Pranab Mukherjee keen to lift economy

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday promised every effort to lift the Indian economy out of the current slowdown and said the regular budget will be presented in due course.

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"The Indian economy remains resilient," the veteran Congress leader told reporters at his residence, soon after a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique named him finance minister.

"All economic issues will be addressed. My priority is to put the economy back on track. Various efforts will be made to insulate the Indian economy from the adverse impact of the financial meltdown," he said.

Mukherjee, however, declined comment on whether he intended to present a vote-on-account first. "I hope to present the budget in due course."

The industry chambers were happy with Mukherjee being given the finance portfolio. He held additional charge of the ministry since January as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to undergo a heart surgery.

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"Pranab Mukherjee as finance minister will do full justice to his job and come up to the expectations of the people of India and its industry," said the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said the Congress leader combines a rare sense of economic and political judgement that would stand the test of time.

India's forex reserves down by $1.734 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves declined by $1.734 billion to $254.207 billion for the week ended May 15 from $255.941 billion in the previous week.

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In the week under review, foreign currency assets fell by $1.747 billion to $243.754 billion as against $245.501 billion in the previous week, RBI said in its weekly report.

FCAs, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies (such as Euro, Sterling, Yen) held in reserves, RBI said.

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The gold and Special Drawing Rights remained unchanged at $9.231 billion and $1 million for the week, the central bank said.

India's reserve position in International Monetary Fund increased by $13 million to $1.221 billion in the week compared to $1.208-billion in the previous week.

India grew 6.5 percent in FY09 , inflation to fall further - PM

India's economy grew an estimated 6.5 per cent in the just-ended 2008/09 fiscal year and consumer price inflation is expected to moderate in five to six months, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday.

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A global economic slump and slowdown in domestic demand have weakened economic growth in Asia's third largest economy, but falls in commodity prices have helped moderate prices.

"The wholesale price inflation is already down to around 1 per cent and there is a time lag for the consumer price inflation to also fall," Singh told a news conference at Ludhiana. "But I am sure CPI inflation will moderate in five to six months," he said at the last lap of a month-long election campaign in the northern state of Punjab.

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India's wholesale price index rose 0.70 per cent in the 12 months to April 25, above the previous week's annual rise of 0.57 per cent.

Economic growth drivers moderating - RBI

Major drivers of growth in India are witnessing moderation and various surveys of economic activity point towards less-than-optimistic
sentiment for the economy in coming months, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday.

The survey of professional forecasters conducted by the Reserve Bank of India cut gross domestic product estimates for the 2009/10 fiscal year to 5.7 percent from 6.0 percent, it said in a review of the economy.

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The central bank said the slew of measures taken by it and the government would help tame the moderation in growth and revive consumption and investment demand.

India and China better then other bric countries

The global economic downturn has not left the emerging countries unscathed with India and China witnessing moderation in their economic growths, but experts believe the two countries are holding on relatively well among other developing nations.

According to a latest report by leading brokerage firm Sharekhan, "Asian emerging markets too are facing their own share of economic moderation owing to weakness in external trade, foreign inflows and economic sentiment. Importantly, India is holding on well, though the GDP growth has moderated to 5.3 per cent year-on-year (for Q3FY2009) compared with 7.6 per cent in Q2FY2009."

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Experts believe that though the fastest-growing economies of China and India have suffered some moderation, they are showing much more endurance than the other two countries in the BRIC pack - Brazil and Russia.

"Among the BRIC countries, India and China are relatively showing resilience as they are still reflecting GDP growth rates as high as six per cent to eight per cent," SMC Capitals equity head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said.

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Angel Broking Research Head Hitesh Agrawal also believes that India and China are relatively well-placed compared with Brazil and Russia, evident from the contractions witnessed in the latter two over the last six-eight quarters.

with extracts from economic times
posted under - indian economic updates, indian economy, bric countries, economy of india, economic slowdown and india

Recession to hit China more than India

According to economist James Mirrlees "The current global recession would hit China more than India", eminent Scottish economist James Mirrlees said on Wednesday. Since China's exports as proportion of national income were much higher than India, the Chinese economy would be hit hard due to the recession, Mirrlees, who received the Nobel memorial prize in economic sciences in 1996, said here.

Unwilling to compare the present downturn with the Great Depression of the Thirties, Mirrlees said that India could not remain insulated from the recession.

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He said that every country would be hit to some extent. Asked how long the recession would last, the economist said "it is difficult to predict."

He advocated that government expenditure would have to be stepped up. "I am very Keynesian in my approach. It seems that the stimulus packages announced by governments are enough to reverse the trends," he said. He also said that there was a need for stringent regulations in the financial markets.

posted under - India economy updates, economy of india, indian economy blog, economy of india, indian economic updates
source-PTI

Manmohan Singh lures NRI's giving sops for investing in India

At the start of 7th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) in Chennai on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a slew of policy measures for the benefit of overseas Indians. These included allowing overseas Indian citizenship (OCI) card holders to practise in India, launching a global Indian knowledge network as a virtual think tank, issuing smart card to all overseas Indian workers.

