India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in August are estimated to be over ₹1.42 lakh crore, 27% higher than in the same month of 2021, marking the sixth month in a row that the indirect tax has yielded over ₹1.4 lakh crore.In July, GST revenues stood at ₹1,48,995 crore, the second-highest monthly collections since the launch of the tax regime in 2017 and the highest in three months. July’s GST kitty was 28% higher year-on-year and was boosted by a 48% surge in revenues from import of goods, while revenues from domestic transactions, including import of services, were 22% higher.
While India’s retail inflation had eased to a five-month low of 6.71% in July, the Finance Ministry highlighted several high-frequency indicators to emphasise that India’s growth-inflation matrix was on solid ground.
“With relatively high growth and low inflation, India, among the major peer economies has faced less of a [trade-off] between growth and inflation… Robust performance of high frequency indicators in July and August 2022 indicates sustained growth in Q2 of 2022-23,” it said.
“Domestic auto sales crossed pre-pandemic level in spite of the semi-conductor shortage, registering a YoY growth of 11.5% in July which is indicative of improvement in demand conditions in urban and rural areas,” the ministry noted.
Similarly, total bank credit and non-food credit continued to clock double-digit growth in July, as it had done in the April to June quarter, rising 13.4% and 13.9%, respectively. This is being driven by an uptick in credit flows to industry and services, the ministry reasoned.
Citing Purchasing Managers Indices (PMI) compiled by S&P Global, the ministry said manufacturing PMI was at an eight-month high in July, while Services activity remained ‘expansionary’ in the month.
“The government’s cumulative capex up to July has reached ₹2.1 lakh crore, with an increase of 62.5% over the cumulative capex in the corresponding period of last year. Fiscal deficit in the first four months of 2022-23 has narrowed to 20.5% of the budget estimates as compared to 21.3% in the corresponding period of the last year,” the statement noted.
Source: The Hindu
https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/gst-collection-in-august-expected-to-cross-142-lakh-crore-says-finance-ministry/article65834363.ece
