions get imposed in pockets to arrest the rising COVID-19 cases. The agency now expects the economy to grow 10-10.5 per cent in 2021-22, against the 10-11 per cent estimated earlier. Starting with Maharashtra, a slew of other pockets in the country like Delhi have been taking to localised lockdowns to arrest the climbing COVID-19 cases, which derails economic activity.

Nippon Paint India a second lockdown, if imposed, will be detrimental not only for the industry but for the economy as well. Stating that the manufacturing sector is still reeling under the effects of the last lockdown, the company said labourers are skeptical and anticipating a second lockdown they have started planning their return journeys as the memories of the last lockdown are still fresh in their minds. Malhotra said, “The supply chain is still not recovered and with the possibility of a second lockdown.”

India’s debt to GDP ratio increased from 74 per cent to 90 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund has said, noting that it expects this to drop down to 80 per cent as a result of the country’s economic recovery. Paolo Mauro, Deputy Director, IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department told reporters at a news conference here on Wednesday, “In the case of India, the debt ratio at the end of 2019, prior to the pandemic, was 74 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Just when we thought that the economy was beginning to take some semblance of normalcy, the second wave of COVID has once again underlined the capricious nature of recovery. Against this backdrop, the RBI’s MPC expectedly maintained a status quo on rates and committed to remain accommodative with an open-ended guidance of “as long as necessary to sustain growth on a sustainable basis”. We had alluded to India’s V-shaped recovery in FY22 being a function of 2 other V’s.

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday retained the economic growth projection for the current financial year at 10.5 per cent, while cautioning that the recent surge in COVID-19 infections has created uncertainty over the economic growth recovery. In its last policy review, the RBI had projected a GDP growth rate of 10.5 pc for FY’22. Taking various factors into consideration, it said, “the projection of real GDP growth for 2021-22 is retained at 10.5 per cent consisting of 26.2 per cent in Q1, 8.3 per cent in Q2, 5.4 per cent in Q3 and 6.2 per cent in Q4.”

The actions taken by countries during the coronavirus pandemic to prevent a deeper economic downturn may have unintended consequences, according to a top IMF official. The global economy is beginning to emerge from the economic shock caused by the COVID 19 pandemic, Tobias Adrian, Director of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday. ”The economy has benefited from extraordinary policy measures that have eased financial conditions, preventing a deeper economic downturn,” Adrian said.