Page 4 - Economic Policy

Monetary policy must remain extra alert to ensure economic stability: MPC

Monetary policy has to remain extra alert to be ready to act as and when warranted to preserve the hard earned macroeconomic stability, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das has said. The fundamental goal of the monetary policy is to align inflation with the 4 per cent target and anchor inflation expectations, Das said, according to the minutes of the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) released by the RBI on Friday. The MPC in its last meeting earlier in the month, decided to keep the benchmark lending rate at 6.5 per cent, for the fourth time in a row, in a bid to keep retail inflation under check. "Monetary policy has to remain extra alert and ready to act, if the situation warrants. The hard earned macroeconomic stability has to be preserved," Das said while voting to keep the benchmark lending rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent along with five other members of the MPC. Das had cautioned that recurring incidences of large and overlapping supply side shocks bring with them th

Multilateral action needed to fight economic coercion by China: Report

Former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop at the Ditchley conference, stressed the importance of major powers' taking joint action to fight its pressure

Exporters seek more sops for value-added products under Rodtep scheme

Say current structure provides higher refund rates on lesser value-added goods

NCCD's innovative cold chain conclave paves way for J&K's economic growth

He discussed NCCD's role in advancing the cold chain sector with a focus on energy, technology, and climate, which would open up investment opportunities in Jammu and Kashmir

Malawi looks to deepen trade relations with India in key economic areas

African country Malawi looks to deepen trade and investment relationship with India in areas of energy, agriculture, mining and tourism, its High Commissioner to India Leonard Mengezi said here on Saturday. Mengezi said that Malawi looks forward to cementing the "great cohesion" with businessmen in Gujarat to further strengthen India-Malawi relationship and attract investment. Mengezi was here to participate in the India-Malawi Trade Conference organised by India Africa Trade Council with the aim to enhance business cooperation with Gujarat. "Malawi has been in great trade, economic and investment relations (with India) since 1964, when Malawi got its independence. But there is a need to deepen relationships further in the areas of energy, agriculture, mining, tourism," he told mediapersons. "We need to cement great cohesion with the business people here in Gujarat so as to strengthen Malawi-India relations, so that there is a greater understanding and we take business people who a

India must grow at 8% to bring transformational changes for people: Summers

India has the potential and should aim to grow at 8 per cent annually to bring about transformative changes in the lives of millions of people by around 2050, said noted economist and former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers here on Saturday. India's GDP growth in 2022-23 was 7.2 per cent as against 9.1 per cent in 2021-22. According to the Reserve Bank of India's projections, India's GDP will likely grow 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal year. Summers clarified that 8 per cent growth was not his forecast on the basis of current policy, but added, "given India's potential, even in a more challenging world economy, I believe that it is an imaginable goal. "...an eightfold expansion in the economy is transformative in the lives of hundreds of millions of people. I think it is something to target as India defines its greatness in this next century." In his lecture on 'The World is on Fire', organised by the CII in partnership with Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), the eminent .

Indian travel association to help in boosting tourist flow to Sri Lanka

A leading travel-related association of India has resolved to help Sri Lanka in reviving its tourism sector by promoting the flow of tourists to the island nation that is making comprehensive efforts to recover from the devastating economic crisis last year. The three-day Indian Travel Congress, which was held in Colombo as part of the 67th convention of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), concluded on Saturday with a dazzling display of fireworks, gala dinner and music and dance performances with many famous Bollywood numbers sang in Sinhala language by performers. "We are both alike, India and Sri Lanka, our food, language, culture and dresses, and tourism builds bridges between two communities and two countries, and we at TAAI support Sri Lanka in its efforts to revive tourism, above and beyond this convention," Jyoti Mayal, the President of the 72-year-old TAAI, said in her address. After her address on Saturday night, she asked TAAI delegates to take a pledge that ea

With economic uncertainty around, Indians willing to spend to upskill

Indians consider education a necessary and worthwhile investment and in a situation that has turned increasingly uncertain, they are willing to spend more towards it

PM's principal secy, US comm secy discuss ways to strengthen economic ties

The Prime Minister's Principal Secretary P K Mishra and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo held a meeting in Washington on Tuesday and discussed ways to further strengthen economic ties between the countries. Mishra, who is in Washington, also held interactions with senior officials from the US administration, representatives from the industry, think tanks and academia. "Dr P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary @PMOIndia had a productive meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce @GinaRaimondo . They discussed the strengthening of economic and technology partnership," according to a tweet by the Embassy of India in Washington. He also met with USAID Administrator Samantha Power and both sides had productive discussions on ongoing work under the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), development cooperation, and third country partnerships. The US has emerged as India's biggest trading partner in 2022-23 on account of increasing economic ties between the two ...

