From oil bonds to cryptocurrency, FM Nirmala Sitharaman clears govt's stand on key issues

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday communicated the government's stand on important matters such as cryptocurrency, retrospective taxation, and keeping inflation within the comfort band. On the issue of fuel pricing, the finance minister remained non-committal on cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel, saying payments in lieu of past. On cryptocurrency- The FM said she is awaiting approval from the Cabinet on the bill on cryptocurrency as the proposed legislation is before it.
The Supreme Court in March allowed banks and financial institutions from providing services related to cryptocurrencies by setting aside the RBI's 2018 circular which had prohibited them. Retrospective taxation- She said the rules that will lead to the scrapping of the retrospective tax demands made on companies such as Cairn Energy Plc and Vodafone Plc will be framed soon. Parliament earlier this month passed a bill to scrap a tax rule that gave the tax department power to go 50 years back and slap capital gains levies wherever ownership had changed hands overseas but business assets were in India.