Trade and development report update: April 2024
The report forecasts global economic growth to 2.6% in 2024, barely above the 2.5% threshold commonly associated with a recessionary phase. The report says the prevailing focus on inflation overshadows
Trade
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EU loses banana war at WTO
The World Trade Organization has ruled against the eu's import tariffs on bananas. It backed the us, which argued that eu import duties of
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Bangladesh backyard poultry hit by bird flu
bird flu is spreading in Bangladesh despite efforts to control it. By February 19, the H5NI virus outbreaks had been reported in 43 out of 64 districts. The nation's poultry industry, one of the
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In Short
>> South Australian authorities have found a cane toad in the capital city, Adelaide. They say the toad is a stray case and not an indication that cane toads have migrated to the state. They are
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Venezuela's oil politics
Barely a week after the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez threatened to halt oil shipments to the us, the socialist leader has sent a placatory message, saying the country is not preparing to cut
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Politics, economy and environmental crime
Issues relating to protection of the planet continue to capture media headlines and provoke public and political debate. The United Nationsʼ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has referred to global
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WTO Gets Talking Again
Sops to developing countries could break the Doha deadlock.
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Manufacturing a WTO agreement
There is fresh trouble in the Doha round with an attempt to broker a deal at all costs
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Agri trade barriers causing food inflation
CONCERNED over rising food prices, the government on Wednesday said that agricultural trade barriers within the country were making commodities costlier in some states. "Why should food prices be different across states in a national economy...that is because there are barriers to agricultural trade,' finance minister's adviser Shubhashis Gangopadhyay said at a post-Budget meeting at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India here on Wednesday. The ability to control price inflation at the point where it is occurring is a big problem because commodities don't move in some areas, he said. He said expenditure-driven growth is going to give rise to more inflation. Food prices were high in the states wherever the disbursement of funds from various government programmes such as NREG was more, he noted. Last year, agricultural labour wage rate went higher than the food price inflation, he added. Mr Gangopadhyay said wherever necessary, the government would intervene to check the rising trend. Earlier during the day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government was committed to maintaining "reasonable' price stability at 4-5%, but it will not be at the cost of farmers. HIGH PRICE CONCERNS The ability to control price inflation at the point where it is occurring is a big problem because commodities don't move in some areas Food prices were high in the states wherever the disbursement of funds from various government programmes such as NREG
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SAARC: Pruning the negatives
New Delhi expects SAFTA to make concrete progress as quickly as possible, leading to an increase in regional trade. Last November, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had directed the Commerce Ministry to examine the possibility of reducing the 744-item trade negative list for the SAARC least developed member countries (LDCs). That direction has just been fulfilled with the recent announcement that the list will be restricted to just 500 items. In fact, the enhanced trade liberalisation programme affecting the LDCs within SAARC has been speeded up by New Delhi, under which the im port duty on all items outside of the negative list will be zero from January 1 this year instead of from next year. The message being sent out by New Delhi is clear: It expects the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) to make concrete progress as quickly as possible, leading to an increase in regional trade. The Union Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, said as much when he announced the initiative at the third SAFTA Council meeting in New Delhi earlier in the week. Indeed, New Delhi's earnestness in this direction is underscored by the fact that it has taken trade-promotion steps not only at the SAARC level but also bilaterally, with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh being offered special trade incentives last year. Now, with the LDC negative-list announcement, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives have been brought under the incentive ambit. Clearly, these measures should strengthen regional cooperation generally, and SAFTA, in particular, the latter being more important because of the engine-driver role it has been accorded in the SAARC set-up. But since it takes two hands to clap, there is a strong chance of the trade-promotion initiative stalling because of the lack of progress on the most-favoured-nation status issue. Briefly, in contravention of SAARC (and WTO) guidelines on the subject, Pakistan has till now not accorded India such a status which, among other things, has affected SAARC's march towards effective regional cooperation. Of interest is the fact that India accorded Pakistan the status some years ago. At the Delhi meeting of the SAFTA Council, the Pakistani representative did say that Indian and Pakistani banks may be allowed to open branches, but one will have to wait for some concrete development before hailing the statement. Several regional schemes are in the pipeline such as operationalising the development fund and setting up food bank and a South Asian university. Preliminary work on a services agreement has also been kicked off with the completion of a regional study on the potential of such an accord. Being the two largest economies in the grouping, both India and Pakistan will have to join hands if the SAARC promise is to be fulfilled. As of now, only New Delhi has been extending its hand, which is simply not enough for SAARC to have a bright future.
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Duty on naphtha will hit Haldia Petro bottomline
The Union Budget proposal for re-imposition of five per cent import duty on naphtha for petrochemical production seems to have found its single largest casualty in West Bengal government-promoted Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL). HPL is reportedly the only major standalone petrochemical facility using naphtha as feedstock. The showpiece industrial project of the State Government estimates a Rs 300-crore hit on bottomline