Category: Economy

Australia will officially ratify its interim trade deal with India, signed on April 2, in the forthcoming weeks, said Australia’s trade and tourism minister Don Farrell on Tuesday. The unusual delay in the ratification was due to the election of a new government in Australia.

In a virtual meeting with India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Farrell said that in addition to the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA), the amendments to Australia’s domestic regulation for resolving the issues related to the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) have been introduced in the Australian Parliament. The DTAA is vital for India’s IT industry. It is likely that both the agreements will be ratified shortly after the joint standing committee on treaty submits its report to the Australian Parliament, he said.

The ECTA promises preferential access to all Indian goods in five years (from 96.4% immediately after the deal comes into effect) and 85% of Australian products (from 70% to begin with) to each other’s market. The deal will help Indian yoga instructors, chefs, students and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) graduates, who will have easier access to Australia, while premium wine from Australia will make greater inroads into Indian supermarkets once the deal is implemented.

Italy’s economy grew by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2022 from the previous quarter, said the preliminary data released by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). On a year-on-year basis, the gross domestic product (GDP) in the Euro Zone’s third largest economy has increased by 2.6%.

The recent quarterly increase is the seventh three-month period in a row that Italy’s economy has expanded. The Italian GDP has now exceeded expectations in each of the first three quarters of 2022. ISTAT said that assuming GDP to be flat quarter-on-quarter in the last quarter of the year, the annual growth would be 3.9% this year.

ISTAT said the third quarter witnessed an increase in domestic demand. It confirmed second quarter growth at 1.1% from the last three months, revising the year-on-year rate to 4.9% from the earlier reported 5%.

Not only analysts, but the Treasury in Rome expected to see a GDP contraction in the third quarter. The government’s Economic and Finance Document, in a statement released in September, estimated annual GDP growth this year to be at 3.3 per cent, hinting negative growth in this year’s last quarter.

Saudi Arabia’s economy expanded by 8.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, driven by higher oil prices and government reforms, said the kingdom’s statistics body, General Authority for Statistics (Gastat).  

The Q3 growth is up from 6.8 per cent recorded in the same period a year ago. Oil activities grew 14.5 per cent, up from 9.3 per cent a year ago, Gastat added. The increase, however, is lesser than seen in the second quarter of 2022, when the surge was 22.9 per cent. While the kingdom has posted six straight quarters of economic expansion after the pandemic, its third-quarter growth has slowed from the 12.2 per cent growth seen in the last three-month period.

The biggest economy of the Arab world has oil activities in crude oil, natural gas and refining. Its non-oil activities grew 5.6 per cent year-on-year, but was down from 6.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2021. The government services activities increased 2.4 per cent year-on-year, but was again lower from 2.7 per cent registered in the same period a year ago.

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, speaking at the meeting of the Financial and Economic Co-operation Committee of the GCC earlier this month, called the kingdom as a “bright spot amidst the global turmoil.”

In an effort to ease the burden of rising utility rates and food prices, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government approved Friday an economic package of about 29 trillion yen ($200 billion). This hefty economic package was approved by Japan’s Cabinet for government spending to alleviate rising utility and food costs. There has been an increase in inflation in Japan along with a rise in prices around the world.

Household subsidies are included in the stimulus package as Kishida attempts to raise his plummeting popularity. Following the July assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s close ties to the Unification Church in South Korea have shaken his government.

After the preliminarily approved package, Kashida said, “We will make sure to deliver the measures to everyone and do our utmost so that people can feel supported in their daily lives.”

On Friday, the Bank of Japan kept its longstanding lax monetary policy, which has been minus 0.1% since 2016. Therefore, it risks further weakening of the yen due to the Federal Reserve still raising rates, which tends to push up the dollar. In turn, Japan’s prices will rise since much of what it consumes is imported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of various road and ropeway projects worth more than Rs 3400 crore at the Mana village of Chamoli district. Uttarakhand.

Speaking at the occasion, the PM said that the connectivity projects would help improve the economic development of Uttarakhand. “Connectivity is a challenge in mountainous regions. Our government is working on bringing connectivity to such areas. Four-lane expressways are being built to connect the state from Delhi and UP. Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor will encourage businesses in the state,” he said.

The Prime Minister added that modern connectivity is a “guarantee of national defense.” He pointed out that the government is continuously making gradual steps in this direction for the last eight years.

The Prime Minister stated that since 2014, the Border Roads Organisation has constructed nearly 7,000 km of new roads, built numerous bridges, and completed many important tunnels. The PM noted that Mana village is known as the last village at India’s borders and said every border village is the first village of the country, and the people living near the border account for the country’s strong defense.

The Prime Minister, who performed Darshans at Kedarnath and Badri Vishal, also reviewed the development projects as “130 crore people are also a form of God for me.” he said.

