NEW DELHI: Indian small businesses have been given enough time to prepare for the July 1 rollout of a new national Goods and Services Tax (GST), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday, ruling out any further slippage in the timeline.
Jaitley, addressing a news conference, said there would be initial challenges after launching the tax, which will require all but the smallest businesses to file three detailed returns online every month.
But, with 6.5 million firms already registered for the GST and more expected to sign up, there was no excuse for firms not to be ready for what has been billed as the biggest tax reform in India’s 70-year history.
A decade in the making, the GST would bring down barriers between more than 30 states and territories, unifying India’s $2 trillion economy and 1.3 billion people into a single market. The government says it will boost both commerce and state revenues.
“We have been saying for the last six months it would be July 1 — nobody has any business not to be ready,” Jaitley told reporters. “If he is still not ready, then I am afraid he does not want to be ready.”
To ease the transition, a GST coordination panel agreed on Sunday to allow companies to file simplified, aggregate tax returns in July and August before they have to comply fully with the GST from September.
Any company generating a large number of invoices will need to adopt special software packages that enable them to format and reconcile invoices, then upload them to the GST Network, an IT system that will process up to 5 billion invoices a month.
If companies struggle to comply, that could block the flow of input tax credits that are a new feature of the tax, experts and business groups said. This would force firms to pay tax on the full cost of an item rather than just value added, tying up working capital and cutting into profits.
Jaitley said he expected there to be “some challenges” in the short term after the launch but he dismissed concerns that registering for and complying with the GST would be too hard.
“Industry and trade have to prepare themselves. It is not a complicated process,” he said.
Jaitley said he anticipated, over the medium and the long term, that improved tax collection under the GST would cause revenues to grow, and the spending capacity of India’s federal and regional governments would increase.
“Consequently, it should have a positive impact on the gross domestic product (GDP),” said Jaitley. “The size of the formal economy should also increase.”
No excuse for firms not to be ready for GST, says Jaitley
No excuse for firms not to be ready for GST, says Jaitley
Egypt defies African FDI trend with inflows of $11bn in 2025: UNCTAD
RIYADH: Egypt emerged as Africa’s top destination for foreign direct investment in 2025, attracting an estimated $11 billion in inflows in a year marked by declining investment across the continent.
According to UNCTAD’s latest Global Investment Trends Monitor, the North African country ranked ahead of other major African economies despite a sharp regional slowdown.
The performance underscores Egypt’s relative resilience at a time when foreign investment into Africa has normalized following an unusually strong 2024, which UNCTAD said was inflated by a single large project. As a result, the 2025 data reflects a return to more typical investment levels across the continent.
“Among African economies, inflows to Angola reached an estimated $3 billion, marking a return to positive values after nine consecutive years of net divestments,” the report stated.
It added: “Egypt, with inflows of $11 billion, remained the largest FDI host country in Africa.”
While Egypt solidified its position as Africa’s leading FDI host, other notable movements on the continent included Mozambique, where inflows surged 80 percent to $6 billion, driven by renewed activity in major liquified natural gas projects.
Angola also saw a positive shift, recording an estimated $3 billion in FDI after nine consecutive years of net divestments.
UNCTAD noted that Egypt’s strength extended beyond headline inflows, with the country also contributing to an increase in greenfield investment activity across Africa. While the number of greenfield projects fell globally and across most lower-income economies, Africa recorded a 5 percent increase in project numbers in 2025, supported in part by growth in Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire.
Globally, FDI flows rose by 14 percent in 2025 to approximately $1.6 trillion, though growth was heavily concentrated in developed economies, which saw a 43 percent increase.
In contrast, flows to developing economies declined by 2 percent, with the least developed countries particularly affected; three-quarters experienced stagnant or falling investment.
The report highlighted that new project announcements remained weak globally amid elevated policy uncertainty, with international project finance declining for the fourth consecutive year.
Looking ahead, UNCTAD warned that geopolitical tensions, regional conflicts, and economic fragmentation could continue to suppress real investment activity in 2026, even as financing conditions are expected to ease.
For Africa, sustaining FDI inflows will require navigating persistent challenges such as financing constraints, risk perceptions, and structural vulnerabilities.
