Sri Lanka and Russia in talks to use the rupee in foreign trade

IRDAI to Introduce ‘Bima Vahaks’ to Expand Insurance Force

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) will shortly introduce "Bima Vahaks" in each gramme panchayat in order to strengthen the insurance force in India. Bima Vistar, a basic parametric bundled insurance product that covers health, property, life, and personal injury, will be offered by each Gram Panchayat through a "Bima Vahak" who will be responsible for selling and servicing the product.

Key Points

• There is a large section of the population which is missing the facilities of financial aid and insurance. About 30 per cent of the eligible population, the ‘missing middle‘, are deprived of health insurance solutions.
• 50 per cent of vehicles are uninsured, and the coverage of property insurance is minuscule. The MSMEs are not adequately covered. This huge protection gap needs to be bridged.
• The development of the insurance sector is not complete without reach to all sections to the population, the exclusion of those in the bottom of the pyramid and targeting the upper-income strata would result in development objectives going askew in the long run.

The Further Development:

The insurance companies have adopted a state each and with the help of state governments are looking to develop state-level insurance plans. Much like what has been done in the banks.

There’s arguably a case for having differentiated operations which cater to niche sectors, the same way we have NBFCs and microfinance institutes in lending.

There is a big protection gap in the country, and it was an “urgent need” for insurance companies and caregivers to collaborate and ensure wider coverage.

Global Trade Surges to $32 Trillion Record in 2022 Says UN

EU Adopts Global Minimum 15% Tax on Big Business

The European Union has decided to impose a global big corporation tax of at least 15%. The historic agreement between over 140 nations intends to put an end to governments` competitive tax-cutting measures to entice business. It was welcomed as "an unprecedented accord which helps level the playing field" by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

EU member states reached agreement in principle to implement at EU level the minimum taxation component, known as Pillar 2, of the OECD’s reform of international taxation. The ambassadors of EU member states decided to advise the Council to adopt the Pillar 2 directive, and a written procedure for the formal adoption will be launched.

RBI Signs Currency Swap Agreement with Maldives Monetary Authority

India`s Coal Production Increased By 11.66 % in November

The total amount of coal produced in India increased by 11.66% from 67.94 million tonnes in November 2021 to 75.87 million tonnes in November 2022.

According to the coal ministry data, in November 2022, Coal India Ltd (CIL) registered a growth of 12.82 per cent, whereas Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and other captive mines registered a growth of 7.84 per cent and 6.87 per cent respectively.

Coal-based power generation also registered a growth of 16.28 per cent in November as compared to last year, while overall power generation in November was 14.63 per cent higher than the power generated in November 2021.

US prints first banknotes with women’s signatures

The U.S. The first US banknotes (currency notes) containing the signatures of two women have been printed by the Treasury (the United States of America`s Finance Ministry). The Secretary of the Treasury (American Finance Minister) Janet Yellen and Lynn Malerba have signed the new currency notes of the denominations of 1 and 5. The term "Greenback" is commonly used to refer to US banknotes.

Janet Yellen is a former chairman of the United States Central Bank, Federal Reserve of New York. She was the first female head of the Federal Reserve.

Reserve Bank of India Issues Framework for Indian Banks’ Foreign Biz

World Economy Seems Headed For A Recession, Compounded With Inflation

With comparisons being made to both the global financial crisis of 2008 and the downturn brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, it appears that the world economy is destined for a terrible recession. A great deal of hope that any significant setback may be avoided rests on a high level of policy fine tuning, which may be challenging to deliver.

The US dollar has been surging for the past few months. It’s now the strongest it has been in two decades, and experts believe the value will grow even stronger in the coming days. But this surge in the value of the power of the greenback is agitating the economies and markets worldwide, and creating winners and losers.

Though a strong dollar bodes well for the Americans, the consequences are faced by other countries, especially the developing ones. The rise of US dollar has led to a decline in the value of UK pound, the euro, China’s yuan, Japan’s yen, India’s rupee and many others. As a result, it makes it more expensive for these nations to import essential items like food and fuel.

World Bank upgrades India`s GDP growth forecast for 2022-23 to 6.9 percent

The Indian economy is expected to increase by 6.9 percent in 2022–2023, exceeding the World Bank`s earlier prediction of 6.5 percent growth. It has decreased its earlier prediction of 7.5% GDP growth for India to 6.5% in October. The forecast has now been increased to 6.9% for 2022–2023. (April 2022 - March 2023).

The government is expected to meet the fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23.

The World Bank saw the government meeting the fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23. It expected inflation to be 7.1 per cent in the current fiscal year.

The country however remains affected by spillovers from the US, Euro area and China. The World Bank saw the government meeting the fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23. It expected inflation to be 7.1 per cent in the current fiscal year.