สรุปข่าวเศรษฐกิจอินเดียประจำวันที่ 3 เมษายน 2555
Global business groups warn India over new tax plan
International trade groups representing more than 250,000 companies have told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a letter that his government's new tax proposals have led foreign businesses to reconsider their investments in the country.
On Monday the UK's finance minister George Osborne also raised his concerns over the issue with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.
The letter from seven foreign business groups delivers the broadest criticism yet made by the overseas business community of an Indian government that has failed to enact economic reforms to spur investment and revive growth.
India's reputation among global investors has taken a beating over the past year as the government has crawled from crisis to crisis, including a fumbled attempt to allow foreign supermarkets into the country and a long-running stand-off with South Korea's POSCO over a $12 billion steel plant.
Parliament is expected to consider the new tax proposals during the last week of April.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India stood at $35.3 billion in the first nine months of the 2011-12 fiscal year, powered by two multi-billion-dollar energy deals, more than the $32.9 billion registered in the 12 months to March 2011, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India.
India needs increasing FDI and foreign institutional inflows to offset a rising trade deficit, which is likely to have hit $175 to $180 billion in the year that ended in March.
(Source: Reuters India, Moneycontrol.com, Economic Times, Times of India, Hindustan Times)
Indian economy to grow at 7.6%: D&B
The Indian economy is expected to expand by 7.6 per cent in the current financial year on robust services sector, research firm Dun & Bradstreet said on Monday.
Overall growth is expected to gain some traction during the second half of the current fiscal on account of gradual easing of inflationary pressures and some improvement in the investment activity, among others, it said.
Noting the Indian economy is expected to expand 7.6 per cent in 2012-13; D & B said the uptick in GDP is anticipated to be driven by a robust services sector growth.
The services segment is projected to grow 9.2 per cent during the same period.
(Source: Economic Times, Business Standard, NDTV Profit, Indiatimes)
Exports in February up 4.3 % to $24.6 billion
Exports grew an annual 4.3 per cent to $24.6 billion in February, while imports rose 20.7 per cent to $39.8 billion, government data showed on Monday.
The trade deficit widened to $15.2 billion during the month from $14.8 billion in January, while exports between April and February grew 21.4 per cent to $267.4 billion. Oil imports jumped 39.45 per cent from a year earlier to $12.66 billion in February.
India's overseas sales had surged at the start of the last financial year, but weakening demand from key export markets such as the United States and Europe in recent months has widened the country's trade deficit.
Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar said last month India's trade deficit for the 2011/12 financial year that ended on March 31 would likely touch $175-180 billion from an earlier estimate of $160 billion.
(Source: Express India, Economic Times, Worldnews.com, Indian Express, SME Times)
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