Finance Ministry pays 97% of GST refunds due to MSMEs

Published by Arpita@HostBooks at Last Updated on February 21st, 2020 at 2:37 pm Published on November 1, 2019

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Source: The Hindu

According to the Finance Ministry, as much as 97% of GST refunds due to MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) as of August 23 has been paid by the government. In a status report released by the Finance Ministry on the implementation of measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in August and September, it said that of the ₹10,841 Crore pending refunds as of August 23, ₹10,490 Crore has been paid till October 24.

The report added that of the total ₹70,000 Crore upfront liquidity recapitalization promised to banks, ₹60,314 Crore had been infused into banks in September through recapitalization bonds, including ₹4,557 Crore in IDBI Bank.

Further, under the partial guarantee scheme promised by the Finance Minister in her announcement made on August 23, public sector banks (PSBs) have accorded sanction to purchase ₹21,580 Crore worth of pooled assets of NBFCs as on October 16. On the subject of co-origination of loans by banks with NBFCs, the Finance Ministry said as of October 16, eight banks had a total of 16 tie-ups in place with NBFCs/HFCs.

PSBs extend support to NBFCs

As part of the efforts to provide the much-needed liquidity to NBFCs, the Finance Ministry said that the PSBs had extended support of ₹2.56 Lakh Crore to the sector since September 2018 by way of credit and pooled buyout.

Issuing a circular on September 17, the Department of Expenditure had lifted the ban on the purchase of new vehicles by Ministries and government departments. A vehicle scrappage policy has also been formulated and issued for comments from stakeholders and the general public by November 15.

On September 20, the Finance Ministry had issued an ordinance amending the Income Tax Act to provide relief to all investors from the enhanced surcharge on capital gains. On the issue of angel tax, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a consolidated circular for assessment of start-ups and a Start-up Cell has also been constituted, as promised.

Arpita@HostBooks

Arpita Bora is leading the content writing team at HostBooks Limited. She has pursued her Masters in Commerce. With over 4.5 years of experience in technical and creative writing, she specializes in both long and short-form digital content.