Titbits: Double-standards at the Ministry of Finance; Strengthening of Planning; Programme-Based Budgeting (PBB): Some Improvements; No need to shoot the messenger.

Double-standards at the Ministry of Finance

The 2011 Director of Audit’s Report shows that wastage and unnecessary expenditures have continued unabated. It is unacceptable that at a moment where everyone was bearing the brunt of the continuing global and the consequent local slowdown, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) was profligate with taxpayers’ money doling out some Rs 21 million rupees in overtime over the last three fiscal years

Titbits:The Mauritius-India Investment Route; MTPA-Greater accountability required; Moody's Investors Service upgrade !!!

The current visit of the Mauritian minister of foreign affairs to Delhi will set the stage for resuming talks on the Indian tax treaty in August.  Our negotiating position has been considerably weakened by the introduction of the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) in the Indian budget earlier this year, and the draft GAAR guidelines issued last week have confirmed our worst fears of potential override of tax treaty provisions.