Country Financial News

NEW DELHI : Rating agency Moody's on Monday raised its forecast for India's GDP growth in 2024, reflecting both global and domestic optimism in the country's economy on the back of robust manufacturing activity and infrastructure spending. "India’s economy has performed well and stronger-than-expected data in 2023 has caused us to raise our 2024 growth estimate to 6.8% from 6.1%," the rating agency said in its Global Macro Outlook 2024-25.

Prime Minister of Pakistan on Monday, taking over the reins of the country for a second time since 2022, amidst staggering economic and security challenges faced by the country. President Arif Alvi will administer the oath to Shehbaz Sharif in a ceremony held at the President's residence in the afternoon. The 72-year-old politician earlier served as prime minister of a coalition government from April 2022 to August 2023 before Parliament was dissolved to hold general elections last month.

ANI, Jaishankar emphasized that “big bullies" do not extend aid amounting to USD 4.5 billion when neighbouring countries face distress. EAM Jaishankar at the event on Sunday, “The big change today in this part of the world is what has happened between India and its neighbours.

LONDON — Economists expect U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt to use a small fiscal windfall to deliver a modest package of tax cuts at his Spring Budget on Wednesday.

non-basmati white rice to Tanzania and 80,000 tonne of broken rice to Djibouti and Guinea Bissau. The export is permitted through National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification. Though exports of non-basmati white rice have been banned since July 20, 2023 to boost domestic supply, exports are allowed on the basis of permission granted by the government to certain countries to meet their food security needs on request. Tanzania is an East African nation, while Djibouti is at the northeast coast of the African continent.

Ola Electric has emerged as the leading patent publisher in the country for the 2022-23 period. According to data from Intellectual Property India, Ola Electric has published 205 patents in the EV and EV-related technologies space, surpassing its competitors. TVS follows in second place with 156 published patents, while Suzuki, Honda, and BYD hold third, fourth, and fifth place respectively, with 78, 77, and 58 published patents. Ola Electric aims to raise Rs 5,500 crore through its IPO by issuing new shares. The company's draft papers filed with Sebi show that some existing shareholders will also be selling over 9.5 crore shares. Out of the funds raised, Ola Electric plans to allocate Rs 1,600 crore for research and development (R&D), highlighting the importance of innovation in its business model. With R&D centers in India, the UK, and the US, Ola Electric is dedicated to designing and developing new EV products and core components. Its R&D efforts focus on battery technology, software related to EVs, vehicle safety and security, controllers, motors and transmissions, as well as vehicle body components, artificial intelligence, and other related technologies.

NEW DELHI, MUMBAI : Latin America's largest lender Itau is looking to open a branch in India, two people aware of the development said. Representatives from Itaú Unibanco Holding SA's retail, wholesale and asset management divisions held preliminary talks with government officials in New Delhi and expressed their willingness to open shop in the country, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. Foreign banks seeking to enter India need to secure approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Investing.com-- Adani Group is marketing a $409 million bond in potentially its first dollar debt sale after a damning short seller report last year, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Alexander Stubb has been sworn in as Finland’s new president

A government minister in Liberia says that violent protests over the presence of an armed force in mining areas in the country's northwest resulted in the death of one demonstrator and multiple injuries

An official says that a bomb scare has shut down Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls Airport that forced the country’s president to cancel a planned address at a conference on renewable energy

Geneva-based commodities trading firm Gunvor said Friday that it has reached $661 million settlement with U.S. and Swiss prosecutors after a conviction for bribery of foreign officials in connection with the petroleum industry in Ecuador

The European Union says it will pay $54 million to the main provider of aid in Gaza next week

Some members of oil cartel OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and allied producers like Russia are again deepening their voluntary crude supply cuts

Lok Sabha elections this year. During the meeting, a 100-day agenda for immediate steps to be taken after a new government is formed in May was deliberated upon for its quick implementation.

India being on a path to become the world’s third largest economy, with annual growth predicted at above 6% (double the world average) for the next two years, cannot be ignored in multilateral trade discussions. At the same time, our trade negotiators had a tough job balancing the interests of different domestic stakeholders with the changing dynamics of global trade and geopolitics, with India’s aim of playing a key role in resilient global value chains forming an important part of the context.

Investing.com-- Oil prices rose slightly in Asian trade on Monday as the OPEC+ maintained its current pace of production cuts until the second quarter, although calls from top U.S. officials for an immediate Israel-Hamas ceasefire dulled crude’s momentum.

NEW DELHI : Unwanted promotional calls from unregistered phone numbers may attract stringent action in the near future, with the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) preparing to crack down on the practice. The CCPA is meeting industry stakeholders this week to finalize a mechanism to end unsolicited commercial calls and messages, two people aware of the matter said.

NEW DELHI : The growth in private investments in fixed assets cooled in 2022-23 after a rebound in the year before when it recovered from a pandemic-induced contraction, official data showed. Unless exports revive and wage growth fuels domestic consumption, private investments may not improve in the coming year either. Private investments in fixed assets rose 6.4% in real terms in 2022-23 to ₹19.7 trillion at 2011-12 prices, after a 16.4% growth in 2021-22.

NEW DELHI : Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is looking to enter pumped storage projects (PSP) for hydro power as it focuses closely on clean energy, two people aware of the plans said. The company's subsidiary Reliance New Energy is scouting for sites for the projects, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. PSPs use cheap green power during off-peak hours to lift water to a height and release it into a lower reservoir to turn turbines that generate electricity when the demand for electricity goes up.

Stock Exchange has catapulted it to becoming the best- performing listed bourse in the world in the past year. Continued surge in trading volumes and signs of its equity derivatives segment picking up have driven shares of Asia's oldest stock exchange by over 400% from the same period a year ago. BSE shares, which are listed on the National Stock Exchange, closed at ₹2352.45 on Saturday. The stock hit an all-time high of ₹2,598.95 on February 5. BSE shares' 430% gains in the past year far exceeds the 35% upmove in US-based Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the second-best performer in the pack