Page 25 - Economy

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

Allergy season drags Japan's economy of $2.74 bn in spending: Report

Japan's hay fever season this year stood to suppress consumer spending by 383.1 billion yen ($2.70 billion), local media reported

Russia maintains economic stability despite challenges: Vladimir Putin

Russia's GDP could achieve a growth rate of about 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent this year, which will enable the country to retain its place among the world's leading economies, he said

N Korea opens key party meeting to discuss its economy, defense strategies

With leader Kim Jong Un in attendance, North Korea opened a key political conference to discuss improving its struggling economy and reviewing defense strategies in the face of growing tensions with rivals, according to state media reports Saturday. The enlarged plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee came as the United States sent a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea in the allies' latest show of force against the North, which has ramped up its testing of nuclear-capable missiles to a record pace in recent months. During the first day of meetings Friday, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said, party officials reviewed the country's economic campaigns for the first half of 2023, and discussed foreign policy and defense strategies to cope with the changed international situation. The agency didn't specify what was discussed or mention any comments made by Kim. It said the meeting will continue for at least another day. The arrival Frida

Chamber India to take delegation to global south nations: Abhinav Balyan

The Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Development and Foreign Relations on Friday said it will be taking delegations to eight global south destinations to explore opportunities for Indian business with a view to increasing the country's exports. Global south region includes Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia. Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Development and Foreign Relations or Chamber India President & CEO Abhinav Balyan said that they are focusing on increasing exports and enhancing cooperation with the Global South nations. "We would be taking a delegation to 8 global south destinations to create more opportunities for Indian business and increase our exports," he said here at the Chamber India-Global South Meeting. He added that the chamber will organise these meetings in the state capitals with foreign delegations to explore business opportunities for all states. Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil ...

India's forex kitty declines by $1.32 bn to $593.75 bn, shows RBI data

The overall reserves had jumped by $5.93 billion to $595.067 billion for the previous reporting week

Moody's warns 'highly uncertain' funding prospects for Pak until elections

Moody's has warned that Pakistan's ability to secure loans from bilateral and multilateral partners will be severely constrained until new programme is negotiated with International Monetary Fund

Merchandise import jump in May signals stable local economy: Economists

Merchandise imports advanced 14.5% over the previous month to $57.1 billion, while exports inched up 0.7% to $35 billion

Sri Lanka's economy shrinks by 11.5% in first quarter amid financial crisis

Sri Lanka's economy shrank 11.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 from the previous year, government data showed on Thursday, even as the cash-strapped island nation struggles to overcome the economic crisis. Sri Lanka is currently facing the worst economic crisis in the history of the island nation. The GDP for the first quarter of 2023 at the constant price has declined to Rs 3,114,187 million from Rs 3,519,400 million in the first quarter of 2022. The year-on-year GDP growth for the first quarter of the year 2023 has been reported as 11.5 per cent of negative growth rate, the statistics department said in a statement. While the agricultural sector had expanded by 0.8 per cent, the industry and service sectors had declined by 23.4 per cent and 5 per cent respectively during this quarter, it added. In 2022, the economy had contracted by over 7 per cent as the economic difficulties forced people to take to the streets with protests across the island nations that also led to the