The representation of women on boards of companies in India during the last ten years sped up to 18 percent in 2022, but the country is still lagging behind France, Sweden, the US, and the UK, according to a report. From 2013 to 2022, India made noteworthy and rapid progress in increasing women’s representation on boards from 6 percent in 2013 to 18 percent in 2022, leading consultancy EY’s report titled ‘Diversity in the Boardroom: progress and the way forward”, said.

France stood at the number one position with 44.5 percent women representation on companies’ boards, followed by Sweden (40 percent), Norway (36.4 percent), Canada (35.4 percent), the UK (35.3 percent), Australia (33.5 percent), US (28.1 percent), Singapore (20.1 percent), as per the report.

The findings for India are based on a detailed survey of Nifty 500 companies comprising 4,500 directors and public source data.

The report noted that the current 18 percent women representation on Indian boards is mainly due to a result of the corporate law mandate in the country.

Nearly 95 percent of the Nifty 500 companies now have a woman on their boards of directors. However, not even 5 percent of companies have women chairpersons, it noted.

During the week from October 9 to 16, Telangana secured investments from three companies totalling Rs 1,850 crore, confirming its position as India’s premier investment destination. As a result of these three investments, approximately 4,500 jobs could be created. There were contributions from a wide range of industries, including life sciences, edible oils, and jewellery.

A positive start to the new week for Telangana was provided by pharma company Hetero, which announced plans to invest around Rs 600 crore in an acquired manufacturing unit. The project will create employment for about 2,000 people. A new Global Analytics and Technology Centre of Excellence (GATE) has been announced by global pharma company Roche as well.

Investment flow to Telangana has been driven by the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification System (TS-iPASS). KT Rama, IT and Industries Minister, summarised the state’s achievement, saying, “Telangana continues to attract fresh investments thanks to the stable government, business-friendly atmosphere, and path-breaking policies like TSiPASS.”

As a result of Telangana’s policies, a second Green Revolution, a Blue Revolution, a Pink Revolution, and a White Revolution have already been initiated. Now, it is promoting oil palm cultivation on a large scale as part of the Yellow Revolution (oil).

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was summarised by signing a series of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between both countries. As per the report shared by a Saudi state news agency on Monday, the estimated value of those memorandums of understanding is worth more than $15 billion. Both countries agreed on cooperation in the field of agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and direct investment cooperation.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Friday, October 14, for a State Visit, which concluded on October 16, 2022.

Along with President Ramaphosa, Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, welcomed the signings and stressed the importance of building cooperation and consensual ties between the two countries.

The meeting between these two leaders was meant to discuss business and economic collaboration. During the meeting, they discussed boosting cooperation between the two countries in the field of the private sector.

Both leaders also applauded the efforts of the Saudi-South African Joint Committee, an undertaking to enhance cooperation between the two countries. The joint committee’s vision also falls in line with the plans of South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030 and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

World Bank President David Malpass has expressed his interest to work with India to take its successful digitization efforts to other countries so that they can also reap benefits from it, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

Sitharam, who was in Washington to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, spoke about this to Indian reporters on Saturday during a press conference. Sitharaman said India was requested to exhibit how Indian people have recognized the intense digital applications.

“In fact, today, in my meeting with the World Bank President David Malpass, he said that you should now showcase the deepening of digital applications in India and how common people have accepted it, Sitharaman said after she met Malpass at the World Bank headquarters.

Referring to her meetings on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, she said India received a lot of appreciation for its digitization success.

“There’s certainly a lot of appreciation. In fact, with a sense of amazement that India could do it in such a short period, its digital applications which have been successful, how people have adapted to it. And the way in which across the board, now digital is panned out, it’s not just payment, it is also health, it’s also education, it’s also looking at health-related vaccinationCOVIN and so on, “, she said.

The U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) will be held on November 8 in Washington DC. U.S. trade officials will arrive in New Delhi next week to set the seal on issues for discussion, an Indian government official said. A few weeks ahead of this meeting, it seems likely that the gains are most probably going to be moderate and result in a positive change in the immediate future, considering the structural differences in both economies and political factors in India and the U.S. — both of which have general elections in 2024.

The 12th TPF was held in New Delhi in November 2021, after a gap of four years, offering some gains over the past year, such as the restarting of sales of Indian mangoes and pomegranate arils to the U.S. post-pandemic, and the arrival of U.S. cherries on the Indian market.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) officials, Christopher Wilson, and Brendan Lynch were in New Delhi in August–but the visit was not formally termed as ‘intercessional’.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will lead the Indian delegation to the U. S capital next month with the USTR, Katherine Tai, leading the American delegation.

“A mismatch between bilateral ambition and sensitivity has been an issue at times. The U.S.’s ambitions are commensurate with what you would expect for a highly developed economy,” former Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan, who retired in 2021, told on Saturday.