Page 17 - Global Economy

Fed funds futures trade for December rate hike sees record volume

The fed funds futures market allows traders to place wagers on the precise timing of US central bank policy actions, and they did so to an eye-popping degree after this week's meeting

India slips one notch to 87th out of 165 nations on economic freedom index

India has fallen one notch to the 87th position out of 165 countries on the economic freedom index, according to a report released on Thursday. The country was at the 86th spot in previous year's rankings. The 'Economic Freedom of the World: 2021 Annual Report' by Canada's Fraser Institute has been released in India in conjunction with New Delhi-based think tank Centre For Civil Society. "From 1980 to now, India's rating has gone up considerably, from 4.90 to 6.62 but, our rank has fallen. This means while India is improving considerably in absolute terms but is not doing enough relative to other countries," it said. However, in South Asia, India is doing pretty well, as per the report. India reported marginal increase in the size of government (7.64 from 7.57) and and regulation of credit, labour and business (5.98 from 5.96), while it was down slightly in legal system and property rights (5.29 from 5.3) and freedom to trade internationally (6.19 from 6.27). A score closer to 10

US Federal Reserve policymakers expect 5.1% policy rate at end of 2024

The dialed back pace of anticipated policy easing next year goes hand in hand with what policymakers expect to be mixed progress toward the Fed's 2% inflation goal

Fed leaves rates unchanged at 5.25-5.50%, sees tighter policy through 2024

As they did in June, Fed policymakers at the median still see the central bank's benchmark overnight interest rate peaking this year in the 5.50%-5.75% range

Economy doing well even in unsupportive global environment: RBI MPC member

The Indian economy has started doing well even in an unsupportive global environment, as the Modi-led government implemented various reforms in the last nine years, resulting in improvements in key macroeconomic indicators, according to RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Member Ashima Goyal. But, there is still a long way to go to realise India's full potential, Goyal added. "The UPA government inherited a strong economy and benefitted from a high growth period. "But over-reaction to the global financial crisis after 2008 and many corruption scandals weakened the economy," she told PTI. Goyal was asked how she would compare the performance of the UPA government's ten years (2004-14) and the Modi-led NDA government's nine years in office. "The (Modi-led) NDA inherited double deficits (high fiscal deficit and high current account deficit), high inflation and weak banks, but has improved all these, and implemented other reforms so that the economy has begun to do well now even in a

Global economy to slow as rate hikes bite, says OECD chief economist

The European Central Bank delivered a 10th consecutive hike last week, though signalled that the peak may have been reached

Global debt hit record $307 trn in Q2 despite rising interest rate

The financial services trade group said in a report that global debt in dollar terms had risen by $10 trillion in the first half of 2023 and by $100 trillion over the past decade

Being 5th big economy 'impressive', per capita income must rise: Ex RBI Guv

While India becoming the fifth largest economy in the world is an 'impressive achievement,' there is a need to grow fast to increase the per capita income of the country from the present levels, former Reserve Bank of India Governor C Rangarajan said on Saturday. In his address at the 13th Convocation of the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Rangarajan said post Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, there is a need to lay down a clear roadmap for India's future development and the first and foremost task is to raise the growth rate. Noting that India was today the fifth largest economy, he said, "this is an impressive achievement." "However, in relation to per capita income, it is a different story. In 2020, India's rank with respect to per capita income was 142 out of 197 countries. This only shows the distance we have to travel All the same, we have no choice but to grow fast, given the present level of per capita income," the former chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic

Global economy to weaken, economists confident of India growth: WEF study

Most economists expect the global economy to weaken in the coming year amid political and financial volatility, but a large majority of over 90 per cent are confident of moderate or strong growth in South Asia, notably India, a survey showed on Friday. At the same time, the outlook for China has dimmed following signs of deflationary pressures and fragility in the country's real estate market, the World Economic Forum's latest 'Chief Economists Outlook' report said. As the world grapples with political and financial volatility, almost six in 10 believe the global economic outlook will undermine progress towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with 74 per cent saying geopolitical tensions will have the same effect. As world leaders head to New York for the UN high-level week to discuss how to advance on the SDGs, the WEF report found that over 60 per cent of chief economists expect the global economy to weaken in the coming year amid uncertain domestic and ...

