Category: Economy

Saudi Aramco has cut its key Arab Light grade for December sales to Asia by 40 cents to $5.45 a barrel above the regional benchmark. The world’s largest oil producer has lowered most oil prices for Asia – its biggest market – in response to regional market weakening. Energy consumption has been affected by rising interest rates and stringent COVID-19 lockdowns in China, leading to a 20% drop in crude futures since June.

Meanwhile, ICE Brent is trading above $95 a barrel in hope of a fall in Russian exports once the European Union tightens sanctions on 5 December. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+), a 23-nation alliance led by the Saudis and Russia, will also reduce output from this month.

State-controlled Saudi Aramco has raised prices for European buyers, who may find it difficult to get alternative oil once the ban on imports from Russia is in place. Saudi Arabia has left pricing for the US unchanged.

Saudi Arabia sells most of its oil under long-term contracts to Asia. China, Japan, South Korea and India are the biggest buyers of its oil. The pricing of the oil is reviewed each month.

The United Arab Emirates’ non-oil private sector continued its upward stride in October, with growth recorded at a rate close to August’s three-year high and employment expanding at its fastest in six years.

The S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) increased to 56.6 in October from 56.1 in September, which is its fastest since June 2019. The index was at its exceptional best in August this year, when growth was at a tad faster pace at 56.7.

The observers credit the upturn to sharp expansions in business activity and new orders. In October, more action was seen on the capacity side, as businesses responded to rising backlogs by hiring more people at a faster rate. Companies also accumulated inputs to deliver to these backlogs, driving purchasing activity, which too was the fastest for over three years.

However, in spite of the increase in economic activity, the PMI survey said that respondents showed only a moderate degree of optimism for output over the next 12 months. Out of the companies surveyed, only 14% expected output to increase in the next year. The future output sub-index dipped slightly, while being slightly above the average since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tata Group-owned Air India on Thursday announced that it has signed agreements to acquire 100% shareholding in low-cost airline AirAsia India (AAI) and subsidiarize under Air India. The acquisition is expected to finish by the end of 2023.

An operational review process is in progress to integrate AAI with Air India’s low-cost service, Air India Express (AIXL) fully. AirAsia India can use the “AirAsia” brand name for 12 months. After the merger, the entity will be branded as Air India Express.

With this merger, Malaysia-based AirAsia Group will end its uncomfortable journey in India after eight years of launch. The airline has exited AirAsia India by selling its remaining 16.67 per cent stake to Air India for Rs 155.64 crore. Making losses since its first commercial flight on June 12, 2014, AirAsia India’s net loss increased by 42 per cent to Rs 2,178 crore in FY22. Till October, the service has been operating 1,267 flights per week connecting 19 Indian cities.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had on June 14 approved Air India’s request to acquire AirAsia India. The Indian airline aims to have 30 per cent share in both domestic and international markets, and plans to make significant investments to grow the fleet of AIXL after the merger.

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).