In the first such collaboration for India, the country's flagship payments platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and Singapore's PayNow payment system have launched a real-time cross-border payment linkage system. The linkage, which was launched by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday, was kicked off by a live cross-border transaction between Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das and Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director Ravi Menon, using mobile phones.
The year 2020 could see the worst global economic fallout since the Great Depression in the 1930s, with over 170 countries likely to experience negative per capita income growth due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday. Georgieva made the remarks during her address on 'Confronting the Crisis: Priorities for the Global Economy' in Washington, DC, ahead of next week's annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The IMF on Tuesday projected an impressive 12.5 per cent growth rate for India in 2021, stronger than that of China, the only major economy to have a positive growth rate last year during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Washington-based global financial institution, in its annual World Economic Outlook ahead of the annual Spring meeting with the World Bank, said the Indian economy is expected to grow by 6.9 per cent in 2022. Notably in 2020, India's economy contracted by a record eight per cent, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said as it projected an impressive 12.5 per cent growth rate for the country in 2021.
China will also set up 50 joint laboratories with countries participating in the Belt and Road initiative to enhance cooperation on innovation.
Here is some background on the candidates seen as potential successors to Rajan at the RBI
Narendra Modi's engagement at the upcoming BRICS Summit in Brazil will be keenly watched as the prime minister will interact with some of the world's most powerful leaders. The summit to be held in Fortaleza will also see the launch of the significant BRICS bank whose idea was mooted by India. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt gives a lowdown on Modi's first major international rendezvous.
P Chidambaram said to be able to play a meaningful role in the global governance, the G-20 agenda should be sharper and focused only on those issues on which it can make a distinctive contribution, particularly, on economic and financial matters.
India is keen on the issue of equal share holding since it doesn't want a repeat of the distortions that have crept into Bretton Woods institutions like International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in which rich countries like the US and Japan have a strangle hold.
The panel will also recommend a fiscal consolidation road map for the central and state governments, study the impact of GST on the divisible pool, and propose performance-based incentives for states.
'The Reserve Bank's independence has remained a work in progress, an enduring challenge that the nation has been grappling with on an ongoing basis,' says RBI Deputy Governor Dr Viral Acharya.
Asian Development Bank on Wednesday lowered India's economic growth forecast for FY2019 to 5.1 per cent on slowing job prospects, rural distress exacerbated by poor harvest and credit crunch. Growth in FY2020 is likely to recover thanks to this support, low oil prices, and a weakening rupee, but risks to the projections remain tilted to the downside, it said on India.
The 30-share Sensex ended higher by 177.46 points at 28,885.21 and the Nifty gained 63.90 points at 8,778.30.
However, India is likely to regain the tag of the fastest growth emerging economies of the world in 2018.
India's economic growth had slumped to a decade's low of five per cent in 2012-13.
IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath also said the pickup in global growth for 2020 remains highly uncertain as it relies on improved growth outcomes for stressed economies like Argentina, Iran, and Turkey and for under-performing emerging and developing economies such as Brazil, India, and Mexico.
Dubbing such incidents as "terrible", the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, however, said that they are "rare" in a large country such as India.
IMF members will also be examining whether China's heavy intervention in the yuan market was befitting of a freely convertible reserve currency
For several years the Chinese authorities have been taking steps to internationalise the use of the yuan.
Shigeru Ishiba is expected to prioritise strengthening Japan's military capabilities and fostering deeper international partnerships, particularly with India, with whom Japan shares significant strategic interests, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
Moody's Investors Service on Friday projected India's growth at zero per cent for the current fiscal and said the negative outlook on sovereign rating reflects increasing risks that GDP growth will remain significantly lower than in the past. The outlook also partly shows weaker policy effectiveness to address economic and institutional issues, it noted in the update to its November 2019 rating forecast.
Modi is ranked fifth on the 2015 roster of 'World's Greatest Leaders' with Satyarthi coming in at the 28th spot.
Such an economic environment tends to be positive for gold, the ultimate safe-haven asset. Since gold cannot be debased by central banks, it naturally gains in value.
India too will advocate the IMF quote reforms at the two-day meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors beginning Saturday.
The article is in stark contrast to the TIME cover story done on Modi earlier this month titled 'India's Divider in Chief', written by Aatish Taseer, son of Indian journalist Tavleen Singh and late Pakistani politician and businessman Salmaan Taseer.
Jaitley, 66, has become 'very weak' as his health has deteriorated over the past few weeks, sources said, adding that he has developed some throat condition as well that prevents him from speaking for long.
On the 10th anniversary of the global financial crisis, a multi-part series analyses the lessons learnt and those not learnt.
The rising price of the precious metal has helped the central bank increase overall forex reserves despite currency reserves not rising, and sometimes even falling.
The argument for a weaker rupee is substantial.
One has to wonder what is so wrong with the European Union.
Shaktikanta Das said in Washington, DC, that there was nothing sacrosanct about the 25 bps rate cut and that monetary policy could be well served by calibrating the size of the policy rate to the dynamics of the situation, and the size of the change itself could convey the stance of policy.
On gold buying occasions such as Akshaya Tritiya, Chiraj Mehta points out, investors are often confronted with the question: Should I make just a token purchase, or should I buy more towards building my allocation in the yellow metal?
'When I came here in 2002, I said you can grow at 8%.' 'And I was told that was crazy, and (now) here we are.'
'It makes sense to have gold in one's portfolio keeping the political and economic risks of 2024 in mind.'
Rajan said he believes that capitalism is breaking down because it is not providing equal opportunities.
Fitch Ratings director Thomas Rookmaaker said India's debt-to-GDP ratio is likely to rise to 76 per cent from 70 per cent currently due to wider fiscal deficit and low economic growth.
Faced with sluggish economic growth and dwindling exports, China on Wednesday devalued its currency for the second consecutive day.
India's GDP is estimated to contract by a record 7.7 per cent during 2020-21 as the COVID-19 pandemic severely hit the key manufacturing and services segments, as per government projections released on Thursday. Amid overall decline in economic activities, some respite was provided by the agriculture sector and utility services like power and gas supply, which have been projected to post positive growth during the current fiscal ending March 2021.
India's exports shrank in January for the 14th straight month on continued weak demand from Europe
'An isolationist US and a disintegrating European Union will create a power vacuum that only China is in a position to fill -- a conclusion that is uncomfortable but unavoidable,' says Nitin Desai.
Investors must be cautious and follow a prudent diversification strategy to mitigate against any risks in case of any unforeseen events.
