Disbursement rate

     Next Rediff Business Desk & Agencies The Union Commerce Ministry announces the integrated Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) every five years. The policy aims at developing export potential, improving export performance, boosting foreign trade and earning valuable foreign exchange. Also known as Exim (Export-Import) Policy, it is updated every year and several modifications and new schemes come into effect from April 1 of every year. India needs to focus on exports to become a major player in world trade. The FTP takes into account measures to generate more exports and facilitate imports, which are vital for the economic development. India's FTP seeks to enhance its global trade, offer incentives to exporters, expand markets to diversify trade, and create more returns and employment. FTP assumes great significance this year as India's exports have been battered by the global recession. A fall in exports has led to the closure of several small- and medium-scale … [Read more...] about How Foreign Trade Policy will help boost exports

    Việt Nam’s economy is expected to grow by 6.7 per cent this year. – VNA Photo Danh Lam HCM CITY - The Vietnamese economy is expected to grow at around 6.7 per cent this year, the fastest rate in South East Asia, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ recent Economic Insight: South East Asia report. According to the report, Southeast Asian economies except Việt Nam have seen exports drop in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year while Việt Nam’s exports grew albeit slower than in 2018. Its economy grew at 6.8 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter driven by strong manufacturing, steady services and higher agricultural output. However, its economic momentum is expected to trend lower due to reduced Chinese demand for goods and rising trade protectionism. While the escalating US-China trade war could benefit Việt Nam in the short term due to trade … [Read more...] about Việt Nam economy to grow at 6.7%: report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank for a loan worth USD 1.3 billion to support the cash-strapped country's public finances and shore up its slowing economy. "Economic Affairs Division and ADB have signed policy-based loans of USD 1.3 billion today. The sums will be disbursed today and will help bolster reserves and strengthen our economic outlook," Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar tweeted. On Friday, the bank said it has approved a USD 300 million policy-based loan that will help Pakistan to address financial sustainability, governance, and energy infrastructure policy constraints in country's energy sector. Under the deal, the ADB will provide the loan to help stabilize the foreign exchange reserves of the country. Pakistan is facing a serious economic crisis with short supplies of foreign currency reserves and stagnating growth in recent years. The ADB loan comes just days after investment rating agency Moody's changed … [Read more...] about Pakistan, Asian Development Bank sign loan agreement worth USD 1.3 billion

MUMBAI: Public sector banks (PSBs) are on an overdrive to implement the finance minister’s directive to link lending rates to repo (the rate at which RBI lends to banks). The central bank revises this repo rate to influence banks to change their own lending and deposit rates. Bankers also see deposit growth picking up with the government decision to release payments blocked in public sector and in refunds under GST. Anticipating a growth in deposit and to create headroom to bring down lending rates, SBI on Friday reduced retail term deposit rates by 10-50 bps across tenors as well as bulk term deposit rates by 30-70 bps across tenors (100 bps = 1 percentage point). SBI was the first to link its home loan rates to the repo. Union Bank also introduced two products — the repo-linked home loan and repo-linked vehicle loan at 8.25% and 8.6% respectively. The home loan linked to repo rate provides 35 bps benefit over the existing rate, while the vehicle loans are 40 bps cheaper … [Read more...] about Public sector banks go all out to push cheaper retail loans

You Shall Know Our Velocity Without intending to, Dave Eggers has written a timely book. It tells the story of two Americans who embark on a week-long "global flurry" to make the world a better place. Their largesse takes the form of foisting money on people, not showering them with bombs. But their naivety, vagueness about geography and hubristic dream of liberating non-westerners from poverty and oppression can be read as a satire on current US foreign policy. "You shall know our velocity" isn't yet a Bushite war slogan, but it could be. The book is fiction, but the narrative voice is at times indistinguishable from Eggers's own, as heard in his wonderful non-fiction memoir of three years ago. Of course, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was much more than a memoir. At its heart lay the strange but true story of how the 21-year-old Eggers, having lost both his parents to cancer, became prime carer to his eight-year-old brother, Toph. But the endless notes, acknowledgments, … [Read more...] about Beware geeks bearing gifts