Industrial production In India up 2.7%

Industrial production growth for March 2002 has been 2.4 percent. With this, industrial growth for the last financial year stands at 2.7 percent. Mining, manufacturing and electricity grew, respectively, by 1.8 percent, 2.7 percent and 3.1 percent.

The performance of the capital goods sector once again disappointed in March, with a decline of 1 percent. Only in two months in the last financial year November and February had the capital goods sector turned in a positive rate of growth. The cumulative growth of capital goods for 2001-02 has turned out to be 4 percent. The only segment to register double digit growth in 2001-2002 has been consumer durable, which grew by 11.6 percent. The segment, how ever, has a weight of only 53.65 in a total weightage of 1000. Consumer non-durable, with a larger weight age of 232.99 have turned in only a growth of 3.8 percent for the year as a whole.

At the two digit classification level, none out of 17 industry groups have shown positive growth in March 2002, as compared to March 2001. Beverage, tobacco and related products have shown the highest growth of 22.8 percent in March, followed by 11.8 percent by transport equipment and parts and 6.9 percent by paper and paper products and printing and publishing & allied industries.

The worst performer has been wood and wood products, which declined by 13.1 percent in March.

Govt of India plans to hike auto import duties

Been hoping that imported cars would finally drive within your reach? Well, your hopes have just been dashed against the windshield. If heavy industries minister Manohar Joshi is to be believed, the government will look at hiking import duties further. And all this under the grab of checking dumping.

Manohar Joshi also announced that the center would look at providing fiscal incentives to the automobile industry in a bid to make India a hub for small cars. "We may take up the issue of fiscal incentives with Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha during the post budget discussion. At the same time we don’t want India to be a dumping around of international rejects." However, he refused to divulge details on the proposed fiscal incentives.

Terming the policy as a "directive paper", Joshi said customs duties would be used to facilitate development of domestic manufacturing and preventing dumping of used vehicles in the country. There would be no minimum capitalisation norms or investment limits, the minister said. he also announced that the government has allowed 100 percent foreign investment in the auto sector through the automatic route.

Bangladesh to shut, merge 500 branches of banks

Bangladesh’s central bank announced recently it would shut or merge some 500 branches of nationalised banks across the country in abide to end losses running into the millions of dollars.

"We will carry out the closure or merger of about 500 branches of six state owned banks in three phases across the country," Fukhruddin Ahmed, the Bangladesh Bank’s governor, told.

He said the move, to be completed by the end of December, was part of a government effort to revamp the impoverished country’s sluggish economy.

"This step should have been taken a long time back and we could have avoided the losses that run into millions," he said.

Bangladesh adopts new law to stop money laundering

A new law has been passed in Bangladesh to stop money laundering and illegal financial transactions which cause millions of dollars in losses to the state central bank officials said recently.

Bangladesh Bank officials said a new non available "Money Laundering (Prevention) Law" adopted by parliament recently incorporates "stringent and deterrent provisions against all sorts of illegal money transactions."

These include illegal accumulation of wealth and currency smuggling.

The officials said the new law would help stop the practice of what is known locally as "hundi" business a method of transferring money from abroad where foreign exchange is paid to someone who ensures delivery of the amount in local currency in Bangladesh.

Pakistan expects better Economic growth

Pakistan expects economic growth to rise 3.3 to 3.5 percent in 2002-2003, boosted by a pick-up in manufacturing and an inflow of aid as a reward for its backing of the US-led "war on terror," Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said recently.

"We expect 3.3 to 3.5 percent growth in GDP in this fiscal year as our large-scale manufacturing has picked up during the last two months," Aziz told a press conference in this southern port city of Karachi.

Last year economic growth, hit by the country’s worst drought, plunged to 2.6 percent against a forecast of 4.5 percent.

The government and business community had feared this year the economy would be hit by the September 11 attacks and the resulting was in neighbouring Afghanistan.

However healthy export order would boost gross domestic product (GDP) growth, Aziz said.

Sri Lanka seeks economic reforms

Sri Lankas central bank called recently for faster reforms and de-regulation after reporting an unprecedented and worse than expected economic contraction last year.

The bank said Sri Lanka’s economy shrunk 1.4 percent in 2001 compared with growth of 4.5 percent the previous year. The bank had earlier forecast growth of negative 1.3 percent for 2001.

It was the first time Sri Lanka’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted since independence from Britain in 1948, it said in a statement.

A bank official said its annual report for 2001, financialised recently and handed over to the government, called for faster reforms and stressed the need for an end to decades of blooshed on the island.

"Economic progress would depend on restoration of peace," the bank said. "In economic terms, the country cannot continue to bear the cost of a prolonged war, and hence a speedy resolution of the conflict is essential."

Prospects for 2002 improved following a landmark Norwegian brokered truce between government forces and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which went into effect from February 23, officials said.

The central bank forecasts a growth rate of 3.7 percent this year, higher than the 3.0-3.5 percent predicted by analysts.