Business News at 10:00 am on 9th May, 2024

Let’s begin…India’s economy likely grew by 8% in 2023-24 and the expansion rate may be over 7% in the current financial year, chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said on Wednesday, adding that any ‘nasty upside surprises’ on inflation isn’t expected. On the decline in households’ net financial savings in FY23, Nageswaran said households ran down the financial savings to accumulate real assets, leading to a portfolio shift. He said there was a “high possibility” of GDP growth having touched 8% in FY24 on the back of robust growth registered during the three quarters of the financial year ended March 2024. The GDP data for FY24 will be released by end-May.
Next up, The combined market cap of 81 listed Public Sector Undertakings including banks and insurance companies has grown by 225% in the last three years, aided by the government’s higher capital expenditure, better capital management and professionalism, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. In a rebuttal to Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s claim that PSUs are being “dismantled” and are in disarray under the Modi government, in a post on ‘X’, Sitharaman said the facts reveal a very different picture. PSUs which suffered and were neglected by the Congress-led UPA government, such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, have seen a resurgence under the Modi government, she said.
Moving on, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das has on Wednesday, held a meeting with major stakeholders in the unified payments interface ecosystem to discuss potential strategies for further expanding the reach of the unified payments interface. These stakeholders include banks, the National Payments Corporation of India, third party application providers and technology service providers. There were wide ranging discussions on various aspects to widen and deepen the adoption and usage of UPI. The stakeholders shared their valuable inputs and suggestions covering strategies for scaling up of UPI infrastructure and expanding products portfolio, challenges encountered by the ecosystem and innovative solutions for addressing the same, and innovative ideas to integrate potential users into the digital payments ecosystem.
In other news, Piramal Enterprises has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 137 crore in January-March, boosted by proceeds from the sale of the company’s share in Shriram Investment Holdings and income tax related gains, and recoveries from holdings in alternative investment funds. The company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 196 crore a year ago. In January, the company concluded sale of Shriram investments for Rs 1,440 crore, having carrying value of Rs 569 crore. The Company received an income tax assessment order for 2021-22 (April-March), wherein it has been allowed an assessed carry forward loss of Rs 10,627 crore, arising from the merger of Piramal Capital and Housing Finance with the erstwhile Dewan Housing Finance.
Next up, Two Indian cities —Mumbai and Delhi— made it to the top-50 of the world wealthiest cities in 2024, according to the latest rankings in this respect by the Henley & Partners and New World Health. While the US still dominated the list with 11 of its cities securing slots among top 50, an imminent slowdown in growth of the west’s wealth hubs was evident. The report which tracks millionnaires and the richer, reported a rise of the Asia Pacific, with 5 out of the top 10 wealthiest cities being in this region. The Europe still led among regions with 16 cities followed by Asia with 13 cities, and Australia & New Zealand with 5 cities. Within Asia, China had 5 cities in the list.
In another development, in a big relief to the Bank of Baroda, the Reserve Bank of India has lifted the restrictions on its mobile app Bob World, paving the way for the public sector lender to onboard customers digitally. The banking regulator, on October 10 last year, had asked the lender to suspend further onboarding to customers onto Bob World due to supervisory concerns. In filing to the BSE, the bank said, quote, The RBI, vide its letter dated 8th May 2024, conveyed to the bank its decision to lift the above mentioned restrictions on Bob World with immediate effect, as such the bank is free to onboard customers through Bob World application in accordance with the applicable guidelines and extant laws/regulations, end quote.
Lastly, GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a lacklustre opening on Thursday. Here is all you need to know before the market opens. GIFT Nifty traded down by just 5.50 points or 0.02% at 22,382.50 indicating a lacklustre opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Thursday. Previously, on Wednesday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended unchanged or 0.00 points or 0.00% to settle at 22,302.50 while the BSE dropped 45.46 points or 0.06% to 73,466.39. Meanwhile, Wall Street’s enthusiasm for stocks faded after a four-day advance that drove the market to its longest winning run since March, Bloomberg reported.