Page 15 - Economy

Global economy will slow for a third straight year in 2024: World Bank

Hobbled by high interest rates, persistent inflation, slumping trade and a diminished China, the global economy will slow for a third consecutive year in 2024. That is the picture sketched by the World Bank, which forecast Tuesday that the world economy will expand just 2.4 per cent this year. That would be down from 2.6 per cent growth in 2023, 3 per cent in 2022 and a galloping 6.2 per cent in 2021, which reflected the robust recovery from the pandemic recession of 2020. Heightened global tensions, arising particularly from Israel's war with Hamas and the conflict in Ukraine, pose the risk of even weaker growth. And World Bank officials express worry that deeply indebted poor countries cannot afford to make necessary investments to fight climate change and poverty. Near-term growth will remain weak, leaving many developing countries especially the poorest stuck in a trap: with paralyzing levels of debt and tenuous access to food for nearly one out of every three people," Indermi

India to become intellectual leader of world by 2047: Minister Pradhan

India will become a developed nation and "intellectually lead" the world by 2047 and the responsibility to "interpret justice" will increase in such times, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said here on Saturday while speaking at the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU). The minister addressed the second convocation ceremony of the institute. "We are committed to be a developed country by 2047. This task has been given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to all the countrymen. We are destined to intellectually lead this universe," Pradhan said. India never colonised any part of the world but looked upon the entire Earth as one family, he said. "When we are destined to be a developed nation in the next 25 years, we will have a sense of more brotherhood, transparency, and sensitivity in the world, because the people of India will lead in many aspects of social life. In times like that, the responsibility to interpret justice will increase," he added. While the NFSU ...

Seizing Russia's frozen assets is the right move

The same principle that applies to individuals committing torts should be applied to nations

US Federal Reserve sees interest rates staying high for some time

Fed policymakers acknowledged they were probably at the peak rate and would begin cutting in 2024

Toys to have major share in Walmart's $10 bn Indian exports target: DPIIT

US-based retail giant Walmart is targeting to increase its exports from India to USD 10 billion annually and domestic toys will account for a significant portion of the total exports, a senior government official said on Thursday. Joint Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Sanjiv said that the American company has recently held a workshop with 100 Indian toy makers so that they can set up the supply chain for toy exports from India. "Walmart has given a target of USD 10 billion exports from India and in that they are going to have toy exports as a significant portion," he told reporters here. The company has earlier informed toy makers about their requirements and expected quality standards. In December 2020, Walmart committed to triple its exports of goods from India to USD 10 billion each year by 2027, providing a significant boost to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) here. Global retailers such as IKEA are already sour

Growth in Asia Pacific emerging markets to remain strong in 2024: Fitch

The economic growth in Asia Pacific will remain strong in 2024 and GDP is expected to grow by about 5 per cent in India and a host of emerging market countries, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday. In its report titled 'APAC Cross-Sector Outlook 2024', Fitch said the outlooks for the banking sectors in India and Indonesia, as well as APAC emerging markets as a whole, move to improving in 2024, partly reflecting the robust economic backdrop. "Economic growth in APAC will generally remain strong in 2024, especially in emerging markets (EMs), supporting sector outlooks across the region. We expect real GDP to expand by, or above, 5 per cent in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and China's performance will still be strong by most other countries' standards," Fitch said. The Indian economy grew 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 fiscal year. India's GDP expanded 7.8 per cent and 7.6 per cent in the June and September quarters, respectively. Fitch had last month said it expects India to be

Coal output rises nearly 11% in Dec to 92.87 million tonnes: Govt

India's coal production increased by 10.75 per cent to 92.87 million tonne in December 2023 as compared to the year-ago period, an official statement said on Tuesday. The country's coal output was 83.86 MT in December 2022. "The coal sector has witnessed an unprecedented upswing, with production, dispatch and stock levels soaring to remarkable heights," the statement from the coal ministry said. The production of state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) rose 8.27 per cent to 71.86 MT last month as compared to 66.37 MT in December 2022. According to the statement, the cumulative coal production of India during April-December 2023 increased to 684.31 MT from 608.34 MT in the year-ago period. Coal dispatch in December increased by 8.36 per cent to 86.23 MT from 79.58 MT in December 2022. The coal ministry further said it reaffirms its commitment to maintain consistent coal production and dispatch, ensuring an uninterrupted supply for a reliable and resilient energy sector.