The prime minister said the overseas Indian citizenship scheme announced in 2006, got an overwhelming response. He also announced that OCI card holders — who are qualified professionals such as doctors, dentists, pharmacies, engineers, architects and chartered accountants — can practise unhindered in India. Further details to operationalise the benefits are being worked out.

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Dr Singh also launched a new initiative called “The global Indian knowledge network”. It will connect people of Indian origin from a variety of disciplines to users at the national, state and local levels in India. “My hope is that the network will facilitate transfer of knowledge and serve as a virtual think tank to generate new ideas on issues such as development, education and healthcare,” he said.

He also referred to the contributions of about five million Indian workers in the Gulf countries. “I have seen their contributions when I recently visited Oman and Qatar. I was amazed to see their grit, their determination and how they are contributing magnificently to processes of wealth creation in these countries,” he said.

He said: “We are there concerned at the rise of tensions in the region as a result of the attack in Gaza that has led to the needless loss of lives of many innocent men, women and children. India has strongly condemned these incidents and it is our hope that the international community would get together and help to restore peace in the region as soon as possible. I wish to reiterate our unstinted and unwavering support for the just Palestinian cause.”

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“We have put in place several measures for better protection and welfare of our workers overseas, including entering into inter-government agreements,” he added.

He also said India had launched a comprehensive e-governance project on migration. Under this project, every worker will be issued a ‘a smart card’ that will contain all details of the worker like his work contract, his employer, his insurance and the like.

The data will also be available to the government as well as its missions overseas. The objective is to transform emigration process into a simple, transparent, orderly and humane one.

posted under - Indian economic updates, 7th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas ,Pravasi Bhartiya Divas , PM updates, economy of india updates, indian rupee updates
source - economictimes.com

Indian and Gulf real estate market is best

According to a survey conducted all over world on real estate market the following results were taken:

The real estate markets in the Middle East will outperform all other regions in the world while India and China will be the key drivers of the sector in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new survey.

The 'Investor Survey Sentiment', conducted by global real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle in association Cityscape 2008, the real estate exhibition currently under way here, found that while the UAE will offer the best performing real estate market in the next couple of years, Saudi Arabia will be the next best performer.

The results of the survey were arrived at after taking the views of 350 developers, sovereign wealth funds and high net worth investors, Jones Lang LaSalle said in a statement.

Over 50 percent of the respondents believe the real estate markets in the Middle East will see the strongest performance of any region worldwide over the next two years.

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India and China, too, have a strong outlook with 20 percent of the respondents believing these two markets will make the Asia Pacific the best performing market.

"Sentiment is a critical component when considering the health of any market," Blair Hagkull, Jones Lang LaSalle's managing director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), said in the statement.

"It is an important barometer, a key assessment criteria for any investor and the ideal gauge for considering future prosperity," he added.

The survey, according to the consultancy, is the most up-to-date as it was conducted after in the aftermath of US investment bank Lehman Brothers' collapse.

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According to the survey, investors in the region are least positive towards west European real estate markets, with only 3 percent expecting this to be the strongest performing region.

Most Middle Eastern investors do not believe the US and European markets will witness a major improvement in performance in the short term.

The Middle East is expected to be one of the regions least affected by current global economic turmoil.

The survey found that though North America would be most affected by the crisis, it could also provide the most opportunities for value purchases over the next two years.

"There is a clear inverse relationship between strongest performing real estate markets and those economies expected to be most impacted by current global economic environment," the Jones Lang LaSalle statement said.

Investors also believe that, apart from MENA, emerging markets like Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe will also be least affected by economic crisis.

With UAE expected to be the best performing market, investors remain particularly confident of growth in Abu Dhabi.

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Almost a quarter of the respondents said Saudi Arabia would offer the strongest performing real estate markets, driven by a large and rapidly urbanising population and new legislation, which is opening up of real estate market.

Apart from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Qatar emerges as the best performing market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with less investors expecting Bahrain, Kuwait or Oman markets to perform the most strongly.

"The Gulf region offers strong relative international value with active buyers in the region generally looking to transact at 8-8.5 percent yields for prime commercial operating assets and slightly higher for hospitality products," Ian Ohan, head of investment transactions in MENA at Jones Lang LaSalle said in the statement.

"Investors are looking for strong capital growth in Abu Dhabi, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, reflecting their robust economic potential and more nascent stages in the real estate cycle."

He, however, added that though this was consistent with recent market evidence, it was likely to bow to upward pressure as the cost of debt rose.

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According to Ohan, asset pricing in the region is increasingly being underpinned by cash flow valuation, reflecting a shift from development-led to capital-based real estate markets.

"We are anticipating greater transaction activity as sellers' value expectations begin to more closely resemble income valuations as debt markets tighten and speculative exit opportunities decline," he said.

