Govt wants to encourage longer-term investment and not speculation via derivatives or short-term trading: Finance Secretary.

The Finance Secretary of India has expressed the government's desire to promote long-term investment rather than speculation through derivatives or short-term trading. The government aims to encourage long-term investments in the stock market, which are seen as crucial for the economy. There will be moderate taxation on these investments, with less differentiation between different forms of long-term investments. The government has also increased short-term rates and the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on derivative transactions to signal a preference for long-term investments. In addition, the Reserve Bank of India has released a Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework to address the weaknesses of Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs). [Extracted from the article]