Despite the 6-month high, trade deficit has widened to a four-month high of $14.62 billion, as imports rose by 14.85 per cent during the month, reports Subhayan Chakraborty.
'My advice: Don't mark your portfolio to market every day. Focus on survival.'
The most striking features of this Budget was its focus on simplification and improving the ease of doing business in India, asserts Kaku Nakhate.
The primary and immediate impact of a depreciating rupee is on the importers who will have to shell out more for the same quantity and price. However, it is a boon for the exporters as they receive more rupees in exchange for dollars. The rupee depreciation has wiped away some of the gains that would have accrued to India from international oil and fuel prices dropping to pre-Ukraine war levels.
Rajan said in order to export, one needs to be able to import things that go into those exports as cheaply as it can.
Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported a 25 per cent rise in net profit attributable to the owners of the company for the January-March quarter of 2024-25, owing to higher revenues and an exceptional gain. For the quarter under review, L&T posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,497.3 crore, while revenue rose 10.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 74,392.28 crore.
Several US lawmakers -- both from the House of Representatives and the Senate - had in the past had raised question over Reliance's business ties with Iran and had urged the Export Import Bank of the US to rescind loan guarantees to Reliance.
India's exports jumped 45.76 per cent to $33.28 billion in August on account of healthy growth in segments like engineering, petroleum products, gems and jewellery and chemicals, even as the trade deficit widened to a four-month high of $13.81 billion.
Banks and companies in India are taking a cautious approach towards Sri Lanka, which, reeling from a financial crisis, has sought a $1-billion loan from the country to import essential commodities. A senior State Bank of India (SBI) executive said the bank was committed (to Sri Lanka) for the long term. "As far as exposures (are concerned), the bank will be cautious on its dollar exposure to Sri Lankan entities till the situation improves," he said.
A long term solution to reduce India's Current Account Deficit will be to increase India's share of global merchandise exports, so that we are able use our exports to fund our imports, points out Chidambaran G Iyer, Senior Fellow, Pahle India Foundation.
India imports gold worth $26 bn in Apr-Dec period.
State Bank of India (SBI) is willing to work with Russian banks not facing sanctions and remain on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network to open a special rupee vostro account (SRVA) for invoicing in Indian currency. The country's largest lender in a statement said it has not been identified as the nodal bank for handling Russia-related transactions. In July, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks in India, including SBI, to open an SRVA to promote invoicing in Indian rupee, subject to certain safeguards. Accordingly, the bank in a statement said it is "making necessary arrangements and processing requests received from various banks, including Russian banks", following guidelines laid out by the RBI.
While this will incur a revenue loss amounting to 0.2 per cent of GDP, it will provide a strong boost to consumer sentiment and spending, points out Rajani Sinha.
Following the lacklustre growth numbers in the second quarter (Q2FY25), economists believe the upcoming Union Budget for 2025-26 should focus on reforms that will stimulate consumption, manufacturing and spur employment. India's growth unexpectedly slowed to 5.4 per cent in the second quarter, due to low capital formation, weak consumption, besides adverse weather impact.
India's services exports in December stood at $12.87 billion, slightly higher from a month earlier, according to the Reserve Bank data released.
Opposition leaders in India have expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of the deportation of Indian illegal immigrants from the United States during his recent visit. They criticized the manner in which the Indians were sent back, shackled and handcuffed on a military aircraft. The leaders also discussed the need for India to address the root causes of migration and the importance of national interest in diplomatic relations with the United States.
After a strong run in the midcap and smallcap indices, which surged 46 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) during Samvat 2080, analysts suggest that the rally in these segments may pause to catch its breath in Samvat 2081.
In order to contain current account deficit, the Reserve Bank last month imposed restrictions on gold imports by banks and other authorised agencies.
The total exports from services in November 2012 was at $12.03 billion, as per RBI data.
