Economy

On October 31, the government came out with a statement saying it respects the autonomy for the central bank within the framework of the RBI Act.

GST-registered MSMEs will get a 2 per cent subvention or subsidy on a new loan or incremental loan of up to Rs 1 crore, PM Modi said.

Economic Affairs Secretary's remarks came after Acharya, during a lecture last week, made out a strong case for the central bank's autonomy.

The RBI is not statutorily independent, as the governor is appointed by the government, but it has enjoyed broad autonomy in regulating the banking sector.

The world's second-largest payments processor Mastercard told the US government in June that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using nationalism to promote the use of domestic payments network RuPay.

Delhi decided in June to raise the import tax from August 4 on some US products, including almonds, walnuts and apples.

US is imposing new sanctions on Iran's oil industry after Washington withdrew from a nuclear deal between Tehran and other global powers.

Arun Jaitley attributed the rise in the tax mop-up to lower tax rates and higher compliance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a programme to support the businesses in New Delhi on Friday, the finance ministry said.

The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 53.1 last month from 52.2 in September.

PM Narendra Modi has pledged to make it easier to do business and has targeted a spot in the top 50 in World Bank's annual list of bureaucracy-busting economies.

India improved on six of the 10 metrics tracked by the World Bank, including obtaining credit and construction permits.

India recorded a jump of 23 positions in the World Bank's annual ranking of ease of doing business, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

Fertiliser, cement and electricity output grew by 2.5 per cent, 11.8 per cent, and 8.2 per cent, respectively.

The FSDC meeting was the first instance when RBI Governor Urjit Patel came face to face with Mr Jaitley following the recent criticism by the central bank's deputy governor, Viral Acharya, of government interference in the functioning of the central bank.