Page 25 - Economy

Economic situation worse than anticipated, no space for subsidies: Pak FM

As protests continue across Pakistan against surging electricity bills, interim Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar on Wednesday said the country's economic situation is "worse than anticipated" and was no "fiscal space" for subsidies to ease the burden of the people due to non-negotiable commitments with the IMF. Pakistan secured a crucial USD 3 billion loan from the Washington-based global lender in June under strict conditions that included raising power tariffs and phasing out all subsidies. During a meeting of the Senate's Standing Committee on Finance, Akhtar asserted that the interim set-up has inherited the IMF programme, hence, it was non-negotiable. Pakistan's economic situation, she said, was worse than anticipated and the government did not have fiscal space to provide subsidies, the Dawn newspaper reported. The minister said government institutions are suffering unbearable losses and underscored the need to accelerate privatisation, adding that 70 per cent of Pakistan's t

Govt likely to focus on motor fuel prices ahead of 2024 polls: Citigroup

The government's decision to reduce liquefied petroleum gas could lower inflation by around 30 basis points, economists Samiran Chakraborty and Baqar M. Zaidi said in a note

Pakistan stares at another crisis as sugar prices rise to Rs 185 per kg

The rising wholesale rates have been providing an opportunity for various online mart and retail shop operators to make a windfall on the already piled-up stocks

E-commerce, FMCG demand for electric vehicles doubles in FY24

Companies are also increasing their focus on electric commercial vehicles to save fixed operating costs and reduce logistics costs

Rupee, govt bonds seen steady as Jerome Powell's remarks factored in

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond closed at 7.20 per cent on Friday

Global inflation pressures could become harder to manage in future: Study

Rising trade barriers. Aging populations. A broad transition from carbon-spewing fossil fuels to renewable energy. The prevalence of such trends across the world could intensify global inflation pressures in the coming years and make it harder for the Federal Reserve and other central banks to meet their inflation targets. That concern was a theme sounded in several high-profile speeches and economic studies presented Friday and Saturday at the Fed's annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For decades, the global economy had been moving toward greater integration, with goods flowing more freely between the United States and its trading partners. Lower-wage production overseas allowed Americans to enjoy inexpensive goods and kept inflation low, though at the expense of many US manufacturing jobs. Since the pandemic, though, that trend has shown signs of reversing. Multinational corporations have been shifting their supply chains away from China. They are seek

Fed's Powell says higher rates may be needed, will move 'carefully'

"It is the Fed's job to bring inflation down to our 2% goal, and we will do so," Powell said in a keynote address to the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium

Work in progress: How's India's G20 presidency is building consensus

As the heads of G20 states come together for a meeting in Delhi in September, it is useful to know why the Modi government was keen on being the bloc's president and if it has succeeded in the role

BRICS Summit 2023: Will adding more bricks to a divided house help?

Whether BRICS becomes the voice of the Global South or remains a divided house without any coherent agenda will be keenly watched

India, Asean agree to speed up negotiations to conclude FTA review in 2025

India and the 10-nation bloc Asean have agreed to fast track negotiations for the review of the existing free trade agreement in goods between the two regions and conclude the talks in 2025, an official statement said on Monday. The issue was discussed during the twentieth AEM (Asean Economic Ministers)-India Consultation meeting, held at Semarang, Indonesia. The commerce ministry said that the main agenda of this year's meeting was the timely review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) which was signed in 2009 and implemented in January 2010. The economic ministers' meeting was preceded by AITIGA Joint Committee meeting, which deliberated the roadmap for the review and finalised the term of reference and the work plan of the review negotiations. The review of the AITIGA was a long-standing demand of Indian businesses and the early commencement of the review would help in making the FTA trade facilitative and mutually beneficial, it said. "The ministers agreed to follo

