International Monetary Fund (IMF)

♦ The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its forecast for India’s economic growth to 6.4 percent for both 2025 and 2026.

♦ Earlier in its April 2025 World Economic Outlook, IMF had projected India’s GDP growth at 6.2 percent for 2025 and 6.3 percent for 2026. 

♦ The IMF has also modestly raised its global growth outlook to 3.0 percent in 2025 and 3.1 percent in 2026, citing lower-than-expected impact from tariffs, a weaker US dollar, and improved financial conditions.

♦ China is forecast to grow at 4.8 percent in 2025 and 4.2 percent in 2026, while the US is expected to expand 1.9 percent in 2025 and 2.0 percent in 2026.

India and Maldives agreement

♦ India and the Maldives have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral collaboration in fisheries and aquaculture.

♦ The agreement, inked during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the Maldives, is aimed at promoting sustainable marine practices and innovation across both nations. 

♦ The partnership aims to promote sustainable tuna and deep-sea fisheries, strengthen aquaculture and sustainable resource management, foster fisheries-based eco-tourism, and support innovation and scientific research across both countries.

♦ The MOU also will facilitate training and knowledge exchange programs, with a focus on capacity building in aquatic animal health, biosecurity screening, aquaculture farm management, and specialized technical fields such as refrigeration, mechanical engineering, and marine engineering to support long-term skills development within the sector.

UPI-PayNow cross-border

♦ The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the onboarding of 13 more Indian banks to the UPI-PayNow cross-border payments linkage between India and Singapore.

♦ With this expansion, a total of 19 Indian banks are now part of the real-time remittance system, aimed at further simplifying international money transfers for individuals and small businesses.

♦ The UPI-PayNow linkage is a real-time cross-border remittance service launched as a joint initiative between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

♦ Designed to simplify and accelerate international money transfers, the system enables people in India and Singapore to send and receive funds using just their UPI ID, mobile number or Virtual Payment Address (VPA).

♦ List Of 13 New Banks Recently Added To UPI-PayNow Linkage:
1. Bank of Baroda, 2. Bank of India, 3. Canara Bank, 4. Central Bank of India, 5. Federal Bank, 6. HDFC Bank, 7. IDFC FIRST Bank, 8. IndusInd Bank, 9. Karur Vysya Bank, 10. Kotak Mahindra Bank, 11. Punjab National Bank, 12. South Indian Bank. 13. UCO Bank

♦ Banks Previously Live On The UPI-PayNow Linkage:
1. Axis Bank, 2. DBS Bank India, 3. ICICI Bank, 4. Indian Bank, 5. Indian Overseas Bank, 6. State Bank of India (SBI). 

Confederation of Indian Industry

♦ The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has projected India’s real GDP growth to remain in the range of 6.4% to 6.7% in the financial year 2025-26.

♦ CII said that India must anchor its growth in competitiveness, driven by scale, productivity, innovation and resilience, especially at a time when global trade and technology dynamics are changing rapidly.

♦ Highlighting India’s energy transition goals, CII called for sector-specific strategies, including for mobility, and advocated the proactive creation of Green Hydrogen and Renewable Energy hubs.

♦ The industry body also plans to launch a dedicated Mission on Energy Transition to encourage industries to shift towards low-carbon alternatives.

Goods and Services Tax

♦ India’s gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection for 2025 June stood at Rs.1.85 lakh crore.

♦ Gross GST collections stood at Rs.1.73 lakh crore in June 2024.

♦ In comparison, the revenue in April 2025 had touched a record Rs.2.37 lakh crore, while May’s mop-up was Rs.2.01 lakh crore.

♦ As per the official statement, the components of the Rs.1.84 lakh crore collected in June 2025 include:

Central GST (CGST): Rs.34,558 crore

State GST (SGST): Rs.43,268 crore

Integrated GST (IGST): Rs.93,280 crore

GST Cess: Rs.13,491 crore