FM says stimulus is helping industry revive

26 Feb 2009 | 11:32 FM says stimulus is helping industry revive

Finance Minister (FM) Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday, 25 February 2009, said the fiscal measures announced by the government are starting to have a positive impact as production has started picking up in some sectors. He said production is improving in cement and steel sectors.

Mukherjee said the government needs to return to fiscal consolidation at the earliest opportunity. Concerns of a downgrade of India's sovereign rating by credit rating agencies loom large with widening fiscal deficit.

Just before the announcement of a stimulus package by the government, the global rating agency S&P on Tuesday, 24 February 2009, cut its outlook on India's long-term sovereign credit rating to negative from stable citing worsening government finances, which could raise Indian firms' overseas borrowing costs and weaken the rupee. S&P, however, said India's medium-term growth prospects are strong.

The government on Tuesday cut excise duty and service taxes in an effort to boost demand and revive growth in economy as it reels under the impact of the global economic crisis.

The global financial sector crisis and recession in key global economies have pushed economic growth in India down to a six-year low. The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) has pegged India's projected GDP growth for the year ending March 2009 at 7.1%, the slowest in six years and below the previous year's 9% rise.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Asian equities start week on bearish note

12 Jan 2009 | 15:46 Asian equities start week on bearish note Asian equities turned in a mostly bearish performance on the very first session of the week as weak cues from the US markets and continued concerns over the global economic conditions hurt the sentiments. On Friday, the US non-farm payrolls printed a loss of 524000 in December, close to previous estimates of 525,000. For the month of December, unemployment in the world's largest economy rose to a whopping 7.2 percent, the highest rate not seen since 1993. The rise stemmed from losses in every sector category including financial services and manufacturing, the latter, which incidentally showed a trimming of 149,000 positions.  The data also wrapped up the government's layoff count for the year 2008, marking it as the worst for labor since World War II ended in 1945. The US equity markets extended their losing spree and Dow Jones industrial avera
Read more

Asian Market registers convincing recovery

16 Jan 2009 | 16:03 Asian Market registers convincing recovery Stock markets in Asian region closed higher on Friday 16 January 2009, showing some sign of improvement at the end of week convincing recovery from Thursday's big falls. The regional markets followed the gains on Wall Street registered last night. In the region, technology and resource stocks showed some upbeat. On Wall Street, the stock markets showed sign of improvement despite of disappointing economic data, falling crude price and the overall financial sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 12.3 points at 8,212, the Nasdaq closed higher by 22.2 points at 1,511 and the S&P 500 closed higher by 1.1 points at 843.74. Meanwhile, news of Bank of America might require bailout money to finance the Merrill Lynch acquisition came true as U.S. officials early Friday disclosed they have agreed to provide Bank of America Corporation (BAC) with a
Read more

Strong rally at Wall Street

29 Jan 2009 | 10:04 Strong rally at Wall Street Stocks at Wall Street managed a strong end with good gains on Wednesday, 28 January, 2009. Financials led the way today as Wells Fargo decided that it will keep its dividend intact and will not ask for additional TRP funds. Stocks also rose today after Federal Reserve's latest policy statement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 200 points at 8,375, the Nasdaq closed higher by 53 points at 1,558 and the S&P 500 closed higher by 28 points at 874. Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank Of America were the main Dow winners today. In the earning arena today, Boeing and AT&T reported unimpressive quarterly results. WellPoint's latest earnings were in-line with expectations. Yahoo! and ConocoPhillips both topped earnings estimates. Today, The Federal Open Market Committee kept its interest rate target in a range of zero to 0.25%, as expected. It
Read more