Page 12 - Finance Minister

Women should take benefits of schemes launched by Centre: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged women to come forward and take benefits of central schemes to make them more capable and empowered. She was speaking at a credit outreach programme held in Madhubani, where loans to the tune of Rs 1,121 crore were provided to 50,294 beneficiaries by various banks. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji says there should be a Lakhpati Didi' in every village of the country and for this, banks have launched several schemes for providing financial assistance to women. Women are being given financial assistance and training through every Self Help Group (SHG) in Bihar. I urge women to become a part of the schemes launched by the central government... so that they can become more capable and empowered, Sitharaman said. She also said women would play an important role in achieving the goal of a developed India by 2047. Our PM believes that India's development should be led by women. The focus of the NDA government is clear The poor, wome

FM distributes Rs 1,388 cr in loans at Darbhanga credit outreach programme

Union Finance Minister distributed five copies of the Constitution each in Maithili and Sanskrit to distinguished citizens

PM Modi visualises women-led economic growth for India: Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asserted that PM Narendra Modi was of the view that women would steer economic growth in the country, which was on its way to becoming the third largest economy in the world. She was speaking at a credit outreach programme held in the north Bihar town of Darbhanga, where she was joined by cabinet colleague Chirag Paswan and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, among others. Sitharaman said, "Earlier, PM Modi used to tell me that the Union budget should be women-centric. But now he says the budget should be one that visualises women in leadership roles." The finance minister, who is on a two-day tour of Bihar, noted that the region, which was known for 'makhana' and Madhubani paintings, owed these to women's hard work. "We have brought in projects like 'Drone Didi'. Besides, cash assistance is being provided to women entrepreneurs through self-help groups. They are also being imparted with skills. Standing here, the birthplace o

Karnataka CM seeks more agricultural loans, meets FM for farmers' interests

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, urging her to intervene and increase the Short Term Agricultural Loans (SAO) limit for the fiscal 2024-25. In the meeting held at North block, the chief minister highlighted a sharp decline in the proposed loan allocation by NABARD, which has sanctioned only Rs 2,340 crore against the state's applied limit of Rs 9,162 crore, a 58 per cent reduction compared to the previous year's Rs 5,600 crore. Presenting a detailed representation, Siddaramaiah emphasised that Karnataka aims to disburse short-term agricultural loans worth Rs 25,000 crore to 35 lakh farmers in 2024-25. In 2023-24, the state has already disbursed Rs 22,902 crore through the cooperative credit structure. The state government said that the drastic reduction in the SAO loan limit could significantly impede agricultural cooperation and potentially disrupt food grain production. NABARD attributed the reduced allocation to a ..

Karnataka CM seeks to meet FM Sitharaman to discuss Nabard loan 'reduction'

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said he has sought an appointment with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss the "reduction" in loan amount to the state this year, from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The Chief Minister will be travelling to the national capital tonight. "There is a launch of Nandini products in Delhi, so I'm going. I have also sought appointment with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, because NABARD loan to the state this year has been reduced. Last year, Rs 5,600 crore was given, this year it is Rs 2,340 crore. It has been reduced by 58 per cent," Siddaramaiah said. Speaking to reporters here, he noted that the NABARD comes under the Finance Ministry. "I will make a request to her." Asked if he will be meeting the Congress high command during the visit, the CM said: "I will have to return (to state) by tomorrow evening. If I get time, I will meet." Siddaramaiah is scheduled to launch Nan

A lot of 'ills' have crept into the system: Panda on product mis-selling

'You don't need to chase customers. You have to give the option to the customer. No mis-selling, no force-selling, the Bima Sugam will also facilitate that,' says Debasish Panda

Lending rate cut still some time away: SBI Managing Director Vinay M Tonse

SBI MD says banks would look for monetary policy stance and policy rate action to decide actions

Banks need to make loans more affordable, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The Finance Minister also said that inflation is very volatile because of supply and demand constraints

FM Nirmala Sitharaman responds to X user seeking 'relief for middle class'

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded to an X (previously Twitter) user, Tushar Sharma, who had commented on the minister's online post

Severe action to be taken for causing harassment to taxpayers: Sitharaman

The finance minister added that manufacturing is a priority for the government, and various schemes have been developed for this purpose

May ease tariffs if no harm to economy, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

According to Sitharaman, she has the responsibility to protect existing domestic companies producing goods locally, while balancing the needs of those dependent on imports

Manickam Tagore writes to Sitharaman over LIC's policy restructuring

In the letter dated November 5, Tagore said that the changes in LIC policies are troubling

Finance Minister Sitharaman reviews progress of Mysuru planetarium

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday reviewed the progress of the planetarium, being built with assistance from her MPLADS fund. The COSMOS high-tech 15-metre LED dome planetarium, with an 8K resolution, will be the first 'Tilted LED dome' Planetarium in the world, the finance ministry said in a post on X. The finance minister has allocated Rs 5 crore of her Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds for the Cosmology Education and Research-training Centre project and laid the foundation stone in March 2022, it said. The project, with a budgetary estimate of Rs 91 crore, is executed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) through an MoU with the University of Mysore for construction and operation. The implementation of the project is being carried out under the guidance of the Principal Scientific Advisor, and an advisory board co-chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. The centre is expected to create knowledg

Germany's Scholz fires his finance minister amid coalition's collapse

Germany's centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Wednesday he was firing Finance Minister Christian Lindner, signalling the collapse of the ruling three-party coalition that relied on Lindner's pro-business party. Scholz announced the move at a news conference following weeks of disputes among the coalition partners over ways to boost the country's ailing economy. He said he would seek a vote of confidence in January that he said might lead to early elections that otherwise would be due next September. I feel compelled to take this step to prevent damage to our country. We need an effective government that has the strength to make the necessary decisions for our country," Scholz said. Lindner, from the pro-business Free Democrats, had rejected tax increases or changes to Germany's strict self-imposed limits on running up debt. Scholz's Social Democrats and the environmental Greens, who are also part of the coalition, wanted to see massive state investment and rejected the Free

Urban demand stress under watch, festivals may boost consumption: FinMin

The inflation rate stood at 4.6 per cent in the first half of FY25, down from 5.5 per cent during the same period last year

FM Sitharaman urges G7, G20 members to boost support for African nations

Finance Minister Sitharaman participated in the G7 African Ministerial Roundtable on Saturday (local time), the Ministry of Finance stated

Need fair sovereign ratings for capital access: Sitharaman at IMF meeting

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged greater engagement with credit rating agencies to improve rating methodologies

Soft landing of global economy increasingly a possibility: Sitharaman

A soft-landing of the global economy, which has experienced tremendous stress over the past several years, is increasingly a possibility, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Friday. Observing that better days are ahead primarily because of the coordinated action between countries and multilateral financial institutions, the finance minister at the same time sounded a note of caution that economies are not really picking up that much yet. The largest sense which prevailed in the two-day discussions, both of the (International Monetary) Fund and also of the World Bank, is that there will be a soft landing. The efforts by the Fund, the central banks and all institutions, governments have kept the inflation down for some meaningful period. Therefore soft landing is increasingly a possibility, Sitharaman told a Washington DC-based global think-tank. Then that reasonable growth numbers will come from even the advanced economies. certainly not in the negative area. And then the

Jobs most pressing global issue amid tech changes, says FM Sitharaman

Sitharaman called for the need to explore alternative growth strategies and the types of jobs they will generate, in addition to the traditional manufacturing-led development pathway

Japan, US finance chiefs discussed FX moves in bilateral meeting: Official

A weak yen has become a source of concern for Japanese policymakers as it hurts households and retailers by pushing up the cost of raw material imports