by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, Markets, News, Politics
Panaji : Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday cautioned Indian defence shipyards against constantly pleading with the government for equipment manufacturing contracts while urging them to look abroad for selling maritime battle ware.
Sitharaman was addressing a function at Goa Shipyard Limited in the port town of Vasco, 35 km from here, to launch an offshore patrol vessel.
She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ call was not just aimed at manufacturing for local markets but also to promote India as a defence equipment manufacturing hub for a global market.
“There should definitely be an approach of competing globally. You have a market everywhere. There is immense interest in buying from India, such things like offshore patrol vessels, speedboats for guarding the borders,” the Minister said.
“Many southeast Asian countries have requested and shown interest in wanting to purchase from India what otherwise they would have gone for a Western producer,” she added.
She chided Goa Shipyard for constantly pleading with the Defence Ministry for manufacturing orders for the domestic market while also urging it to reach out to the global market.
“I want not just Goa Shipyard but also every public sector in the defence public sector undertakings to look at themselves as manufacturers of international class and not just depend on captive market which is the defence forces or the navy or the coast guard,” Sitharaman said.
“We want many private entrepreneurs in the industry and investments to happen so that there is a healthy opening up. Private and public should together contribute to India’s manufacturing sector,” she added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Investing, World
By Bahattin Gonultas,
Ankara : The U.S. dollar gained after republican agreement on the shape of U.S. tax cuts, but investors will closely watch President Donald Trump’s speech on national security on Monday.
The greenback rose against the yen on Monday in Asia and the euro/dollar exchange rate was trading at $1.1762 on the global currency market.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, eased 0.02 percent to 93.43.
It is expected that Trump will call out China for engaging in “economic aggression”, in his national-security speech according to the Financial Times.
In other developments, the market will be watching lawmakers in the world’s largest economy, U.S., for their decision on reducing corporate and individual tax rates.
In Turkey, the treasury will announce central government debt stock on Wednesday.
The Turkish Statistical Institute revealed the December consumer confidence index on Thursday and November house sales on Friday.
The Turkish lira rose to 3.8603 against the dollar at Monday’s opening, compared to 3.8676 on Friday’s close.
Gold prices were up 0.19 percent at $1,256 per ounce at 0632GMT Monday.
On Friday, Turkey’s benchmark stock index closed down 0.31 percent at 109,330,17 points.
The Brent crude oil index hovered over $63.43 per barrel on Monday at 0632GMT.
The ten-year benchmark bond in Turkey was traded at 12.40 percent, 7 base points higher than Friday’s close.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business
By Aparajita Gupta
New Delhi/Mumbai/Kolkata/Bengaluru:(IANS) Even as gold may be losing its sheen in the global market, logging its longest weekly loss in terms of prices since 1999, the yellow metal still seems to be in favour across India with low prices luring people to buy, stakeholders maintain.
If the footfalls at the India International Jewellery Show in Mumbai that concluded on Aug 11 is any indication, some brisk buying in gold has been reported. While the metal may no longer be an investment option, its lure has still not faded away from people’s psyche, experts added.
“If prices stabilise at these levels, we expect gold sales will be good during the Diwali season. People are not buying gold bars and coins as an investment option,” said Premjit Sengupta, chief marketing officer of Senco Gold in Kolkata. But demand for jewellery was good, he added.
From a peak of $1,900 per ounce in September 2011, spot gold prices dipped to a new five-year low of $1,086 in global markets past week, breaching the $1,100 barrier on signs of a recovery in the US economy, a fall in unemployment there and stock and debt marketing offering better returns.
This has resulted in the gold import bill for India, among the top three consumers of gold in the world, going down but demand remained robust. According to the World Gold Council, the demand in India in 2015 is expected at around 900-1,000 tonnes, against 891.5 tonnes in 2014.
Rajesh Khosla, managing director of MMTC-PAMP India, a gold and silver refining and minting joint venture between India’s state-run metals major and a reputed Swiss bullion brand, gold imports in fiscal 2015-16 could fall as much as 18 percent to $28 billion or so.
“With the price of gold decreasing from $1,250 to $1,100 per ounce in the past six months, import bill has decreased substantially. Thereby it has reduced stress on the current account deficit,” said Rajosik Banerjee, partner with KPMG in India, told IANS.
“This will give more flexibility to the Reserve Bank of India to handle interest rates. Further, this price scenario may also lead to some realignment of portfolios,” he added.
Drawing comfort from the footfalls at the Mumbai exhibition, Pankaj Parekh, former vice-chairman, Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, told IANS: “We are experiencing phenomenal sales throughout the country.”
He said the situation was only going to improve in the coming months, as the festive season will be in full swing and people waiting for prices to fall more will take some decisions. “Globally, people have stopped buying. But in India they are waiting for prices to come within range.”
Sengupta sought to explain the reason why the past week has seen a slight slump in sales. “This is only normal, given how gold prices are reacting to market forces,” he said, adding since the interest is in jewellery, and not bars or coins, people are waiting for the festive season.
Litle wonder Khosla estimates India’s gold imports in July at 70-75 million tonnes, as against 57 tonnes in June. “Jewellers have started stocking up for the festive season.”
(With additional inputs from IANS bureaus. Aparajita Gupta can be reached at aparajita.g@ians.in)
