After a rally of more than 8 per cent in the first two months of 2017, voices have become louder on Dalal Street that the benchmark equity indices may touch fresh all-time highs in the coming weeks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 2,186 points, or 8.21 per cent, to 28,812 on February 27 from 26,626 on December 30, 2016.
The momentum may remain positive in the long run, as India could see a rating upgrade in the coming months on account of a slew of reforms by the government, including an ambitious plan to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
GST is expected to improve tax compliance in the medium term besides removing barriers to investment, particularly for foreign direct investment. It will also improve the ease of doing business.
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The original interview with Rakesh Jhunjhunwala appeared on The Economic Times and is available here.
In an exclusive interview with ET Now, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Partner, Rare Enterprises, says markets could correct any time it is going to correct more time wise rather than price wise. Edited excerpts
ET Now: I want to start with something which I picked up on my WhatsApp couple of days ago and it says that there is a strong market rumour that a big bull, which is you, has informed his close circle of friends and his associates that markets have topped out and now we may see a significant correction going forward. Have you told your friends anything like this?
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala: My opinion especially in oil, I think $60 for oil is not to be crossed. Onshore oil costs $3 and the fracking capacity is 10%, 15% of oil capacity in America. The whole world has still not even started and in lot of other countries there are not so many as might have been concerns as there are in America. Third thing is with lower prices, OPEC countries are compelled to produce more because of the cost. So I think personally oil prices at $60 is a line which is not going to be crossed, it is a prediction, I reserve the right to be wrong but it is my opinion that to cross it is very, very difficult. Even in other metal areas, I am not very bullish on prices. I think metal prices in general may have topped out.
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The original article appears in the Khaleej Times and is available here.
Building a consensus and getting all political parties on the same page was the biggest hurdle.
A uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST ) will soon be a reality in India following the passage of constitutional amendment bill in its upper house of Parliament on Wednesday. The bill now allows the central government to frame law for a unified tax regime in the country for most products and services and do away with as many as 17 indirect taxes prevalent at the central, state and concurrent levels. As of now, taxes are fragmented along states and push costs up by 20 to 30 percent.
Building a consensus and getting all political parties on the same page was the biggest hurdle. Now, it is just a matter of time, more discussions and debates, and ratification by the state assemblies before India will be able to introduce a uniform tax and join a league of more than 160 nations that enjoy a single tax regime.
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The original post appeared on the website of Economic Times and can be found here.
The Nifty50 rallied over 4 per cent in July and the trend may continue in August too. Technical charts and options data show a bullish picture as off now, which means if the market managed to sustain the momentum, Nifty may very well touch the 9,000 mark in August.
But here is the spoiler. Data for the past 10 years shows August has not been great for the bulls. On an average, the Nifty50 has given a negative return of nearly 1 percent in last 10 years. The index saw deep cuts of over 5 percent in August in three out of last 10 years.
In 2011, the Nifty50 saw a vicious cut of 8.8 percent in August, followed by a deep cut of 6.6 per cent in 2015. In 2015, the Nifty50 plunged 5.8 per cent.
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The original post is written by Rajat Sharma from our Mastermind, Sanasecurities and can be found here.
Goods and Service Tax (“GST”) is a comprehensive tax on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services, that will absorb most of the indirect taxes levied by Central and State Government. Currently the GST is adopted in over 150 countries. If passed, GST Bill would be THE biggest tax reform by the Indian government since inception of the Indian constitution.
How Will GST Work?
- In India, GST would work on dual model which will include – C-GST collected by Central Government + S-GST collected by State Government on intra-state sales. GST reform would also feature an Integrated GST (IGST) collected by Central government on inter-state sales, which is to-be divided between Central and States Government in a manner decided by the Parliament on recommendations by GST Council.
- By doing away with several Central and State Taxes, GST would diminish the cascading effect of tax (or double taxation, whereby the same product is taxed at the stage of manufacturing as excise, then as VAT/ sales tax on sale and so on.), which is prevalent in the current tax framework. Being a consumption-destination-based tax, GST would be levied and collected at each stage of sale or purchase of goods or services based on the existing input tax credit method. Current tax structure works on production-origin-based system i.e. goods and services are taxed differently on each stage of production.
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