Get latest in today's #WorthWrap | RBI's MPC meeting, Bengaluru's Congestion Tax, and BYD nearing Tesla's lead

After hiking the repo rate six consecutive times since last year, the RBI hit the pause button and kept the repo rate unchanged in the last three MPC meetings this year. The repo rate was hiked six back-to-back times from May 2022 to February 2023, after which the RBI kept the rate unchanged in the April, June and August meetings this year.

The next bi-monthly MPC meeting is set to take place from October 4th-6th this week, with the decision set to be announced on 6th October (Friday).

For the unversed,?repo rate?is the rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks, whenever the latter falls short of funds or needs liquidity. The banks borrow from the RBI against qualifying securities put as collateral, such as government bonds and treasury bills.?

Just like we borrow from banks at the applicable interest rates on?loans, banks borrow from the RBI whenever required, at the repo rate.?

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) rate-setting panel is likely to keep the policy interest rates unchanged later this week while continuing its protracted vigil on inflation, as the steepest increase in crude oil prices in 10 months amid signs of further rate hardening in the US lengthens the odds on an immediate turnabout in the rate trajectory at home.??

"The MPC is expected to extend its hawkish pause... global crude oil prices have surged to November 2022 highs, surpassing the RBI's April estimate of $85 per barrel, with September's average approximately 9% higher than that of August," Radhika Rao, senior economist, DBS Bank said, as per ET report.

RBI is expected to hold its key interest rate (repo) at the current level of 6.50% till the end of March 2024, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

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At a time when concerns surrounding the traffic in Bengaluru are going through the roof, an expert committee, in collaboration with the Karnataka government, has proposed a possible way to solve the traffic problems in the city.

The committee has proposed to bring in a congestion tax in Bengaluru to reduce the traffic congestion in the 'Silicon Valley of India.'

A congestion tax is like a fee that drivers have to pay when they enter certain parts of a city, especially during rush hours. This fee is meant to help reduce traffic jams in particular areas.

The proposal for a congestion tax in Bengaluru comes because of a report titled "Karnataka's Decade - Roadmap to a $1 Trillion Economy,"?which has recommended that a congestion charge be levied on all non-exempt vehicles entering the city during peak hours.?The aim is to enhance travel times for buses, cars, and delivery vehicles, while also making commuters more aware of their impact on traffic congestion during rush hours.

Tap on the image below to know the places where Congestion Tax is likely to be imposed.

Despite having big competitors such as Google, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco and many more, in terms of market cap, Apple to date is the first and the only company to hit the $3 trillion market capitalization.

The Tim Cook-led tech giant has achieved this feat not once but twice. After hitting that mark in January last year, Apple again hit the $3 trillion mark this year in June.?

And that’s not all. If you look at the biggest economies of the world, it turns out that Apple’s market cap is much higher than the majority of the world’s 50 biggest economies.

Apple currently has a market cap of $2.72 trillion. Looking at the GDPs of the world's 50 biggest economies, it turns out that only seven countries have a GDP higher than Apple's current market cap.?Currently priced at $173.75, Apple's shares are up more than 38% this year to date.

Tap on the image below to read more and know the GDP of the 50 countries compared.

Time and again, Warren Buffett has proven that most businesses that he invests in, turn out to be a success. The 93-year-old billionaire’s investment in Tesla rival BYD is turning out to be another testament to the same.

Tesla's closest rival—BYD, a Chinese EV giant backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is looking set to replace Tesla as the world's biggest EV seller. Warren Buffett's?Berkshire Hathaway sold 2.53 million Hong Kong-listed shares of BYD for HK$675.80 million ($86.3 million),?in June. As per Reuters,?Berkshire's holdings in BYD's shares stood at 8.98% after the sale.?

Berkshire Hathaway had initially purchased its BYD stake in 2008, acquiring 225 million shares for about?$232 million. Tesla’s third-quarter sales came in far below analyst expectations. Sales declined by 6.7% from the previous quarter, the first quarterly drop since early 2020.

Tesla sold 435,000 electric cars last quarter, while BYD sold 431,000 battery-powered electric cars over the same period, leaving a gap of just over 3,000 between the two firms, according to calculations from Bloomberg.

That small difference means BYD could be close to overtaking its U.S.-based rival Tesla when it comes to sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), a huge jump for a company that Tesla CEO Elon Musk once derided as a joke over a decade ago.?

BYD is already far ahead when it comes to total sales. Including hybrids, BYD sold over 800,000 cars last quarter, almost twice as much as Tesla.

The Chinese company sold 1.8 million cars last year, over 911,000 of which were BEVs. Tesla, which only sells BEVs, sold 1.3 million cars.?Tesla CEO Elon Musk had previously warned that planned upgrades to manufacturing plants around the world may lead to lower deliveries for the rest of the year.

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