Economy Financial News

BJP's manifesto committee for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the party has kickstarted the process for its preparation, which is likely to showcase the roadmap for a 'Viksit Bharat' (developed India), and will hold its first meeting on Monday. The 27-member manifesto committee led by senior BJP leader and Union defence minister Rajnath Singh has 11 ministers besides four chief ministers of the party-ruled states. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been appointed the convenor of the committee while Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal has been made the co-convenor. The manifesto committe also has one BJP leader each from minority communities — including Sikh, Muslim and Christian.

employment intensity of manufacturing is declining, and it will need to be buttressed by services, where India has an advantage over its East Asian neighbours. Services also have a bigger impact than manufacturing on reducing job market inequity such as gender, age and social bias.

₹11.1 trillion in FY25, budget documents showed. Emails sent to the finance ministry and the rural development ministry seeking their comments remained unanswered till press time. In FY24, the total spending for rural jobs is projected to be ₹86,000 crore, slightly below ₹90,806 crore spent in FY23.

Mint's editor-in-chief Ravi Krishnan at the Mint India Investment Summit 2024. In a fireside chat, Sitharaman also said that though the Centre-state relationship has been highly politicised recently, it hasn't deteriorated. The finance minister emphasised that states such as Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal would have to become the engine of India’s growth.

Indian economy remaining buoyant at the end of 2023-24 with Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) for manufacturing increasing and that of services maintaining a robust trend, as per the monthly economic review by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). The PMI for manufacturing activity increased to 56.9 in February, reflecting a strong expansionary momentum, as growth in the output of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to a three-month high of 6.7 per cent in February from 4.1 per cent in January, NCAER said in its review for March that was released on Sunday. The economic think tank added that goods and services tax (GST) collections, too, remained buoyant, reaching Rs 1.7 lakh crore in February, registering a year-on-year growth of 12.5 per cent, while collections of GST E-way bills marked an equally impressive year-on-year growth of 18.9 per cent. NCAER noted that bank credit growth remained strong at 20.5 per cent with robust growth for personal loans, services, agriculture and allied activities.

Mansion Global host and Fox News real estate contributor Katrina Campins weighs in on February housing data and the NAR proposing new commission rules.

Reliance Industries, marginally to USD 9.87 per million British thermal unit in line with softening of benchmark international gas prices, an official notification said. However, the price of gas that is used for making CNG for fuelling automobiles or piping to household kitchens for cooking purposes will remain unchanged due to a price cap that is set at 30 per cent less than market rates such as that paid to Reliance. For the six-month period starting April 1, the price of gas from deepsea and high-pressure, high-temperature (HPTP) areas has been cut to USD 9.87 per mmBtu from USD 9.96, oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) said in a notification. This is the third straight bi-annual reduction in rates for difficult fields. Price was for six months beginning October 1, 2023 slashed 18 per cent to USD 9.96 per mmBtu from USD 12.12 for the April to September 2023 period. Prior to that, the rate was a record USD 12.46 for October 2022 to March 2023.

RBI may again keep the key interest rate unchanged in April as it is likely to focus more on bringing down inflation to the 4 per cent target after concerns over economic growth abated with GDP growth estimated at nearly 8 per cent, said experts. Also, the Reserve Bank's rate-setting panel — Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) — may take cues from the central banks of some major economies like the US and UK, which are apparently in wait-and-watch mode on interest rate cuts. Switzerland has become the first major economy to cut interest rates, while Japan, the world's third-largest economy, ended its eight-year period of negative interest rates regime. The meeting of the Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das headed MPC is scheduled for April 3-5. The decision will be announced on April 5 (Friday). It will be the first bi-monthly monetary policy of fiscal 2024-25. A total of six MPC meetings are scheduled for the fiscal beginning April 1, 2024.

Purple Cap IPL 2024: Lucknow Super Capitals cruised to a 21-run win over Punjab Kings at the Ekana City Stadium in Lucknow. Saturday's clash saw plenty of great performances with the ball and a number of changes in the wicket-takers' charts. Also Read | LSG vs PBKS IPL 2024 Highlights: Debutant Mayank Yadav, Krunal Pandya shine as Lucknow defeat Punjab by 21 runs With 6 wickets in 2 matches so far, Mustafizur Rahman is currently wearing the prestigious purple cap.

Federal Reserve cooled last month, and consumer spending rebounded sharply. Earlier in the week, the collapse of a major bridge in Baltimore will cause weeks or months of transportation disruptions in the Mid-Atlantic region and accelerate a shift of cargo to the US West Coast. In Japan, the yen weakened to levels last seen in 1990, prompting multiple officials to affirm their commitment to intervene if necessary.

youth don't run after government jobs but have become job creators, Union minister Piyush Goyal has said. He was addressing a meeting Saturday night of the residents of Adarsh Welfare Association in Malad suburb of North Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency, from where he is contesting as a BJP candidate. BJP's incumbent North Mumbai Lok Sabha member Gopal Shetty also addressed the meeting and requested the housing complex members to vote for Goyal. «Today's young men and women don't run after government jobs (but) with their talents become job creators. Today's youth are taking the country forward with new experiments and innovation,» Goyal said. «In the last 10 years, PM Narendra Modi took strong steps to strengthen India's economy. He attempted to bring in good governance in all areas. He brought in many schemes for the welfare of the poor,» the Commerce and Industry minister said.

The collapse of a Baltimore bridge that got struck by a cargo ship has highlighted the important role that bridges play in the daily lives of many Americans

A measure of inflation that is closely tracked by the Federal Reserve slipped last month in a sign that price pressures continue to ease

MUMBAI : The Indian economy is expected to grow at 8% or above in the last quarter of the current financial year, leading to an equivalent growth for the whole of fiscal year 2024 (FY24), finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. “Hopefully the fourth quarter (of FY24) which ends tomorrow will also have it in the range 8% or above 8%, resulting in 2023-24 having an average GDP growth of 8% or over 8% is what my expectation is," Sitharaman said in her keynote address at the Mint India Investment Summit 2024 here.

China’s first generation of migrant workers played an integral role in the country's transformation from an impoverished nation to an economic powerhouse

Asian shares have ended mostly higher in quiet, Good Friday holiday trading and European and U.S. markets were closed

Many Americans are in a sour mood about the economy for one main reason: Prices feel too high

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated a message he has sounded in recent weeks: While the Fed expects to cut interest rates this year, it won’t be ready to do so until it sees “more good inflation readings’’ and is more confident that annual p...

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund has confirmed a deal with Egypt to increase its bailout loan from $3 billion to $8 billion

The European Union aims to fast-track up to $1.1 billion in financial aid to Egypt, using a funding procedure that bypasses parliamentary oversight and other safeguards

FPI) were net buyers in March with equity purchases worth Rs 35,098 crore. The month's performance eclipsed the lacklustre show over the previous two months, aided by strong buying trends in capital goods, automobiles, financials, telecom and real estate. In 2024, so far, FPIs have purchased domestic shares worth Rs 10,893 crore. In January they were net sellers and sold equities worth Rs 25,744 crore and followed it with purchases worth Rs 1,539 crore in February.