สรุปข่าวเศรษฐกิจอินเดียประจำวันที่ 26 มีนาคม 2557

RBI simplifies foreign investment; RPFI subsumes FII, QFIs

The Reserve Bank today simplified foreign portfolio investment norms by put in place an easier registration process and operating framework with an aim to attract inflows.  "The portfolio investor registered in accordance with Sebi guidelines shall be called Registered Foreign Portfolio Investor (RFPI)," RBI said in a notification. The existing portfolio investor class, namely, Foreign Institutional Investor ( FII) and Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) registered with Sebi shall be subsumed under RFPI, it said.  The guidelines for Portfolio Investment Scheme for Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) and Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) have since been reviewed and it has been decided to put in place a framework for investments under a new scheme called Foreign Portfolio Investment scheme, it said. Such investors "may also acquire shares or convertible debentures in any bid for, or acquisition of, securities in response to an offer for disinvestment of shares made by the Central Government or any State Government, it said. These entities would be eligible to invest in government securities and corporate debt subject to limits specified by the RBI and Sebi from time to time, it added. However, it said, all investments made by that FII/QFI in accordance with the regulations prior to registration as RFPI shall continue to be valid and taken into account for computation of aggregate limit.  RBI said, such investors would be permitted to trade in all exchange traded derivative contracts on the stock exchanges in India subject to the position limits as specified by Sebi from time to time. "RFPI may offer cash or foreign sovereign securities with AAA rating or corporate bonds or domestic Government Securities, as collateral to the recognised Stock Exchanges for their transactions in the cash as well as derivative segment of the market," it said. The RBI notification is effective from March 19, it added.

(Source: Economic Times)

Strengthening markets, rupee reflect improvement in economy: Finance Ministry

Exuding confidence that growth will improve in the coming months, the Finance Ministry today said economy has stabilised which is evident from the strengthening of the stock markets as well as the rupee. On the back of strong foreign investor flows, the stock market barometer BSE Sensex today jumped more than 1 per cent to log new lifetime high, while the rupee appreciated 24 paise to trade at 60.65 against the US dollar. As per the CSO estimates, the economy would expand 4.9 per cent in the current fiscal ending March, up from 4.5 per cent recorded in 2012-13. Growth in the first nine months (April-December) was 4.6 per cent. The economy must expand by 5.7 per cent in January-March quarter to achieve the estimated GDP expansion of 4.9 per cent in 2013-14. Inflation is showing signs of cooling. Wholesale price-based inflation fell to nine-month low of 4.68 per cent, while retail inflation slowed to a 25-month low of 8.1 per cent in February.

(Source: Economic Times)

Gold tumbles below Rs 30k, at 9-week low

Gold tumbled to its nine-week low on Tuesday, falling below Rs 30,000 on heavy selling by stockists amid a weakening global trend. The yellow metal dropped R350 to R29,850 per 10 grams, a level last seen on January 17. A strengthening rupee, which made imports of the precious metals cheaper, further influenced the trading sentiment. Silver also extended its losing streak to the seventh straight session and declined by R350 to R44,200 per kg.The white metal had lost R2,650 in the previous six trading sessions. Bullion merchants said that selling pressure gathered momentum as gold fell the most in 13 weeks in global markets after the outlook for higher US interest rates dampened demand for the precious metal as a store of value. Gold in New York, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, fell 1.9% to $1,311.10 an ounce, the biggest drop since December 19. Silver also fell 1.2% to $20.06 an ounce. Traders said the strengthening rupee made the dollar-priced imports of precious metals cheaper, which also influenced the trading sentiment. On the domestic front, gold of 99.9% and 99.5% purity tumbled by R350 each to R29,850 and R29,650 per ten grams, respectively. Sovereign followed suit and lost R100 to R25,100 per piece of eight grams. Silver ready fell by R350 to R44,200 per kg and weekly-based delivery by R460 to R43,790 per kg while silver coins plunged by R1,000 to R83,000 for buying and R84,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

(Source: Financial Express)

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan likely to hold rates Tuesday: Icra

Ratings agency Icra today said it expects Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan to hold the key rates on April 1, as inflation has shown considerable signs of cooling and is sniffing at the desired levels now. Consumer inflation eased to 8.1 per cent in February, close to the target of 8 per cent for the end of this calendar year as suggested by the Urjit Patel committee. Therefore, we expect a status quo on the policy rate in the upcoming policy review. Icra said the unseasonal rains and hailstorms witnessed early March, which may put pressure on the inflation front, will not immediately have a bearing on the monetary policy. Additionally, there are also fears about a poor monsoon which can have a negative impact on the inflation trajectory, the agency said. Rajan, who took charge last September, raised the rates at his first policy announcement, rightly foreseeing a pressure on the inflation front and increased it again--the third time since he took charge--in January when the market was expecting a pause.  It can be noted that even though the RBI has not formally adopted inflation targeting, it has gone public on targeting consumer price inflation down to 8 per cent by January 2015 and further down to 8 per cent by January 2015 and further down to 6 per cent by January 2016, as per the recommendations of the Patel committee.

(Source: Economic Times)

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