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KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday (Nov 10) that Barisan Nasional's (BN) support for budget 2021 is conditional upon people being allowed to draw from the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and an automatic extension of the loan moratorium during COVID-19. “I would like for the PN (Perikatan Nasional) government to note that these two conditions have to be met. Our support for this budget is subject to these two conditions being met,” he stated during budget debate in parliament. READ: Malaysian opposition will only support budget 2021 if it really helps the people: Anwar Ibrahim The BN's backbenchers club chairman said in his speech that the allowance for a higher withdrawal limit of the EPF account 1 was important, because the RM500 (US$121) withdrawal limit for 12 consecutive months as proposed by the Ministry of Finance in budget 2021 was insufficient. “The one-off withdrawal limit of up to RM10,000 is important and I would like to … [Read more...] about BN’s support for budget 2021 hinges on retirement fund withdrawal, loan moratorium extension: Najib

MUMBAI: The country's foreign exchange reserves increased by $169 million to $583.865 billion in the week ended February 19, RBI data showed. In the previous week ended February 12, the reserves had declined by $249 million to $583.697 billion. It had touched a record high of $590.185 billion in the week ended January 29 this year. During the reporting week, the increase in reserves was due to a rise in the foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves. FCA rose by $1.155 billion to $542.106 billion, the Reserve Bank of India 's (RBI) weekly data showed. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. The gold reserves declined by $977 million to $35.25 billion in the week, the RBI data showed. The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) fell by $4 million to … [Read more...] about Forex reserves up by $169 mn to $583.865 bn

UK's Cairn Energy Plc has won an arbitration against the Indian government levying Rs 10,247 crore in retrospective taxes, the company said on Wednesday. The three-member tribunal, which also comprised a judge appointed by the Indian government, ruled that India's claim of Rs 10,247 crore in past taxes over a 2006-07 internal reorganisation of Cairn's India business was not a valid demand, sources said. The tribunal asked India to pay the funds withheld along with the interest to the Scottish oil explorer for seizing dividend, tax refund, and sale of shares to partly recover the dues. Confirming the award, Cairn in a statement said "the tribunal established to rule on its claim against the Government of India has found in Cairn's favour." Cairn had challenged the Indian government seeking taxes over an internal business reorganisation using the 2012 retrospective tax law, under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty. "The tribunal ruled unanimously … [Read more...] about Cairn Energy wins retro tax case; India ordered to pay $1.2 bn

KUALA LUMPUR: The ethnic dimension of resource allocation in Malaysia has long been a concern, and this has coloured debates on issues in politics, the economy and education. Despite constant calls to do away with racial preferences in policy-making, the Ministry of Education recently announced that the 90:10 quota favouring bumiputra students in the pre-university matriculation programme would be maintained. Although the overall number of places for university enrollment has been increased, the decision to maintain the ethnic quota has triggered dissatisfaction among Malaysians, especially non-bumiputras who had put high hopes on the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to move away from the past and towards a system premised on meritocracy. Globally, there are different views on affirmative action and Malaysia is no exception. The matriculation programme, seen as a fast-track option to enter public universities, was originally fully reserved for bumiputras. Since 2002, a 10 … [Read more...] about Commentary: Time to relook racial quotas in Malaysia’s pre-university matriculation programme

'Tata Steel will continue pruning debt after surpassing the $1 bn goal, while keeping an eye on profitable and value-added growth.' Tata Steel delivered one of its best financial performances ever in the third quarter of the current financial year, and surpassed its deleveraging target of $1 billion. In an interview, Koushik Chatterjee , executive director and chief financial officer, Tata Steel, tells Ishita Ayan Dutt that the company will continue to focus on deleveraging but profitable and value-added growth will be equally important. H ow do you read the commodity cycle and what is your expectation in the near future? Globally, commodities have recovered very sharply from the lows of the pandemic in April 2020 on the back of a weak dollar, the liquidity triggered demand for commodities, supply constraint in the industry, the strong demand pull in China over the recent quarters and the broad based demand recovery post the peak of the pandemic. If … [Read more...] about What are the future plans of Tata Steel?