Israel delivers first interest rate cut since pandemic as war rages

The monetary committee on Monday lowered its key rate to 4.5% from 4.75%, ending a pause in place since July

Demand uptick, easing inflation to provide advantage to exports in 2024

Easing inflation in developed countries, softening interest rates, a gradual pick up in global demand and other factors will provide a silver lining for the country's exports and the overall outbound shipments are expected to be more than USD 900 billion in 2024. International trade experts have expressed hope that the services sector would perform better than merchandise and the country's overall outbound shipments may touch over USD 900 billion in 2024 against an estimated USD 764 billion in 2023. A stable rupee against the US dollar, focus on new markets like Latin America and Africa, new items like mobiles and fresh fruits, focus on promoting e-commerce exports, free trade agreements with the UAE and Australia would also help the country register healthy growth in outbound shipments next year. Despite various challenges, including geopolitical tensions and China's subdued post-pandemic recovery, impacting exports this year, India's goods and services exporters have managed to ta

States' indicative borrowing for fourth quarter higher than forecast

The government transferred the amount to states as tax devolution for financing various social welfare measures and infrastructure development schemes

Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis deepens amid economic downturn: UNICEF

The report highlights that the economic downturn has led to an increased demand for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan

Manufacturing the key to unlock $1 trillion economy for Tamil nadu

As a precursor to much-anticipated Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024, scheduled for January 7 and 8, it has launched a campaign called "OneTrillionDreams" to boost its $1 trillion economy plans

Pakistan's current economic model not working, says World Bank official

Pakistan's current economic model is not working, a top World Bank official has said, underlining that the cash-strapped nation must change policies that have plagued development and benefitted only a few. The remarks by World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine came in a Policy Vision article, published in the latest UNDP publication. Pakistan's current economic model is not working since it has fallen behind its peers, significant progress in poverty reduction has now started to reverse, and the benefits of growth have accrued to a narrow elite, Benhassine said. There is a broad consensus that action is needed to change policies that have plagued development, benefitted only a few, and led to very volatile and low growth, the Dawn newspaper quoted Benhassine as saying. Pakistan is heavily exposed to climate change, with the potentially devastating impacts of climate shocks and natural disasters already apparent, he said in Development Advocate Pakistan, the UNDP's quarterly ...

Year ender 2023: Here's a look at top critical tech deals between India, US

Politically, the sharing is made easy by the fact that after plenty of years, both nations will have governments that will have their mandate in the same year at the same time

Centre releases additional Rs 73k crore tax devolution to states

Money released for financing social welfare measures and infrastructure development: Finance Ministry

Netherlands Tata Steel plant forces choice between public health or economy

Locals have voiced concerns about the factory's pollution for decades. However, it was only in September that the Dutch national public health agency first established a direct link

Sri Lanka's economy records positive growth for first time since crisis

Sri Lanka's bankrupt economy has recorded a positive growth for the first time since the economic crisis hit the island nation, according to official data. The year-on-year GDP growth rate for the third quarter has been reported as 1.6 per cent of positive growth rate, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) said in a press release on Friday. Sri Lanka had recorded a minus 8 per cent growth when it declared bankruptcy in April 2022. The country's economy continued to be in the negative from the fourth quarter of 2021. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which released the second tranche of its USD 2.9 billion bailout earlier this week, has said that Sri Lanka's overall growth for 2023 would remain negative. However, the country's economy in 2024 is expected to grow with a positive one plus growth, it said. Sri Lanka is currently going through a strict IMF based reform regime. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, insists on reforms despite stro

China's central bank injects $112 bn of cash to revive economic growth

The People's Bank of China offered commercial lenders 1.45 trillion yuan ($204 billion) via its medium-term lending facility - 800 billion yuan more than the expected maturity this month

LIVE: Delhi police produce four accused before court seeking 15-day custody

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Business Standard wins two golds at afaqs! The Future of News Awards

Business Standard won in the categories of 'Best Business Programme' and 'Best Use of Infographics in a Business Story'