1. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has notified the exemption of customs duty and agriculture infrastructure development cess on cotton imports till September 30th 2022. At present, there is a 5% basic customs duty (BCD) on cotton imports, while 5% is charged as the Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC).
2. Government is planning to raise the GST over the next two years and reduce the number of slabs, according to an FE report quoting sources. This may help the government raise tax collections and reduce inflation which is already at a 17-month high of 6.95 per cent.
3. The World Bank has said that introduction of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) could potentially pose risks to privacy, increase responsibilities of the central bank, and may also lead to currency substitution through cross-border transactions.