TMS Ep63: GST council meet, Ikea India CEO, markets, MF Central

Before laying out a broad framework for economic recovery in its budget, the Centre is likely to convene a meeting of the GST Council next month. On the agenda will be a rationalisation of tax rates to boost GST revenues, as it is the finance ministry's understanding that continuous restructuring of tax rates have hurt collections. Another issue on the table will be the inverted duty structure for certain goods. We find out all that can be expected from the GST Council’s meeting next month.

After the GST, let us see how Swedish furniture and home accessories major Ikea is planning to expand its footprint in India. Still basking under the three times jump in its online sales during the lockdown, the company recently opened its first small-format city store in Mumbai to get a step closer to its customers. In an interview with Business Standard’s Sharleen D’Souza, Peter Betzel, chief executive officer and chief sustainability officer of Ikea India, shares the company’s expansion and investment plans in India. 

Just like the Swedish furniture maker, brokerages too are bullish for 2022. Though they rule out the easy money-making phase, they believe the returns from the market in 2022 will track growth in corporate earnings. Where are global equities headed in the next calendar year? What is the target for Sensex? And which sectors may catch investor fancy? Our next report finds out.

It’s not just the market which is catching people’s fancy. A new app is also doing the same. Two registrar and transfer agents of the mutual funds industry recently launched a transaction platform for investors. Named MF Central, it promises to provide a dashboard to all mutual fund investors where they can place service requests like change of email, phone number and nomination. Its app is also likely to be launched in the next few days, let us find out how it will make the life of investors easier and more in this podcast.  

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