FM meets tourism, hospitality representatives on banking-related issues

 Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama met with representatives from travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors to discuss various banking-related issues.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday met with representatives from travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors to discuss various banking-related issues. Along with the Finance Minister, the meeting was also attended by the Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad, Finance Secretary T V Somanathan, Secretaries for Financial Services, Economic Affairs and Revenue; chiefs of public sector banks (PSBs) and Indian Banking Association (IBA), besides senior officials from the finance ministry, the Union Finance Ministry said in a tweet.

Travel, tourism and hospitality sectors are among the worst hit due to the COVID pandemic. The industry leaders from these sectors have been pitching for financial support from the government. In the Union Budget 2022-23 presented in Parliament on the first day of this month, Sitharaman proposed to open an additional Rs 50,000 crore window under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to support the hospitality and related services sector.

FM Sitharaman ends MAT confusion: Reduced rate to be applicable from FY20

Reduced rate applicable from current FY; final call on fiscal deficit will be taken at Revised Estimate stage

The lower minimum alternate tax (MAT) rate announced as part of the corporation tax rate cuts in September will be applicable from the current fiscal year (2019-20 or FY20), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified on Monday in the Lok Sabha after an error in the Taxation Amendment Bill spooked companies.

For the second time in less than a week, Sitharaman also spoke of the challenges in maintaining fiscal discipline, while comparing the Modi government’s fiscal record with that of the Manmohan Singh government. Sitharaman said a final call on the fiscal deficit will be taken at the Revised Estimate stage.

The Taxation Law Amendment Bill, 2019 was introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday. It had said the lower MAT rate of 15 per cent, down from 18.5 per cent, will be applicable from the next financial year (2020-21 or FY21), while the Ordinance had said the lower rate will be effective from the current financial year. The corrections were made by way of an official amendment, changing FY21 to assessment year 2020-21.

“The intention has always been to apply reduced MAT rate from the year 2019-20. That error will be corrected through an official amendment now. The original intent was to apply it from 2019-20, which continues to be the case now,” said Sitharaman…Read More

Women must come out of their ‘comfort zones’, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The FM said it was her experience as the commerce and defence minister in the previous term of the Modi government, and now as the finance minister, that women do not come forward to stake claim

Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday implored women to come out of their “comfort zones”, stating that while there are laws to ensure more representation to women in governing boards and as independent directors in companies, her experience in the government is that it is difficult to find women.

Sitharaman was addressing a gathering after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat unveiled the findings of a survey on Status of Women in India by a Sangh Parivar-backed women’s organisation. One of the findings of the survey is that none of the 24 Parliamentary standing committees has had a woman head.

The FM Nirmala Sitharaman said it was her experience as the commerce and defence minister in the previous term of the Modi government, and now as the finance minister, that women do not come forward to stake claim. She said it is not that there is a dearth of capable women, but they just “do not bother” to come out.

The FM said laws for more participation of women should not get reduced to “tokenism”, and while laws that make increased women’s representation mandatory are needed, but it is equally important for women to come out of their “comfort zones” and take up challenges...