GST Bills before Indian Parliament

India's Lower House will today discuss four Bills that are crucial for the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST), which aims to boost economic growth by about 0.5 percentage point in its first year of implementation.

The government hopes to impose GST starting July 1, but some analysts say that date is likely too optimistic as many companies are still not ready for the new tax system.

Surge pricing for cabs from today

Today marks the first day of the introduction of surge pricing for taxis in Singapore.

Four taxi firms - SMRT, Premier, Trans-Cab and HDT Singapore Taxi - will roll out the flat fee for commuters, modelled after that offered by private-hire car services such as Grab and Uber.

This means that prices will rise and fall based on demand. It will be offered as an additional option on top of the current metered fees.

Japan's retail sales data today

Japan will release data for retail sales for the month of February today.

In January, sales rose 1 per cent compared to the same month the previous year, but pundits see it as a level squarely in the middle of the prevailing range since mid-2014. They see consumer behaviour as rational, weighing the balance between short-term stability in their income environment and longer-term uncertainty in their economic outlook.