Page 19 - Economy

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

Catch all the latest updates LIVE from across the world

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'

Sri Lanka to get access to $337 million from IMF to stabilise economy

The IMF Executive Board has completed the first review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility with Sri Lanka, providing the cash-strapped country with access to about USD 337 million to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability. Announcing this, Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka also said that the debt restructuring with China was concluded on a strictly confidential basis for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to conclude its first review of the USD 2.9 billion bailout. China holds 52 per cent of Sri Lanka's total debt. The Chinese agreement in principle was very good news in Sri Lanka's debt restructuring talks. We have seen a summary of the key financial terms of the agreement shared by authorities on a strictly confidential basis," Breuer told reporters on Tuesday. The IMF late Tuesday concluded the review and approved the release of the second tranche worth USD 337 million to the island nation, bringing the value of disbursements to USD 670 .

The tradeoffs of waste taxation

Policymakers have been grappling to understand the implicit micro-foundations along with behavioral idiosyncrasies of waste regulation and designing the appropriate fiscal instruments for the same

Indian goods worth $3.7 billion entering Oman to get boost by FTA: GTRI

Over 83.5 per cent of Indian goods worth USD 3.7 billion such as gasoline, iron and steel, electronics, and machinery will get a significant boost in Oman, once both sides reach a comprehensive free trade agreement, a report said on Tuesday. According to the - India-OMAN CEPA: Gateway to Middle Eastern Markets and Beyond - report, prepared by think tank Global trade Reproach Initiative (GTRI), these goods at present face a 5 per cent import duty in Oman. India and Oman are negotiating a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), under which the two countries could significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods agreed between them. With the new trade agreement, these products, including major export items like motor gasoline (exports worth USD 1.7 billion), iron and steel products (exports worth USD 235 million), electronics (USD 135 million), machinery (USD 125 million), aluminium oxide (USD 126 million), textiles (USD 110 million), alumina

Ficci expects economy to grow at 7.5-8% this fiscal, 8% in 2024-25

Industry expects the economy to grow at 7.5 to 8 per cent in the current fiscal and 8 per cent in 2024-25 on the back of strong growth momentum, positive sentiments and rising private investments, Anish Shah, newly-elected president of the Federation Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), said on Monday. There will, however, be geopolitical pressure points that may have a bearing on India's growth prospects, he added. "We have seen great growth numbers so far at 7.8 per cent, 7.6 per cent. I expect that to continue because we have got strong momentum. We are seeing multiple companies investing, adding capacities, something that Mahindra group has done as well. "We expect that growth momentum to continue at 7.5 per cent to 8 per cent in the current financial year and for next year, I would expect 8 per cent or higher," said Shah, who is also Group CEO and Managing Director of Mahindra and Mahindra, in an interview to PTI. Indian economy recorded a growth of 7.8 per cent i

India becoming middle income country within realms of possibility: NK Singh

Talking about the challenges that India needs to address, he stressed the need for ensuring the sanctity of contracts across governance

GDP growth reflection of transformative reforms of last 10 years: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India's GDP growth of 7.7 per cent in the first six months of the current fiscal year is a reflection of the country's strengthening economy and the transformative reforms carried out in the last 10 years. Addressing the 'Infinity Forum 2.0' conference at the GIFT City here via video link, Modi said his government wants to turn the Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City into a global nerve centre of the new age global financial and technology services. "In the first six months of this financial year, India has achieved a GDP growth of 7.7 per cent...Today, the entire world has pinned its hopes on India, and this did not happen just on its own. This is a reflection of India's strengthening economy and also the transformative reforms carried out in the last 10 years," Modi said in his inaugural address. India is one of the fastest growing fintech markets in the world today and the GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC)