Punjab saw a 16.52 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue from Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a 10.4 per cent increase in revenue from excise levy during the April-December period of the current fiscal year. Punjab's Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday said the net GST collection up to December in FY24 was Rs 15,523.74 crore against the mop-up of Rs 13,322.59 crore during the April-December period of the previous financial year. Thus, the net increase in GST collection amounts to Rs 2,201.15 crore, he added. The minister said that the revenue from excise levy up to December in FY23 was Rs 6,050.7 crore, whereas for the current fiscal year, it rose to Rs 6,679.84 crore. Giving details about state's tax revenue, Cheema, in an official statement, said that Punjab achieved a growth rate of 14.15 per cent in total revenue from VAT, CST, GST, PSDT and excise up to December during the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of FY23. He said that revenue from V

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday exuded confidence that during this fiscal, the country will maintain the last year's export figures despite slowdown in global trade. He said that India's exports of goods and services rose to USD 776 billion in 2022-23 from USD 500 billion two years ago. "Globally growth has been negative, international trade is in the negative territory, estimates are that this year international trade may fall, and in that perspective after having grown so rapidly we are looking at a phase of consolidation... "and I expect that the current year, we will maintain our figures of last year and strengthen our processes and our domestic capacities, capabilities to be able to grow at much faster rates in the years to come," Goyal told reporters here. Cumulatively, the country's merchandise exports in April-November 2023-24 contracted by 6.51 per cent to USD 278.8 billion. The estimated value of services export during the eight-month period stood

According to government data, private companies account for 95.6 per cent of the total active companies as of November 2023

Despite the decline, the December figure marked 30 months of the index remaining above 50. A survey print above 50 indicates manufacturing expansion, and below that, contraction

"There is no payment problem ... It is a pure function of the price at which our refineries will buy," Puri told a press conference

The economic growth in Asia Pacific will remain strong in 2024 and GDP is expected to grow by about 5 per cent in India and a host of emerging market countries, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday. In its report titled 'APAC Cross-Sector Outlook 2024', Fitch said the outlooks for the banking sectors in India and Indonesia, as well as APAC emerging markets as a whole, move to improving in 2024, partly reflecting the robust economic backdrop. "Economic growth in APAC will generally remain strong in 2024, especially in emerging markets (EMs), supporting sector outlooks across the region. We expect real GDP to expand by, or above, 5 per cent in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and China's performance will still be strong by most other countries' standards," Fitch said. The Indian economy grew 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 fiscal year. India's GDP expanded 7.8 per cent and 7.6 per cent in the June and September quarters, respectively. Fitch had last month said it expects India to be

On inflation, the Ind-Ra report said it expects retail inflation to cool off to 5.1 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively, in the third and fourth quarter of this fiscal, respectively

Higher purchases by the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils could help lower palm oil stocks in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia and support benchmark futures

'Central banks will occupy an ever-more important position in the economic and security life of nations, if history is any guide'

The federal government's gross national debt has surpassed USD 34 trillion, a record high that foreshadows the coming political and economic challenges to improve America's balance sheet in the coming years. The US Treasury Department issued a report on Tuesday logging US finances, which have become a source of tension in a politically divided Washington that could possibly see parts of the government shut down without an annual budget in place. Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed last June to temporarily lift the nation's debt limit, staving off the risk of what would be a historic default. That agreement lasts until January 2025. Here are some answers to questions about the new record national debt. HOW DID THE NATIONAL DEBT HIT USD 34 TRILLION? The national debt eclipsed USD 34 trillion several years sooner than pre-pandemic projections. The Congressional Budget Office's January 2020 projections had gross federal debt eclipsing USD 34 trillion in fiscal year 2029. B