India, Canada to step up talks on movement of skilled workers

Two nations review progress of early harvest trade deal

More than Rs 40,700 crore sanctioned under Stand-Up India Scheme in 7 years

The scheme aims to promote entrepreneurship at the grassroot level focusing on economic empowerment and job creation and has been extended up to the year 2025

'Kerala faced economic hardships due to Centre's unfavourable policies'

Kerala experienced economic hardships due to the unfavourable policy measures taken by the central government, State Finance Minister K N Balagopal said on Friday. Balagopal, who met the media here on the last day of the 2022-23 financial year, said there was a shortage of Rs 40,000 crore in this financial year due to the policies of the Centre. He also said that despite the adverse situations, Kerala managed to perform well in terms of income and expenditure. "Everything including salary, pension and loan repayment were paid correctly. The project cost of local bodies is over 96 per cent. Many panchayats have spent 100 per cent of the fund allotted, and the treasuries functioned without any hitch," Balagopal said. He said judicious financial management helped the state to perform well despite constraints. "Due to the unfavourable policy measure of the Union government, Kerala experienced huge economic hardships. There was a shortfall of Rs 40,000 crore this financial year due to

Eco Survey paints a bright medium-term outlook after an unpredictable year

It says once the global shocks of the pandemic and 2022's unpleasant spike in commodity prices fade away, the Indian economy is likely to record a faster growth during the rest of this decade

German economy shrank 0.2% in Q4 compared to Q3, worse than expected

Germany's economy shrank by 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three-month period, official figures showed Monday. The performance by Europe's biggest economy was worse than expected. Gross domestic product shrank for the first time since the first quarter of 2021 largely because of a decline in consumer spending, which had supported the economy in the first nine months of 2022, the Federal Statistical Office said. The drop followed GDP growth of 0.5 per cent in the third quarter and 0.1 per cent in the second quarter. The statistics office said in mid-January, before it had full December economic data, that the economy appeared to have stagnated in the fourth quarter. Monday's announcement prompted it to revise last year's full-year growth figure down to 1.8 per cent from the 1.9 per cent it initially reported. Germany's annual inflation rate rolled back from a peak of 10.4 per cent in October to 8.6 per cent in December, but galloping prices remain a ma

EAM Jaishankar arrives in Sri Lanka to finalise plans on debt restructuring

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived here for a much-anticipated visit to Sri Lanka to finalise a debt restructuring plan to help Colombo carve out path from its worst economic crisis

We count a lot on India's G-20 leadership: IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva

At a time when the world is faced with continued economic slowdown and social distress, the international community counts a lot on India's leadership of G-20, IMF MD said

Pak PM on two-day visit to UAE to ramp up bilateral economic, trade ties

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif travelled to the UAE on Thursday on a two-day visit aimed at ramping up bilateral economic and trade ties, just days after the country's powerful Army chief General Asim Munir concluded his trip to the Gulf emirate. Sharif is leading a delegation of key ministers on his third visit to the UAE since becoming prime minister in April last year. He was received by UAE's Minister for Economic Affairs Touq Al Mari at Abu Dhabi airport. "My visit to the UAE is aimed at building on the conversation I have had with H.H. President Sheikh @MohamedBinZayed. We share a resolve & understanding that the continuous efforts need to be made to further strengthen trade, investment & economic relations," Sharif tweeted after landing in the UAE. Pakistan's Foreign Office said on Tuesday that Sharif will meet the UAE president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed with a particular focus on advancing economic, trade and investment ties between the two countries. "The two .

Yoginder K Alagh (1939-2022): An exceptionally generous economist departs

Born in pre-independence India, Alagh has left behind a rich legacy in the world of economic policymaking

Centre pushes for reviving export commissioner posts for boosting trade

The export commissioners will be expected to operate under clear targets to expand exports from their states

Bet on infrastructure funds to gain from government push: Experts

High cost of capital, change in policy key risks for these funds