Page 24 - Economy

Debt-trapped Pakistan slashes trade deficit by 43 per cent in FY23

Cash-strapped Pakistan has slashed its trade deficit by a staggering 43 per cent to USD 27.55 billion in the fiscal year 2023, according to a media report on Wednesday. The government's stringent control over imports played a vital role in this significant reduction, as it aimed to stabilise the country's critically low foreign exchange reserves and mitigate the risk of default. In the previous fiscal year 2022, the trade deficit had widened to a daunting USD 48.35 billion, causing concern about the country's economic stability, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. However, the government's strict administrative measures on imports and the impact of floods in 2022 negatively affected the domestic economy, resulting in a provisional growth rate of only 0.3 per cent in FY23, compared to 6.1 per cent in FY22. Recent data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said that imports decreased by 31 per cent to USD 55.29 billion in FY2023. This is a significant drop from the record

Hong Kong's reopening brings scant gains for financial hub despite push

Hong Kong, led by former policeman and now Chief Executive John Lee, has been pushing hard to revive the city's reputation with high-level events

Putin says Russian economy faring better than expected; GDP positive

'Our results, at least for the time being, let's say, cautiously, are better than previously expected, better than predicted,' Putin said, according to a transcript on the Kremlin's website

PMI manufacturing: Factory output drops to 57.8 in June from 58.7 in May

According to S&P Global, the overall level of business confidence rose to a six-month high in June

India's external debt rises $5.6 bn to $624.7 bn at end-March 2023

India's external debt rose marginally to USD 624.7 billion annually at end-March 2023, although the debt-GDP ratio declined, as per a Reserve Bank data released on Friday. The external debt rose by USD 5.6 billion from USD 619.1 billion at end-March 2022. "The external debt to GDP ratio declined to 18.9 per cent at end-March 2023 from 20 per cent at end-March 2022," said the Reserve Bank's data on India's External Debt as at end-March 2023. Valuation gains due to the appreciation of the US dollar compared to the Indian rupee and major currencies such as yen, SDR, and euro were placed at USD 20.6 billion. "Excluding the valuation effect, external debt would have increased by USD 26.2 billion instead of USD 5.6 billion at end-March 2023 over end-March 2022," the central bank added. At end-March 2023, as per the data, long-term debt (with original maturity of above one year) was placed at USD 496.3 billion, recording a decline of USD 1.1 billion over its level at end-March 2022. The

IMF approves $3 billion bailout package for Pakistan's ailing economy

In a major relief to cash-strapped Pakistan, the IMF has agreed to inject USD 3 billion into the country's ailing economy after months-long negotiations that pushed it to the brink of default. The Pakistan government and the Washington-based global lender reached a nine-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) on Thursday to support the authorities' immediate efforts to stabilise the economy from external shocks. Pakistan's is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1947. The country's economy has been in a free fall mode for the last many years, bringing untold pressure on the poor masses in the form of unchecked inflation, making it almost impossible for a vast number of people to make ends meet. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that Staff-Level Agreement with the International Monetary Fund would help strengthen Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves and enable the country to achieve economic stability. "I am pleased to announce that Pakistan has ..

Europe inflation falls to 5.5%, but that won't stop ECB rate hikes

Inflation in Europe slid again in June but fell too slowly to offer much relief to shoppers grumbling over price tags or to stop more interest rate hikes that will raise the cost of borrowing across the economy. The annual rate of 5.5% was down from 6.1% in May in the 20 countries that use the euro currency, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Friday. While that is a big drop from the peak of 10.6% in October, persistently high prices in the U.S., Europe and the United Kingdom pushed some of the world's top central bankers to make clear they are going to keep raising rates and leave them there until inflation drops to their 2% goal considered best for the economy. Consumers saw relief on energy prices, which dropped 5.6% after last year's crisis, while food price inflation was up 11.7%, easing from 12.5% in May. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel and offers a clearer picture of longer-term price pressures, rose slightly to 5.4% from 5.3% the month

China growth momentum slows further amid calls for more policy support

Speculation about potential policy support has been mounting as the recovery for the world's second-largest economy loses traction

Pak should break addiction to IMF bailouts, use crisis as an opportunity

The IMF's bailout package - the 23rd for Pakistan since its independence in 1947 - was suspended in November 2022 because the government had not acted on the IMF's conditions for the loan

