Director General of Foreign Trade Amit Yadav on Friday said that an announcement on the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme is likely in the next two weeks even as the government tries to chalk a mechanism to pay the pending claims under the erstwhile Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). “In the two weeks, we will have an announcement on RoDTEP. We are trying on how to get the base of RoDTEP enlarged. There is an impact budgetary side be it collections or expenditure. There is stress on expenditure and demand and challenges on revenue,” he said at a virtual event organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The scheme, which replaced the MEIS, is yet to be implemented because of the absence of rate of benefits. The refund rates for various product categories are yet to be finalised by the finance ministry and commerce ministry. On MEIS, he said the window to le claims for 2019-20 are open and more than 5,000 Importer-Exporter Code holders have got their scrips issued. For 2020-21, he said the government is looking at various options such as a bill of discounting kind of mechanism that can be made cashable next year. “We are talking to the finance ministry but there are scale constraints,” Yadav said. He also said that India’s exports in April grew 16% over April 2019 to $30 billion and the growth continued in the first week of May “Our exports in April grew 16% over April 2019 and we continue to see growth in the rst week of May,” he said, adding that the outbound shipments were 197% higher than April 2020 and the major commodities that witnessed an export growth were engineering, gems and jewellery, organic and inorganic chemicals, drugs and pharmaceuticals and readymade garments. “No major commodity registered negative growth because last year was an aberration, especially April,” he said. While last year, there were issues of movement of goods, abandoned trucks and untraceable drivers, there is no pan-India lockdown now and most states have not stopped industry functioning, he said. On certain sections of the steel industry that have sought a ban on exports, Yadav said “We need to be careful on what we ban. Commerce can only facilitate but the ultimate decision is with the nance ministry. Our policy is not to ban exports”. He said the steel ministry is working on the issue. Yadav also said that Service Export from India Scheme is a challenge. “We are still hopeful for an outlay but I don’t want to promise anything at this point of time,” he said. Stating that stability and certainty are key for industry, Yadav said the government has reduced unpredictability and extended the foreign trade policy. “We are looking at various export schemes, streamlining them and bringing new schemes. Some schemes are going away…MEIS and SEIS are there and RoDTEP is a big anxiety,” he said. The DGFT helpdesk to resolve traders’ Covid-19 related concerns, has addressed 50% of the issues as unlike last year when a national lockdown was in place, the centre now has to approach states to resolve issues and it is scattered. Yadav said that issues have been identified in trade where compliance burden needs to be reduced by August 15.
Source: Economic Times
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) will conduct a special drive to dispose of pending refunds and drawback claims from May 15 till May 31, in order to provide immediate relief to industry especially MSMEs during the pandemic. The Board issued instructions to all field units of customs and central tax on May 13, to prioritise processing and disposal of all pending refund and drawback claims as on May 14. “The Board has decided that there is a need to focus on timely disposal of all pending refund/duty drawback claims in order to provide immediate relief to the business entities, especially MSMEs, in these difficult times,” it said. CBIC had undertaken a similar special drive in April 2020 to provide liquidity to industry during COVID-19. In instructions issued, the Board also specified that the special drive be coordinated with major trade and industry associations, especially exporters, since submission of required documents will be needed from members. “For facilitation of exporters, all communication should be done over email, wherever email id of the applicant is available,” the Board said, adding that all deficiency memos may be reviewed and refund or drawback may be considered on merit Experts said that the move will surely help industry but added that a similar drive should be conducted for pending claims under goods and service tax (GST) regime. “Industry would be greatly benefitted by similar drives arranged by GST commissionerate for processing of any other pending refund claim, which includes refund of input tax credit on export, refund of excess taxes paid, refund of inverted duty structure, and many more,” said Rajat Mohan, senior partner at AMRG Associates.
Source: Economic Times
The CBIC has asked field offices to clear all pending refunds of customs and drawback claims by month-end. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the apex decision making body in customs matters, has issued an instruction to all customs Principal Chief Commissioners that a 'Special Refund and Drawback Disposal Drive' will be conducted with the objective of priority processing and disposal of all pending refund and drawback claims. However, all such refunds would have to be “considered on merit” following legal provisions. “This Special Drive shall be in place from 15th May 2021 to 31st May 2021. It is expected that during this period all refund and drawback claims that are pending as on 14th May 2021 shall be disposed,” it said. The CBIC also asked eld offices to coordinate this refund drive with the major trade and industry associations, especially those that cater to exporters, for their assistance, including submission of required documents. It, however, said that though the decision to process pending refund claims has been taken with a view to provide immediate relief to the taxpayers, officers would have to do due diligence before granting the refunds and drawback. “For facilitation of exporters, all communication should be done over email, wherever the email id of the applicant is available. “It is urged that in these difficult times all officers concerned make special efforts to liquidate the pending refund and drawback claims by May 31, 2021, and make the Special Drive a grand success,” the CBIC added. AMRG & Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said this special drive for processing refund claims by customs authority only, needs to be extended to local GST officers also. “In this Special refund drive, the customs authority is not empowered to process refunds arising on account of Excess payment of tax due to mistake or inadvertence, Excess balance in Electronic Cash Ledger, refund of ITC on account of export under Bond/ LUT, Inverted duty structure, refunds available to diplomats and embassies. Thereby as of now benefit of this drive would be limited to select exporters only,” Mohan added.
Source: Economic Times
Commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan on Friday said that India can achieve $400 billion export target in FY22 as the recovery in the country’s exports is broad-based and substantial. India's exports in April jumped nearly three-fold to $30.63 billion while imports rose to $45.72 billion, official data showed. “I don’t think so because we have achieved a balance between public health and economic activity. I’m confident we can achieve. I don’t foresee any major impact on our export prospects ..
Source: Economic Times
India's exports in April jumped nearly three-fold to USD 30.63 billion from USD 10.36 billion in the same month last year, according to government data released on Friday. Imports too rose to USD 45.72 billion last month as against USD 17.12 billion in April 2020, the data showed. Trade deficit widened to USD 15.10 billion as against USD 6.76 billion in April 2020. Exports in April last year had plunged by a record 60.28 per cent due to the COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown. In March this year, exports grew by 60.29 per cent to USD 34.45 billion. Due to the low base effect, exports in April 2021 recorded a growth rate of 195.72 per cent. Oil imports stood at USD 10.8 billion as compared to USD 4.66 billion in the corresponding month last year. Major export commodities which have recorded positive growth in April include gems and jewellery, jute, carpet, handicrafts, leather, electronic goods, oil meals, cashew, engineering, petroleum products, marine products and chemicals.
Source: Economic Times
Vizianagaram Balaji Textile Market, which is one of the biggest textile markets of Andhra Pradesh, has been facing unprecedented slump with the steep drop in sales with the lack of regular demand and marriages getting postponed due to lockdown. The industry which was hit very badly last year with the first wave of Coronavirus, could revive marginally during Diwali-Christamas and Sankaranti seasons. Almost all 305 shops wore a deserted look during the limited trading hours. In normal days, all internal roads were jam-packed with the customers coming from different towns of Odisha, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and other places in Andhra Pradesh. With inauspicious ‘Mudham’ between February 1 and April 12, the sales dropped significantly. Normally, buying of saris and other dress material is completed three months before the beginning of marriage season. However, the families didn’t buy them due to Mudham which is said to be an inappropriate time for taking up marriage related activities. Otherwise, crores worth of business used to take place every day here during marriage season. This marriage season is lifeline for all the shops to meet their expenses in a dull period. The traders who have been waiting for marriage season of May and June were shocked with the sudden lockdown on restrictions on conducting marriages. The government allowed only 20 persons for each marriage, making many families postpone the wedding dates. The Market President Buddepu Venkata Rao said that many traders were in deep financial crisis with the piling of stocks for the last one year. “It has become a Herculean task for traders to meet regular maintenance charges such as rents, electricity charges and payment of salaries to the staff,” he added. The Association Secretary Nirmal Kumar Pokarna told The Hindu that the wholesale traders were facing untold miseries with the little financial transactions in the last five months. “The wholesale traders who import textiles from Gujarat and other places should make payments promptly. But we are unable to get collections from retail traders of different parts of North Andhra region. The lockdown period turned into a big challenge for us,” he added. In spite of the financial distress, the traders continued to their service activities with the suggestion from Vizianagaram MLA Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy. The association arranged beds in hospitals and supplied oxygen cylinders to needy patients of COVID-19. The market former President Praveen Kumar Anchalia and other members arranged a blood donation camp in association with Rotary Parvati Devi Anchalia Voluntary Blood Bank. He said that the Blood Bank volunteers and traders were promoting plasma donation since it was needed to save lives of many COVID-19 patients.
