Pranab Mukherjee, India’s finance minister, put the rural economy at the heart of a national budget on Monday, saying ridding the farm sector of crippling supply bottlenecks would be his “focus” in the coming fiscal year.A market-neutral budget supporting agriculture, welfare schemes and the extension of banking services to more people was designed to dispel any sense that the Congress party-led government was in drift after a series of high...
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Centre slashes MEP for onions by 25% to $450
In a major relief to farmers and exporters, the Centre on Wednesday slashed the minimum export price (MEP) for onions by 25 per cent to $450 a tonne from $600. “Minimum Export Price of onions other than Bangalore Rose onions and Krishnapuram will be $450 per tonne freight on board,” Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Last month, the government had lifted a ban on onion exports after...
More »Budget 2011: Pranab focuses on social sector
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented Budget 2011-12 in Parliament on Monday promising to stimulate growth and bring down inflation. Admitting that food inflation remains a matter of concern, Pranab said that the economy could have performed better. He said that the development needs to be more inclusive while announcing increased outlay on social sector schemes. "Total food inflation is down from 20.2 per cent last year to 9.3 per cent...
More »Turn focus to consumer pricing by Ila Patnaik
The major problem that the media is addressing these days is the consumer price index. This is going to be discussed during the budget session. The focus has to turn to consumer pricing. People also face policy problems because of their wage negotiations and inflationary expectations. Consumer prices escalate by 5 percent every month and that is the first issue that needs to be addressed and attended as of now....
More »Spike in food inflation a cause for concern, says Survey by Gargi Parsai
The sharp rise in food prices inflation will remain a major cause of concern as inflationary pressures on the domestic front are likely to be exacerbated by higher levels of global commodity prices, the Economic Survey has said. It also indicated that the political turmoil in the Middle East and the “easy money” policy being followed by developed nations trying to jump-start their own economies after the global recession of 2008-09...
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