News digest: PM on farm loan waivers, GST collections, MSME loans, and more

From PM Modi's take on farm loan waivers to RBI's restructuring of MSME loans, BS brings you top stories to keep up with the latest news

Vicious cycle of polls, loan waivers must end to empower farmers: PM Modi

On the first day of 2019, which will see the country prepare for the Lok Sabha elections in less than three months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a veritable report card of his government’s performance and the contours of his election campaign. He detailed various initiatives to curb corruption and black money, improve the lives of the poor, and address aspirations of the middle class, but ruled out a nationwide farm loan waiver, terming such promises as “chunavi (poll) stunts”. Read more here

GST collections drop to Rs 94,726 cr in December, lowest in three months

The government collected Rs 94,726 crore as goods and services tax (GST) in December, lower than the collection in the previous two months.

With a shortfall in seven of the nine months so far in 2018-19, GST collection in January, February and March has to be on average Rs 1.23 trillion to meet the budgeted target, according to calculations by Business Standard. While states are relatively safe due to compensation, the Centre’s fiscal position is in peril. Read more here

NCLT allows govt to reopen IL&FS Group's books for the last 5 years

In a first, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday allowed the corporate affairs ministry to reopen the books of the crippled Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) Group and its subsidiaries for the past five years under Section 130 of the Companies Act, to ascertain financial mismanagement. Read more here

RBI allows one-time restructuring of MSME loans of up to Rs 25 crore

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday introduced a one-time restructuring scheme for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with a maximum exposure of Rs 25 crore.

The restructuring has to be implemented by March 31, 2020. Banks have to incur an additional provision of 5 per cent for these restructured accounts, the RBI said in a notification on its website. Read more here