Forex reserves soar $3.5 bn to a new high

India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $3.515 billion to touch a fresh all-time high of $446.098 billion in the week to November 1, helped by an increase in foreign currency assets. In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $1.832 billion to $442.583 billion. The increase in reserves was mainly on account of a jump in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves. FCA increased by $3.201 billion to $413.654 billion in the week ended November 1. During the week, gold reserves increased by $301 million to $27.353 billion. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund increased by $2 million to $1.443 billion during the week. The country’s reserve position with the Fund also increased by $10 million to $3.648 billion.

Govt announces steel scrap recycling policy

In a bid to ensure quality scrap for the steel industry, the government has come out with a Steel Scrap Recycling Policy that aims to reduce imports. India’s steel scrap imports were valued at Rs 24,500 crore in 2017-18, while the deficit was to the tune of 7 MT. The National Steel Policy aims to develop a globally competitive steel industry by creating 300 MT per annum production capacity by 2030. Officials said the scrap policy will ensure processing and recycling of products in an organised, safe and environment friendly manner, besides evolving a responsive ecosystem and producing high-quality ferrous scrap for quality steel production. The policy envisages a framework to facilitate and promote the establishment of metal scrapping centres, which will ensure scientific processing and recycling of ferrous scrap.

No charges on NEFT payment from January

Come January 2020, and customers may not have to pay any charges for transactions done through the popular NEFT system. A proposal in this regard has been mooted by the RBI to give impetus to digital transactions on the third anniversary of demonetisation. The central bank has also proposed that FASTags would be enabled to pay for parking fees and even at fuel stations. Digital payments constituted a high 96 per cent of total non-cash retail payments during the October 2018 to September 2019. During the same period, the NEFT and UPI systems handled 252 crore and 874 crore transactions with year on year growth of 20 per cent and 263 per cent, respectively. The RBI also plans to operationalise the Acceptance Development Fund to increase acceptance infrastructure.

‘India attaches special importance to SCO’

India attaches special importance to the SCO as an excellent platform for synergising efforts in the field of multilateral, political, security, economic interactions and mutual cooperation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on November 8. Addressing the 10th meeting of the heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states, he also said it is an important platform for regional outreach. Issues related to dealing with prevention and elimination of emergency situations were discussed in the meeting. Shah also stressed on the need for all stakeholders to focus on building disaster resilient infrastructure to minimise loss of lives and property. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019 in New York, he said.

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