The week ahead, in charts: plastic ban, GST council meet 

GST Council meet

The GST Council will convene in Chandigarh for a two-day meeting starting on Monday. This is the 47th meeting of the council, marking the fifth anniversary of the GST regime since its implementation on 1 July 2017.

The council, chaired by the Union finance minister and her state counterparts, was set to discuss the revamp of tax rates and slabs. However, that has been deferred because of rising inflation. Now, steps to boost the GST system’s efficiency will be in focus. In recent months, collections have consistently crossed the ₹1-trillion mark, but there is scope to improve compliance and increase revenues.

A revision of tax rates is expected on items such as accessories used by cancer patients and imported defence items. The council will also clarify the taxability of sectors such as ice-cream parlours and rental of transport vehicles. It will likely grant extra time for demanding tax dues and refunds in the wake of the disruption caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

India PMIprotest

 

The S&P Global India Manufacturing PMI reading for June is due on Friday. At 54.6, even though it remained flat in May, compared with 54.7 in April, it pointed to a sustained recovery. Other major exporting countries reported a bigger decline.

Despite a rise in selling price as companies passed on additional costs to buyers, orders and production increased at rates similar to April’s. International sales were the strongest in over 11 years in May. Demand resilience led to an upturn in inventories and job growth.

Last month’s release also noted that the firms appear to be focusing on now, but there was a sense of unease about growth prospects among manufacturers which could be harmed by price pressures.

The overall level of sentiment was the second-lowest seen for two years. The PMI reading will tell how the sector fared in June amid such uncertainty.

Single-use plastic ban

 

India will prohibit the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, and sale of single-use plastic items from Friday to encourage plastic waste recycling. The government announced the ban in August to combat plastic pollution and in sync with the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the apex pollution-control authority, is preparing to phase out single-use plastics at the national, state, and local levels by Thursday. Local authorities have been instructed to issue new commercial licences and to notify entities that their existing licences would be cancelled if they are found to be selling them. E-commerce companies have also been asked to eliminate single-use plastic packaging.

India will join the list of countries taking major steps to reduce single-use plastics, following the lead of Bangladesh, which became the first to ban plastic bags in 2002. Last week, Canada also made headlines in a massive attempt to combat pollution and climate change.

US and UK GDP

The final GDP growth estimates for the US and the UK for the first quarter of 2022 are set to be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. The economic outlook in two of the world’s top economies has deteriorated in the last quarter, as tighter financial conditions to control high inflation have weighed on economic growth.

The US Federal Reserve recently hiked interest rates by 75 basis points, the largest increase since 1994, and signalled that it will continue to raise rates aggressively this year. Since December of last year, the Bank of England has hiked interest rates five times. Economists are increasing the likelihood of the US entering a recession, which may have a domino effect on the global economy.

According to preliminary figures, the US economy fell on an annualised basis in the preceding quarter, and the GDP growth in the UK was 0.8% in the first quarter of 2022, lower than expected.

Wimbledon

Wimbledon, the oldest tennis event, will begin on Monday with 128 men’s and 128 women’s singles players in the fray for a record prize money of £40.35 million, a 15% increase from 2021.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which has hosted the tournament since 1877, banned Russian and Belarusian players from competing, prompting the governing bodies of both men’s and women’s professional tennis to respond by removing ranking points from the events in 2022. Many players have expressed their disappointment.

Wimbledon draws the most attention because, in addition to being the only Grand Slam played on grass, it is also the most popular of the four. This year, for the immensely popular singles competition, six-time champion and 2021 winner Novak Djokovic has been named the top seed, while Rafael Nadal, a two-time winner, is seeded second. Iga Swiatek is expected to be a top seed in the women’s singles. The 2019 Wimbledon champion, Simona Halep, is another prominent contender in the women’s singles event.