China, India will be locked in competition, cooperation at same time: Allan

Stable economic and political environment in India is attractive to investors, said Nick Allan

Russia raises interest rate as inflation, exchange rate worries continue

The Central Bank of Russia raised its key lending rate by one percentage point to 13 per cent on Friday, a month after imposing an even larger hike, as concerns about inflation persist and the ruble continues to struggle against the dollar. The increase comes as annualised inflation rose in September to 5.5 per cent and the bank said it expected it would reach 6-7 per cent by the end of the year. Inflationary pressure in the Russian economy remains high. Significant pro-inflationary risks have crystallised, namely the domestic demand growth outpacing the output expansion capacity and the depreciation of the ruble in the summer months," the bank's board said in a statement. "Therefore, it is required to additionally tighten monetary conditions. The bank in August increased the lending rate to 12 per cent a jump of 3.5 percentage points as the ruble fell to 100 against the dollar. Although the ruble's exchange rate improved mildly after the rate hike, it remains around 95 to the ...

Study practices that stop engineers participation in global projects: Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday called upon the Services Export Promotion Council to conduct a study on international practices that restrict Indian engineering firms' participation in global projects. He said that the government will explore reciprocal actions based on this research study to ensure a level playing field for Indian engineers and businesses. The minister also encouraged the engineering community to achieve the USD 100 billion export target in engineering services, design, construction, and research and development (R&D) by 2030. He said this during his address at the 'Global Services Export Conclave on Design, Engineering, Construction, R&D and Environmental Services: Sustainable Energy, Transportation, and Infrastructure' here. Further, the minister urged Indian companies to expand globally, capturing new markets and leveraging India's abundant talent pool of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics) graduates to become ...

India's outward FDI down 33.3% in August on grim global prospects

After declining for two months, outward FDI had increased sequentially to $1.8 billion in July 2023 compared to $1.07 billion in June, marking a rise of 73 per cent

ECB hikes key interest rate to record high even as recession threat grows

Thursday's decision raises the ECB's benchmark deposit rate to 4%, up drastically from minus 0.5% just a little more than a year ago and the highest since the euro was established in 1999

Dollar hits 6-month high after data as ECB wraps up rate hiking cycle

U.S. retail sales increased by 0.6% in August, more than expected 0.2% rise, boosted by higher gasoline prices while weekly initial jobless claims rose to 220,000 but were below the 225,000 forecast

Top headlines: IT companies' forex revenue, falling global debt and more

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

Global debt fell as share of GDP in 2022, may resume rising trend: IMF

The IMF said in an update to its Global Debt Database that the world's total debt to-GDP ratio fell last year to 238 per cent from 248 per cent in 2021 and 258 per cent in 2020

Europe's economic outlook worsens as high prices plague consumers

The European Union has lowered its forecast for economic growth this year and next, saying inflation is taking a heavy toll on people's willingness to spend in shops while higher interest rates are sharply restricting the credit needed for investment and purchases. The revised forecast Monday from the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, comes as fears of recession grow and as the European Central Bank faces a key decision this week on whether to keep raising rates, which are aimed at getting inflation under control. The 20 countries that use the euro currency are expected to see growth of 0.8 per cent this year instead of 1.1 per cent projected in the spring forecast, the commission said. For next year, growth expectations were lowered to 1.3 per cent from 1.6 per cent. For the broader 27-country EU, the forecast also was lowered to 0.8per cent from 1 per cent this year and to 1.4 per cent from 1.7 per cent next year. "Weakness in domestic demand, in particular consumptio

The G20 sidelights: Numbers, tales, hoardings, messages - and beyond

PM Modi began the summit by mentioning a 2,500-year-old pillar in New Delhi with a message in an "ancient language" that translates into "welfare and happiness of humanity should always be ensured"

India needs to clock 8% to become biggest contributor to global growth

Barclays report says that while the debt overhang and worsening demographics will hinder China's growth