สรุปข่าวเศรษฐกิจอินเดียประจำวันที่ 4 มิถุนายน 2556

Govt mulls ban on gold coin sales by banks

With the surge in gold imports again posing a threat to the country’s widening current account deficit (CAD), the government on Monday said it might review its import policy. It added it might ban the sale of gold coins by banks. Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the country was not in a position to afford high levels of imports; policies could be reviewed to reduce imports of the yellow metal, he added. In January, the government had raised duty on gold imports to six per cent. It had also allowed gold exchange-traded funds to deposit part of the physical gold held by them with banks; relaxation in gold deposit schemes of banks was also proposed.

(Source: Business Standard)

Non-bank agencies keep gold tap flowin

Demand for physical gold was so high that mining companies quoted a premium of $5-10 an ounce. In April-end, while presenting the annual monetary policy, RBI said it intended to stop allowing banks to import gold on consignment bases for domestic needs. To beat the curbs, banks imported heavily and the central bank decided to tell them to stop from May 13. After that, non-bank nominated agencies have become very active under this route, something RBI has been silent on.

The clamp on consignment import is estimated to result in a fall of 100-120 tonnes. Banks imported 350-400 tonnes last year on a consignment basis for sale in the domestic market and some bullion traders used to rotate this for trading and speculation. “Since now imports on consignment bases is regulated, this speculative activity will also be under control and imports of 100-120 tonnes, used for creating artificial demand, could come down,” said a bullion trader on the condition of anonymity. “This will depend upon how the government ensures consignment imports for domestic market are curtailed,” said another analyst.

(Source: Business Standard)

CAD still a worry, more steps likely to curb gold imports

NEW DELHI: There could be more restrictions imposed on gold imports as part of measures to rein in current account deficit that is causing the rupee to depreciate at an alarming rate. India cannot afford high levels of gold imports, finance minister P Chidambaram said on Monday after attending the seventh meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), even as the rupee dropped to 56.76/77 to a dollar, lowest in 11 months. "Necessarily, we will have to check," he said, but did not say what the measures could be.

(Source: The Economic Times)

Govt may take more steps to curb gold import: FinMin

The Finance Ministry today said the government could take more steps to reduce gold imports, which may include banning sale of the yellow metal by banks. Higher trade deficit in turn puts pressure on Current Account Deficit (CAD), which has been described as the biggest risk to the Indian economy by the RBI. The government has also taken steps like hike in import duty to restrict gold imports.

(Source: The Financial Express)

Infra norms for FDI in retail likely to be eased

With the government keen to encourage foreign retailers to set up shop in India, multi-brand retailers are likely to be asked to invest 50% of only the first tranche of investments in back-end infrastructure, a senior official of the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) said. A senior DIPP official said Tuesday’s meeting would decide whether the mandatory 50% investment in back-end infrastructure, to be made by foreign retailers, needs to be a share of just the initial tranche or the entire investment.

(Source: The Financial Express)

Regulator for realty sector likely to be on Cabinet table today

The Union Cabinet is likely to consider a Bill to set up a regulator for the real estate sector on Tuesday. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development), Bill 2013, seeks to make it mandatory for developers to launch projects only after acquiring all the statutory clearances from relevant authorities. The legislation has provisions under which developers will have to deposit about 70 per cent of the total money collected from buyers in a scheduled bank to be spent exclusively for the projects.

(Source: The Financial Express)

New bank licences likely by March 31: Takru

India is likely to give new bank licences by March 31, 2014, Rajiv Takru, secretary of financial services, told a local news channel on Tuesday. On Monday, the Reserve Bank of India said it had extended the validity of in-principle approval for new banks to 18 months from one year.

(Source: Business Standard)

Manufacturing output falls at 50-month low

India’s manufacturing output in May fell for the first time since March 2009 — one of the worst affected months during the global economic slowdown — according to HSBC’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), released today. After a ten-year-low economic growth rate of five per cent seen in 2012-13, the contraction in manufacturing output could suggest the so-called green shoots of recovery might, after all, be some distance away.

(Source: Business Standard)

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