Tax systems of States are becoming increasingly regressive, with the share of direct taxes in the total tax revenues falling sharply and that on commodities and services, which invariably affects the lower and middle-income groups, shooting up. While in 1985-86, the share of taxes on income was 1.87 per cent of the total revenue from the States’ taxes, by 1997-98, it fell to 0.86 per cent. On the other hand, the share of taxes on commodities and services has gone up from around 88 per cent in 1985-86 to around 92 per cent in 1997-98.

Asia urged to shore up banks

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) General Manager, Mr. Andrew Crockett, has urged Asian economies to move faster in reforming their shaky banking sectors, reports said. Speaking ahead of Monday's meeting at the BIS office here of international central bankers, Mr. Crockett said he was encouraged by regional banking reforms but "there is still some way to go". Asian banks had to shake off their burden of bad debt if they were to be able to finance recovery in the crisis-hit region, he said, according to the Sunday Morning Post.

Oil cos for hedging after equity swap

The three national oil companies are eyeing hedging both in the upstream and downstream segments, with the proposed equity swap among them. Further, provision is likely to be made to acquire more equity in each others’ undertakings to enable total integration and the formation of a global giant. The companies have proposed to integrate operations and jointly acquire acreages abroad, and a combined offer would be made for exploration, production, refining and setting up logistics for distribution.

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