India must integrate more with East Asia by getting into regional trade arrangements, lower its tariff walls, and improve the quality of its workforce, suggests T N Ninan.
India's Iran imports rise to 276,800 bpd vs 195,600 bpd in 2013.
Amid concerns over rising rupee value, India's exports growth slowed down to 18.07 per cent in May this year at 11.86 billion dollars in May 2007-08.
The group companies now lead the market capitalisation league table in sectors such as ports, power generation, gas distribution and transmission, and power transmission and distribution, ahead of incumbents in both public and private sector. This has Gautam Adani family the second wealthiest in business in India.
The government on Saturday imposed a 40 per cent duty on the export of onions to increase domestic availability amid signs of increasing prices. The export duty, which is the first time ever on onion, has been imposed as the retail sale price of the kitchen staple, according to government data, touched Rs 37/kg on Saturday in Delhi. The finance ministry through a Customs notification imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions till December 31, 2023.
The government had increased customs duty on gold to 10 per cent and banned import of gold coins and medallions, while the RBI linked imports of the metal to exports.
'The Chinese navy is large and expanding both in numbers and capability by the day.' 'India too must take measures to safeguard its own interests, now and in the future.'
As stringent sanctions imposed by the European Union and US are crippling business and trade, desperate Russian oil companies are offering huge discounts to India, provided a payment mechanism to bypass the SWIFT ban is quickly approved by the government. According to sources familiar with the development, Russian oil firms are offering 25-27 per cent discount to the dated Brent crude prices. State-run Rosneft is one the biggest oil companies that supply crude to India.
Australia has described Canada's allegations about India's involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader as 'concerning' and said Canberra is 'monitoring these developments closely' and has raised the issues with its Indian counterparts.
Financial globalisation - or ultra globalisation - has done more harm than good to the majority of economies, say Anshuman Gupta & Karunakar Jha.
'India's manufacturing will take 10-15 years to catch up with China.'
Exports in May 2012 stood at $24.77 billion.
According to the report, the demand for materials needed for infrastructure projects like metals, minerals, buildings and transport equipment is expected to increase as the country invests in building its civil infrastructure.
The communication was clear, transparent and worded in a manner that did not induce any fear in the minds of the people, point out A K Bhattacharya.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, summed it up well as he explained the reason for the company sacking 13 per cent of its employees. He said no one predicted that the boom for digital services during the Covid pandemic would die out. "Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended.
Subdued demand from developed countries and blocs like the US and EU is impacting exports of key sectors including engineering, gems and jewellery and may have implications on India's exports in case the global situation does not improve in coming months. Global inflation, Russia-Ukraine war, simmering China-Taiwan crisis and supply disruptions are hurting economic growth worldwide, leading to poor demand, experts say. The world merchandise trade volume is expected to grow 3 per cent in 2022 against the earlier forecast of 4.7 per cent, mainly due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, according to the World Trade Organization forecast, released in April.
'To simply let the rupee depreciate to any level according to market forces will not be in the country's interests.'
The challenge for the RBI in 2024 is likely to be less about containing elevated inflation and more about curbing excessive financial market exuberance and a 'problem of plenty', notes Sajjid Chinoy, Chief India Economist JP Morgan.
The growth of exports to India stood out, with value up 28 per cent to 43 million pounds
On the rupee, it expects some appreciation pressure on in the near term from greater portfolio flows.
Global trends and the Covid situation in China would drive the equity markets this week, which may also see volatility amid the scheduled derivatives expiry on Thursday, said analysts. According to analysts, investor sentiment remained subdued last week amid surging Covid cases in China and a few other nations. Also, stronger US growth data has cemented expectations of the Federal Reserve continuing with its hawkish stance, which added to the muted trend.
Pakistan's current account deficit (CAD) increased to a 4-year high of $17.4 billion in the fiscal year of 2021-22, indicating more troubles for the ailing economy of the cash-strapped country. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday reported that the country recorded a CAD of $17.406 billion in FY22 compared to a gap of just $2.82 billion in FY21. According to Dawn newspaper, the massive CAD speaks a lot about the severe problem of the balance of payments.
In the last five years, imports from HK have more than tripled -- from $5.6 billion in FY15 to $17.1 billion in FY20. In the same period, exports declined by 20 per cent -- from $13.6 billion in FY15 to $10.8 billion (annualised) in FY20.
Within six months, outlets carrying Vicks jumped from 60,000 pharmacies to 750,000 general stores. The trade boycott collapsed. Consumers were happy, finding Vicks now at every street corner. A fascinating excerpt from Gurcharan Das's Another Sort of Freedom.
The finance ministry has cautioned that global and regional uncertainties and domestic disruptions may keep inflationary pressures elevated in the coming months, warranting "greater vigilance" by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). "Russia's decision to terminate the Black Sea grain deal, along with dry conditions in major wheat-growing areas, caused a price spike in cereals. Domestic factors like white fly disease and an uneven distribution of monsoon exerted pressure on vegetable prices in India," the ministry said in its latest Monthly Economic Report for July, released on Tuesday. However, the report maintained, the recent price surge in certain food items "is expected to be transitory". "Tomato prices are likely to decline with the arrival of fresh stocks by the end of August or early September.
The rupee snapped 2-day rise to end weaker against the dollar on Thursday.
Imports too rose by 0.46 per cent to $34.25 billion during the month under review, leaving a trade deficit of $10.36 billion.
The NSE Nifty, which dipped below the key 10,800-mark to touch a low of 10,755.40, bounced back on late buying to close at 10,817.70, up 9.65 points, or 0.09 per cent.
The year is not yet over and a few more duty hikes are not ruled out.
Large retailers are allegedly importing apparel made of Chinese fabric from Bangladesh at nil duty, under our free trade agreement with the latter country. However, the same agreement does not permit duty-free export from here.
The outcome of the general elections, the Morgan Stanley note says, has enough firepower to sway the markets on either side.
With developments like the Russia-China alliance and the rise of China in the Middle East, India's role has diminished though the India-Israel-US-UAE grouping may assume some importance in the future, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) witnessed a net outflow of Rs 199 crore in January, making it the third monthly withdrawal in a row, with investors preferring equities over other segments on buoyant record SIP flow. This was in comparison to a net outflow of Rs 273 crore registered in the segment in December and Rs 195 crore in November. Prior to that, Gold ETFs attracted Rs 147 crore in October, data with Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed.
'We cannot afford to be complacent about our food security needs.'
Continuing its range-bound movement for the fourth session, the rupee today closed up by two paise at 59.25 ahead of industrial output and retail inflation data.
Wayanad will continue to support Rahul but not to the same extent as in 2019, when his margin of victory had been enormous. Articulate, to the point and speaking in fluent Malayalam, CPI's Annie Raja, had the people who gathered to see her, listening in rapt attention, notes Shyam G Menon.
The tea industry's cup of woes brimmeth - scanty rainfall and pest attacks have dragged down production in May, prices are lower than last year, and demand from some export markets is muted. Production in North Bengal - comprising the Dooars, Terai, and Darjeeling - is majorly affected; parts of Assam are also hit. Arijit Raha, secretary general, Indian Tea Association (ITA), said that the Tea Board numbers for April show a crop loss of about 9 per cent for North Bengal, compared to last year.
'Today, the BJP is using power in such a manner that they not only crush the Opposition, but even their own supporters can't rebel.'
Market participants attribute the stability to the Reserve Bank of India's timely intervention in the foreign exchange market, both in terms of selling and buying dollars.
'If because of El Nino, the monsoon is affected adversely in the current year, naturally it will affect income projections and consequently Budget numbers.'