India's current account deficit is expected to deteriorate in the current fiscal on account of costlier imports and tepid merchandise exports, according to the Finance Ministry's monthly economic review. The review released on Thursday by the ministry also said that global headwinds would continue to pose a downside risk to growth as crude oil and edibles, which have driven inflation in India, remain major imported components in the consumption basket. For the present, it said, "their global prices have softened, as fears of recession have dampened prices somewhat. This would weaken inflationary pressures in India and rein in inflation."
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
CBI officials, who questioned former RBI deputy governor H R Khan on Friday, wanted to understand from him why the gold scheme was rushed through without taking into the account the impact and potential misuse.
The Maldives will get free 'non-lethal' military equipment and training from China's military under a newly inked agreement with Beijing, President Mohamed Muizzu has said, underlining that it would further strengthen the Indian Ocean island nation's independence and autonomy.
Apart from cotton, copper, petroleum and industrial machinery, India does not export much to China. This means that India buys six times the merchandise it sells to China, points out Abhishek Waghmare.
In 2024 alone, South India saw the highest rise in sales in the luxury segment, with Tamil Nadu reportedly registering a 19.3 per cent increase in premium car registrations from 2022-23
Indian growth in the rest of this fiscal year and next will be propelled by robust domestic consumption as consumer confidence improves, and by investment, including large increases in government capital expenditure, according to the Asian Development Outlook September 2023. "As slowing exports could foment headwinds for the economy, and erratic rainfall patterns are likely to undermine agricultural output, the growth forecast for FY2023 is revised down marginally to 6.3 per cent," ADB said.
Services exports in September this year were worth $12.29 billion, marginally down from the previous month, according to the Reserve Bank data.
The Centre is pushing for bilateral trade with Cuba and its settlement in rupee as a part of its strategy to internationalise the domestic currency. A delegation from Cuba, including officials from its central bank, met Indian government officials and banks last month to discuss bilateral trade and settlement using the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) payment mechanism in rupee, said people aware of the matter. Since the Cuban nation has opened up its economy and is looking to implement reforms to attract investments from India, Cuban banks have evinced interest in opening special rupee vostro accounts (SRVAs) with Indian banks.
The syndicate used "stooge" bank accounts and shell companies to transfer the largest amount linked to a single case recorded in the city, the Customs and Excise Department of Hong Kong said.
The country's exports dipped 8.74 per cent to $23.52 billion in November on account of contraction in shipments of key sectors like petroleum, engineering, chemicals and gems and jewellery, official data showed on Tuesday. Trade deficit during the month narrowed to $9.87 billion as imports too declined by 13.32 per cent to $33.39 billion.
The rising dependence on discounted crude oil has resulted in India's trade deficit with Russia hitting the second-highest place last year, after China, reveals Department of Commerce data. From April through January 2022-23 (FY23), India's maximum trade deficit was with China, at $71.58 billion. This was followed by Russia, where the deficit expanded sevenfold - from $4.86 billion in April-January of 2021-22 (FY22) to $34.79 billion during the same period in FY23.
Modi sees export-led growth one of the best ways to create jobs.
'Rhetoric and chest-thumping are running high on India's recent growth record.'
'But will the giant waves developing elsewhere allow us to sail smoothly into fair winds?' asks Debashis Basu.
The rupee tumbled 3 per cent against the US dollar in 2024 as concerns over slower economic growth and a stronger greenback in global markets weighed, but it was among the least volatile currencies in the world and the headwinds may be less intense in the coming year.
The government will give about Rs 495 crore (Rs 4.95 billion) to IDBI as part of a ADB line of credit and restructuring its liabilities.
A combination of externalities such as global trade wars and slowing growth, continuing glitches in accessing offsets under the GST regime, which has created a liquidity crunch for smaller exporters, and the growing competitiveness of smaller countries are causing the slowdown.
Despite being a neighbour, Pakistan has never accounted for more than 2 per cent of India's total exports, and its share in India's total imports is less than 1 per cent. On the other hand, bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has increased five times.
Concern would kick in if imports stay at or over 100 tonnes a month.