German central bank sees economy stagnating again in third quarter

Germany's central bank anticipates that the country's economy, Europe's biggest, will be more or less stagnant again in the current quarter adding to a string of weak performances. German gross domestic product stagnated in the second quarter after declining in both of the two previous quarters as the country struggled with high energy prices, rising borrowing costs and weakness in China, which has been a key trading partner. The International Monetary Fund forecast last month that Germany would be the globe's only major economy to shrink this year, even with feeble economic growth around the world amid rising interest rates and the threat of growing inflation. A monthly report Monday from the Bundesbank, Germany's central bank, indicated that the picture isn't about to improve. In the third quarter of 2023, German economic output will probably remain largely unchanged again, it wrote. The bank said that, while private spending should continue to recover thanks to stable employmen

Retail inflation for farm workers rises from 6.31% to 7.43% in July

Retail inflation for farm and rural workers inched up to 7.43 per cent and 7.26 per cent in July compared to 6.31 per cent and 6.16 per cent, respectively, in June this year, mainly due to higher prices of certain food items. "Point-to-point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL and CPI-RL stood at 7.43 per cent and 7.26 per cent in July 2023 compared to 6.31 per cent and 6.16 per cent, respectively, in June 2023 and 6.60 per cent and 6.82 per cent, respectively, during the corresponding month of (July 2022) the previous year," a labour ministry statement said. Similarly, it stated that food inflation stood at 8.88 per cent and 8.63 per cent in July 2023 compared to 7.03 per cent and 6.70 per cent, respectively, in June 2023 and 5.38 per cent and 5.44 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year. The All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) and Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) for July 2023 increased by 19 points each to stand at 1,215 and

Using all platforms to flag non-tariff barriers impacting trade: Official

India is using all multilateral and bilateral platforms including G20 to flag concerns with regard to non-tariff barriers (NTBs) which are impacting the free flow of trade, a top government official said on Friday. India has already raised its concerns on issues like the European Union's (EU) carbon tax on different platforms, including the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Such measures by G20 member countries are likely to figure in the trade ministers' meeting of the grouping next week in Jaipur. "Definitely, we are discussing those NTBs and we are also discussing how to find a good solution, how to find a platform where we can coordinate on these issues and we can understand these issues," Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters here. The two-day Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting (TIMM) is scheduled on August 24 and 25 in Jaipur. The secretary also said that on the sidelines of TIMM, several high-level bilateral meetings will be held with countries such as the UK

Global slowdown, protectionism start affecting services exports from India

The services trade surplus widened to $36.39 billion in the first three months of the current financial year against $31.07 billion in the first quarter of the previous year

India's food inflation hits double digits in July, shows NSO data

Food inflation in wholesale prices had shot up to 7.75 per cent in July from -1.24 percent in June, led by massive acceleration in the prices of vegetables in July from -21.98 per cent in June

Oil stabilises as China economic worries counter OPEC+ supply cuts

Brent crude futures slipped 35 cents to $86.46 a barrel by 1027 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude edged lower by 38 cents to $82.81 a barrel

India-Australia trade pact utilisation at average 90% in first six months

As much as 51% of the nearly 6,500 tariff lines in Australia were already attracting zero import duty

Disbursement under PLI scheme to hit Rs 13k crore this year: DPIIT secy

The government is expected to disburse about Rs 13,000 crore to eligible firms seeking benefits under the production linked incentive (PLI) schemes, even though an exercise is going on to tweak the scheme for those sectors which have not yet picked up well, a top official said on Friday. Secretary in the Department for promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Rajesh Kumar Singh said that from the current year onwards, the disbursal number will be significantly larger. The disbursals "I think will go to about Rs 13,000 crore this year", he told reporters here. The government disbursed only Rs 2,900 crore till March 2023 out of Rs 3,400 crore claims received under the scheme so far. The scheme was announced in 2021 for 14 sectors such as telecommunications, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, speciality steel, food products, high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, drones and pharma with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh ...

High fruit prices may likely increase food inflation further in 2023

The late arrival of monsoon and heavy monsoon rains have impacted crops, which led to higher prices

Govt might lift the ban on white rice export soon as production increases

In September last year, India imposed a ban on broken rice exports and put a 20 per cent export tariff on non-basmati and non-parboiled rice, aimed at improving domestic supplies