Source: The Hindu
The value of textile and garment exports from Pakistan rose by 9.06 per cent year-on-year in dollar terms in the first nine months of fiscal 2020-21 that began on July 1. During the nine-month period, Pakistan earned $11.355 billion from textile & apparel exports, against $10.412 billion in July-March 2019-20, as per data from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Peruvian textiles and clothing exports exceeded the pre-pandemic level in the beginning of 2021 and the monthly average exports are projected to reach $123.09 million between May and July 2021, owing to the implementation of healthy economic policies and rising demand from the US and the EU. The exports rose consistently after experiencing a drop in H1 2020.
Source: Fibre2fashion
In its Spring 2021 Economic Forecast, the European Commission has significantly upgraded the growth outlook of EU economy compared to the Winter 2021 Forecast presented in February. The EU economy will expand by 4.2 per cent in 2021 and by 4.4 per cent in 2022. The euro area economy is forecast to grow by 4.3 per cent this year and 4.4 per cent next year. Growth rates, however, will continue to vary across the EU, but "all Member States should see their economies return to pre-crisis levels by the end of 2022," the Commission said in its forecast. The Spring 2021 Economic Forecast is based on a set of technical assumptions concerning exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices, with a cut-off date of April 28, 2021. For all other incoming data, including assumptions about government policies, the forecast takes into consideration information up until and including April 30. The EU economy contracted by 6.1 per cent and the euro area economy by 6.6 per cent in 2020. Although in general, businesses and consumers have adapted to cope better with containment measures, some sectors – such as tourism and in-person services – continue to suffer, the Commission said. The rebound in Europe's economy that began last summer stalled in the fourth quarter of 2020 and in the first quarter of 2021, as fresh public health measures were introduced to contain the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. However, the EU and euro area economies are expected to rebound strongly as vaccination rates increase and restrictions are eased. This growth will be driven by private consumption, investment, and a rising demand for EU exports from a strengthening global economy. Public investment, as a proportion of GDP, is set to reach its highest level in more than a decade in 2022. This will be driven by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU. Adding a note of caution, the forecast said, "The risks surrounding the outlook are high and will remain so as long as the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic hangs over the economy." On the other hand, stronger global growth, particularly in the US, could have a more positive impact on the European economy than expected. Stronger US growth, however, could push up US sovereign bond yields, which could cause disorderly adjustments in financial markets that would hit highly indebted emerging market economies with high foreign currency debts particularly hard. “While we are not yet out of the woods, Europe's economic prospects are looking a lot brighter. As vaccination rates rise, restrictions ease and people's lives slowly return to normal, we have upgraded forecasts for the EU and euro area economies for this year and next. The Recovery and Resilience Facility will help the recovery and will be a real game changer in 2022, when it will ramp up public investments to the highest level in over a decade. Much hard work still lies ahead, and many risks will hang over us as long as the pandemic does. Until we reach solid ground, we will continue to do all it takes to protect people and keep businesses afloat,” Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice-president for an Economy that Works for People, said.
Source: Fibre2fashion
