Election Financial News

India's engineering goods exports recorded a year-on-year growth of 10.20 per cent to USD 10.04 billion in December 2023. While this represents a strong rebound, the sector still faces uncertainties due to the prevailing global economic conditions, an EEPC official said. «It has been a challenging period for engineering exporters. Tensions in Europe and now in West Asia have posed significant downside risks,» Engineering Export Promotion Council of India Chairman Arun Kumar Garodia said. «Projections indicate a potential slowdown in global growth in 2024, and factors such as high interest rates and low consumer spending are expected to continue affecting the sector this year,» he said. Considering these factors, EEPC maintains a cautious optimism and hopes that geo-political tension will ease, leading to an improvement in the global macroeconomic situation, Garodia said.

Santosh Rao, Partner, Head of Research, Manhattan Venture Partners, says “the world has realised that being China-centric is not really good. It is not a good practice, not a good strategy. So they are diversifying out of China. Even if China was not slowing down, just for geopolitical tensions and all that, people have realised that China is not the place to rely on in the long run. India is going to be the biggest beneficiary of that coming out. Investments are going to flow out of China. And that is a huge thing that is playing out in the markets.” Are you surprised the way the entire global narrative has changed? We are talking about rate cuts this year? Santosh Rao: Yes. I think a lot depends on two or three things that are going to determine the US market. Of course, the disparity between what the market is expecting and what the Fed will do. Originally five or six cuts were priced into the market, and that was the enthusiasm coming into the year. But I think now after all the Fed governors have come out and said it clearly, and also seeing the CPI data, the last CPI data that came out the Fed is not going to do five or six cuts. It is probably going to do two, at best three if inflation comes down fast.

By Tim Reid, Nathan Layne and Gabriella Borter

Union Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to present an interim budget on February 1. This budget is not expected to include any major announcements — that will be left to the full budget which will be presented by the new government elected after the Lok Sabha elections in May. However, the interim budget will include what is at the heart of a budget — projections for the coming financial year, that is the calculations about income, spending and borrowings. Read our full Budget 2024 coverage How does the budget math work? What are the key calculations that go into the making of a budget? The process of budget-making is a forward-looking exercise, since it is for the coming year, and is based on several assumptions. The budget in effect is a matter of several projected numbers.

Kedar Kadam, Director - Listed Investments at Waterfield Advisors is of the view that new large schemes may or may not be announced in this Interim Budget, but some existing popular schemes could see expansion/extra resources to boost implementation rates. In an interview with Mint, Kadam also shared his views on the domestic market and economy.

President Mohamed Muizzu requested the removal of Indian military personnel from the island nation by March 15, 2024. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Pitti claimed some users accused his company of instigating the India-Maldives standoff. "Here is a brief history: Nov 2023, President of Maldives won election on plank of "India Out" campaign.

Donald Trump decisively won the Iowa caucuses on Monday with his closest rivals languishing far behind, a crucial victory that reinforces the former president’s grip on his party at the outset of the GOP’s 2024 nomination fight.It was not immediately clear who would emerge as the second-place finisher, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or former U.N.

OpenAI has made a number of policy changes to prevent its generative AI-based technologies such as ChatGPT, Dall-e and the rest from undermining the 'democratic process' during upcoming elections. Notably, the world's leading democracies, including the US, UK and India, will go to the polls this year.

₹1.12 lakh crore against FY 2022-23 budget allocation of ₹1.04 crore. FY 2023-24 budget included ₹68,804 crore allocation for school education, ₹44,094.62 crore allocation for higher education and ₹37,453 crore allocation for the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Here are some suggestions from experts, from investments in skill development to infrastructure ahead of elections.

Donald Trump emerged as the front-runner, overshadowing the competition. Former President Donald Trump holds a strong position, turning Iowa's first-in-the-nation contest into a struggle for the second spot. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley aim to position themselves as the main alternatives.

Fund managers continue to bet on a private sector capex revival in the coming year, as the BJP’s strong show in the state elections in December has reduced political uncertainty and raised hopes of policy continuity. According to the recent data published by project-tracking database research fi rm Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a total of `2.1 lakh crore worth of new projects have been announced in India in the December quarter.

interim budget for FY25, from the budget estimate for this year, as it aims to balance the need for sustained growth with fiscal consolidation imperatives, people aware of deliberations said. With the economy continuing to grow at a robust pace, the government is of the view that fiscal consolidation needs greater attention, they said. According to the first advance estimate, India's gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to grow 7.3% in FY24, bettering the preceding fiscal year's 7.2%. FY24's budget had raised spending by 14.1% over the FY23 budget estimate — to ₹45 lakh crore. FY24 expenditure growth was up 7.5% over the provisional number for the last fiscal year. The Centre will continue quality spending next fiscal by raising capital expenditure, albeit at a slower pace than in recent years, a government official told ET. Muted hike in capex This, while lifting revenue spending at a moderate rate, the official said.

Nirmala Sitharaman will rise in the Lok Sabha on February 1 to present the Union Budget 2024-25. It will be an interim Budget as the elections for the Lok Sabha are due early next year. The full Budget for FY25 will be presented after the formation of the new government following the general elections.

By Nandita Bose

By Divya Chowdhury and Lisa Pauline Mattackal

Taiwan is pivotal to the geopolitics of Asia and the future of global technological leadership. Communist China has never controlled Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, but arrogates to itself the right to take Taiwan over at a time of its choice, regardless of what Taiwanese think. How to deal with Communist China is therefore always a central issue in Taiwan’s elections.

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose

Guatemala’s new president has huge challenges to address now that he's finally been sworn into office

At the start of 2024, investors are focused on identifying headwinds and tailwinds for individual countries as well as assessing global propositions, in what promises to be another eventful year as central banks continue their battle with inflation and elections loom in the US and the UK.  

Milind Deora was part of the youthful cohort who were considered close to Rahul Gandhi. Among those were Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, RPN Singh and Jitin Prasada. Except for Sachin Pilot, the remaining members of this cohort have either joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or aligned themselves with other political affiliations.

After a positive year with S&P 500's performance exceeding 20%, slow starts, like the one we've encountered, are a common occurrence.