Rising tomato prices: Heatwaves and heavy rain impact supply in India

Consumer affairs ministry maintains that these price hikes are normal for this time of year and are a temporary phenomenon while households cut back on their tomato budgets

War shadow on Bengal foundries as stocks pile up, economies slow down

Export orders have been slowing down since Jan, impacting SMEs and depriving workers of overtime pay, a crucial wage component

Tier-2 city consumers spend 16% of income shopping online: CMR study

Tier-II cities, including Guwahati, Coimbatore and Lucknow amongst others, lead in terms of time spent on online shopping

Coal India executives' body threaten to hold strike over pay conflict

A body of executives of Coal India Ltd on Sunday threatened to go on a strike unless their pay conflict with non-executive employees is addressed. The Coal Ministry has said it approved a wage revision agreement that was reached with trade unions for non-executive employees of the miner. All India Association of Coal Executives (AIACE), in a letter, to the Coal India chairman said that the new wage agreement for non-executive employees will result in a pay conflict with executives. The association demanded that executive employees must be compensated by allowing pay-protection through personal pay package to them so that their salary does not fall below the wage of workers. "We have requested Coal India to initiate appropriate needful actions immediately to provide personal pay (PP) to executives and eliminate the conflict latest by September 30, 2023. Otherwise, executives may be compelled to resort to agitation including strike, if needed afterwards," AIACE general secretary P K

At 23% spend, Andhra Pradesh leads laggards in state capex in FY23

Most large states have fallen behind their budgeted capex targets by a wide margin in FY23, which was pegged at Rs 7.4 lakh crore but could spend only Rs 5.71 lakh crore or 76.2 per cent only, according to an analysis. Only four states -- Karnataka, Sikkim, Arunachal and Bihar -- have over-achieved their targets, while Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh's capex spending stood at 98 per cent each. Eleven states fared better with 80 per cent target achievements, as per the analysis by Bank of Baroda economists. As against this, in FY21, the underachievement level was a high 72 per cent, primarily due to the pandemic emergency spending, and had improved to 95 per cent in FY22. Surprisingly, none of the 25 states whose data are available has been able to achieve the target by even three-fourths as the peak success rate is only 72.4 per cent, according to the analysis. This is surprising as the Centre had disbursed the required amounts for the year. The poor show was led by Andhra, which cou

NSE, NITIE ink pact for academic, research collaboration in economics

Leading stock exchange NSE on Friday said it has joined hands with the business school National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) Mumbai for an academic and research collaboration in finance and economics. The move is aimed at creating an industry-ready talent pool by utilising mutual capabilities, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) said in a statement. The pact covers a wide range of activities, including capacity building through the design and development of courses in finance and economics, undertaking research in areas like fintech and organising seminars, conferences and symposia, among others. Also, NSE and NITIE will collectively work towards contributing to the literature on financial market research in the country and promoting general financial market awareness and policy advocacy.

UTI Flexi-Cap will perform when there’s reversal from value to growth

UTI Flexi-Cap has underperformed in recent times. In this interview, Ajay Tyagi, Head of Equities, UTI Mutual Fund explains to Sanjay Kumar Singh, Associate Editor, Business Standard.

Rupee likely to strengthen to 80-per-dollar in 2024: BofA India treasurer

The rupee is up nearly 1% against the dollar so far this year against depreciation in most other Asian currencies

Turkish central bank faces key economic test after Erdogan's reelection

The Turkish central bank faces a key test Thursday on turning to more conventional economic policies to counter sky-high inflation after newly reelected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave mixed signals about an approach that many blame for worsening a cost-of-living crisis. It is the bank's closely watched first interest rate-setting meeting since the longtime leader named internationally respected officials to head the bank and the finance ministry. While a sharp rate hike is expected, it's not clear if it will be enough to ease market concerns. The appointments were seen as a sign that Turkiye would change course and abandon Erdogan's unorthodox belief that lowering interest rates fights inflation. Traditional economic theory says just the opposite, and central banks around the world have been rapidly raising rates to combat spikes in consumer prices including a likely rate hike Thursday by the Bank of England. Erdogan a self-declared enemy of high borrowing costs has said he

Global money flocks to India as PM Modi meets Elon Musk, Ray Dalio

Stocks in India have lured almost $10 billion in net foreign inflows since March, set to be the most in any quarter since the end of 2020

Govt reform measures helping Indian economy to grow at faster pace: Goyal

The commerce and industry minister also said that the government has managed the rate of inflation in single digits