Real GDP growth in Q1 FY 09 at 7.9 pc-CMIE

The first quarter of this fiscal witnessed a real GDP growth of 7.9 per cent which is expected to accelerate further in the second half, an economic think-tank report said.

"Real GDP grew by 7.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2008-09. We expect the economy to accelerate in the second half of the fiscal," the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in its September monthly review.

The broad composition of the growth in the first quarter was - agriculture - three per cent, industry - 6.9 per cent and services - 10 per cent, CMIE said.

However, each of these were lower than the corresponding levels of growth in the year-ago quarter with the slowdown severest in industry, CMIE said.

"Within industry, mining and construction sectors reported healthy acceleration in growth," the report said.
Mining growth accelerated from 1.7 per cent in the previous year to 4.8 per cent in this year while in the case of the construction industry, the acceleration was from 7.7 to 11.4 per cent.

The manufacturing and utilities sectors saw a serious slowdown. "Growth in manufacturing slowed to 5.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2008-09 from the 10.9 per cent growth registered in the first quarter of 2007-08," CMIE said.

-Economic Times

India slips in global business climate ranking

India has slipped 13 places to 64th rank in a global list that measured business climate in 121 countries, as inflation and differences between the government and its Left allies dampened investor confidence. India has dropped from 51st place, whereas China is two notches down from last year's ranking at 79 in the Forbes list of 'best countries to do business. The list is topped by Denmark, climbing three spots from the previous year, followed by Ireland and Finland.


"India and China fell in this year's ranking as political instability demonstrated resistance to increasing personal freedoms. Higher inflation from food and other commodity costs, as well as increased burdens on entrepreneurs also held the world's most populous nations back as business destinations," Forbes said in an accompanying report.

Denmark, which rose three slots from last year, Ireland (up 19 places to No 2), Finland (up four to third place), the US (down three to fourth) and UK (up five to fifth). Big movers like Ireland, Estonia (No 10, up 24 spots) and Saudi Arabia (No 47, up 37) have limited bureaucracy standing in the way of entrepreneurs hoping to do business there. However, the world's largest economy United States declined one spot to the fourth place, whereas another economic giant United Kingdom retained its fifth position.

Pointing out that the Indian government has reduced controls on foreign trade and investment, Forbes said tariff spikes in sensitive categories, including agriculture, and incremental progress on economic reforms still hinder foreign access to India's vast and growing market.

"Privatisation of government-owned industries remains stalled and continues to generate political debate; populist pressure from within the UPA government and from its Left Front allies continues to restrain needed initiatives," the report noted. Forbes said that strong growth combined with easy consumer credit and a real estate boom fuelled inflation concerns in 2006 and 2007. This had led to a series of central bank interest rate hikes that have slowed credit growth and eased inflation concerns.


"The huge and growing population is the fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem," it said. Forbes analysed the business climates of countries, focusing on degrees of personal freedoms such as freedom of expression and right to participate in free and fair elections. "Investor protection examines the recourse held by minority shareholders in cases of corporate misdeeds, while corruption looks at the number and frequency of similar misuse of corporate assets for personal gain. Together with economic policies supportive of free trade and low inflation, these key points form a snapshot of countries' suitability for capital investment," the magazine said.


Developed countries like Germany (21st rank) and France saw declines in their respective rankings due to scandals in the banking sector and tougher barriers for entrepreneurs. One of the biggest falls came from Japan, which dropped to 24th rank from 21st position. On Japan, the report said, "... a Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy spelled out problems with the world's second-largest economy earlier this year. Among others, the committee's report cites the nation's 40 per cent corporate tax rate as uncompetitive compared with regional rivals like Hong Kong at 17.5 per cent and South Korea at 25 per cent."

Direct Tax collection up 71% then previous year

India's direct tax collections continued to grow at a robust pace to log a 71.28 percent rise in the first two months of this fiscal at Rs.228.4 billion ($5.7 million), against Rs.133.35 billion in the like two months of the previous fiscal.

The growth in personal income tax was the highest with 73.05 percent at Rs.146.9 billion, against Rs.84.89 billion, while the corporate tax mop-up was higher by 68 percent at Rs.81.26 billion against Rs.48.35 billion. "Direct tax collections have been witnessing a high growth due to better tax compliance by the taxpayers and an improved tax administration," a statement issued by the finance ministry said Wednesday.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said last week that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) would meet soon to revise upward the official estimate on direct taxes for this fiscal, set at Rs.3,650 billion. "For 2007-08, direct tax collection was Rs.3,144.68 billion. This represents an increase of 36.62 percent over the previous fiscal, and 117.56 percent of the original budget estimates," he said. "In four years, this has been tripled - that is from Rs.1,050.88 billion to Rs.3,144.68 billion.

This is a remarkable achievement and I compliment the department for this extraordinary achievement," he added. "The cost of collection has come down to 0.54 percent. For every Rs.100 collected, the department spends only 54 paise. Now, this is the lowest in any jurisdiction in the world."