Indo-Asean trade could reach $80 bn in FY13
The commerce ministry today said that it expected India's trade with the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) - the trading bloc of 10 Southeast Asian countries - to reach a target of $80 billion by the end of March 2013.
During the period between April and December, in the ongoing financial year, 2012-13, India's exports to Asean were worth $22.49 billion, while imports were worth $32.57 billion.
Among Asean nations, the highest value of trade happened between India and four countries - Singapore (total trade of $15.22 billion), Indonesia (total trade of $ 14.66 billion), Malaysia (total trade of $10.69 billion) and Thailand (total trade of $6.66 billion) - in the first nine months of the current financial year.
(Sources: Business Standard, Hindu Business Line, News BCC, India Everyday)
India third largest 'spam spewing nation' in world
India has ranked third on the list of the countries distributing spam across the world, after US and China, a new report has claimed.
While the US was the single highest-ranking country in the study, Asia topped the list of continents with 36.6% of the world's spam accounted for.
In the latter half of 2012, India had been leading the way but has now fallen back to third, with China leapfrogging into second place after a spell in the lower half of the list, statistics from SophosLabs revealed.
(Sources: Indiatimes, Hindustan Times, Hindu Business Line, Indian Express, Zeenews)
The worst may be over for India: Moody's Analytics
Global ratings agency Moody's on Thursday said India's December quarter was likely the bottom of the economic cycle, and anticipate a steady acceleration in GDP growth in the coming year. The rating agency pushed India's 2013 GDP forecast to 6.2% from 5.1%, and said that all the major headwinds were likely to turn into mild positives.
The rating agency said that risks around the economy, particularly the fiscal and current account deficits, have begun to recede and the gains in financial markets has started reflecting the rising expectations around the economy as well as lower risk.
Moody's expects India's headline inflation to drop to 6 % by year's end, paving the way for an expected rate cut around mid-2013.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, India Infoline, Daily India News, Firstpost)
Over 54 pc Indian CFOs consider inflation a key issue: Survey
More than 54 % of CFOs in India consider inflation and its subsequent pressure on commodity prices as key economic concerns, says a survey.
According to Deloitte's Q4 Global CFO Signals survey, CFO optimism across the world has rebounded from historic lows in many countries as several political and economic 'uncertainties' have been resolved or eased.
However, many Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) worldwide remain cautious in resuming aggressive capital spending and are adopting a 'wait-and-see' approach that will likely yield a slow global recovery process, it said.
In India, more than 54 % consider inflation and its subsequent pressure on commodity prices as key economic concerns, the survey added.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Hindu Business Line, Moneycontrol, India Everyday)
Share of exports in India's overall GDP rises to 17.7% in FY12
The share of merchandise exports in the country's GDP has increased from 13.9 % in 2009-10 to 17.7 % in 2011-12, Parliament was informed today.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry D Purandeswari said that exports have always played an important role in the economic development of most countries.
"This is evident even in Indian case from the continuous upward movement of percentage share of merchandise exports in the overall GDP of India from 13.9 % in 2009-10 to 16 % in 2010-11 and 17.7 % in 2011-12," she said.
During April-January period, overseas shipments declined by 4.86 % to $ 239.6 billion.
(Sources: Economic Times, Business Standard, Times of India, Business World, Moneycontrol)
AirAsia-Tata JV gets FIPB green signal
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) today cleared Malaysian low-cost carrier (LCC) AirAsia’s proposal to launch a domestic airline in India, in alliance with Tata Sons.
The approval has come close to six months after the government last year liberalised the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, after a long debate, allowing foreign airline companies to hold up to 49 per cent stake in Indian ones.
Unlike in Malaysia, where it had the first-mover advantage, AirAsia will face a tough challenge from domestic LCCs, such as IndiGo, which controls nearly half the LCC market and is growing rapidly with new capacity. Also, it will not have the advantage of low ATF rates and airport charges, which account for 50 % of costs.
(Sources: Business Standard, Smart Investors, Times of India, Financial Express, IB Times)
Seafood exports dip on dull demand
Seafood exports are likely to fall short of $3.5 billion achieved last year due to falling demand and declining catches. Recession and debt crisis in Europe have slowed down purchases while an anti-dumping duty and a cut in government spending in the US have been a setback for exports.
During the April-December 2012 period, exports rose to 6, 60,703 tonne valued at $2.6 billion. The quantity is down 2.62% while value in dollar terms has fallen by almost 8% year-on-year partly due to rupee depreciation.
Shrimps accounted for 52% of total earnings and their exports increased by over 16% during the period. The prices of most the marine products except vannamei have fallen in the world market.
The slump in exports has been attributed to lower shipments of fishes, squid and cuttlefish, which are caught from the sea.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Hindu Business Line)
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