New Delhi Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that despite global uncertainties, there is positivity around the mega initial public offer of the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation.
Speaking to reporters after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board meeting in the capital, Sitharaman said, “There is a positive buzz in the air that the government has committed itself and is showing it and the way it has been tailored. Because of that it is in the air. , policyholders are going to get a share, retail investors are going to get a share and this is the biggest IPO to come. So, there is an air of positivity that was so much needed when you are doing something with the stock market,” Sitharaman said on optimism about the biggest initial public offer in the country despite external factors like high oil price and geopolitical tensions. Expressing said that can scare investors.
Responding to a question on external factors influencing global investor sentiments, the minister called the IPO “a very positive development in the history of LIC”. The government intends to sell more than 316 million shares in the company and seeks a valuation of at least 15 trillion for the company, Mint reported on Monday. Some shares will be reserved for employees and policy holders.
The government’s disinvestment policy includes privatizing loss-making state-owned companies, selling stake in companies and assets to raise resources for infrastructure investment, and allowing healthy companies to tap the market for their capital needs.
Responding to another question on Cryptocurrency, the Minister said that the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank are discussing about Cryptocurrency and there is complete harmony in the working of both on every issue. “There is no turfing here,” said the minister.
Sitharaman’s remarks came in the context of the government imposing taxes on digital virtual currencies and cautioning central bank investors that cryptocurrencies have no inherent value.
Sitharaman had announced in her budget speech on February 1 that a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) would be issued by the RBI. The budget also proposes a 30% tax on gains from digital virtual assets from April 1.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that like many other issues, the RBI and the finance ministry are holding internal discussions on the subject.
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