Wholesale inflation rises to 10.5% in April
May 17, 2021
Inflation for crude petroleum and natural gas, and mineral oils surges during the month
Wholesale inflation surged to double digit at 10.5 per cent in April. This is quiet contrary to retail inflation which dropped to 4.29 per cent in April, which is three months low. Experts feel that with latest number, possibility of any interest rate cut by Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has waned further. Wholesale rate of inflation was 7.39 per cent in March and negative 1.57 per cent in April last year.
“The annual rate of inflation in April 2021 is high primarily because of rise in prices of crude petroleum, mineral oils viz petrol, diesel etc, and manufactured products as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year,” a statement by the Commerce & Industry Ministry said on Monday. Wholesale inflation, based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI), is also known as factory or producers’ inflation. It shows prices of p
Centre temporarily eases local sourcing preference for public procurement of Covid-19 supplies
May 14, 2021
Public procurements are often riddled with large-scale corruption and inefficiency. To bring in transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement, which accounts for 20 per cent of the country’s GDP, the Commerce Ministry launched the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in 2017.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) said for formulations that are not manufactured in India, the minimum local content shall be 10 per cent in 2018-19 - File photo
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Public procurements are often riddled with large-scale corruption and inefficiency. To bring in transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement, which accounts for 20 per cent of the country’s GDP, the Commerce Ministry launched the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in 2017.
Goods export can hit $400 b in FY22: Goyal
May 11, 2021
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Assures exporters that there concerns related to export promotion schemes, inverted duties were being taken up with the Finance Ministry India’s goods exports may touch $400 billion in 2021-22 going by the export performance in FY21 and in April 2021, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said. A “large potential’’ exists in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, engineering and agro products.
“He (the Minister) said that performance of exports in April’21 and 2020-21 gives a hope that an ambitious target of $400 billion merchandise exports can be achieved this year. There is a large potential for enhancing exports in several sectors like pharmaceuticals, engineering, auto-component, fisheries and agro-products,” per an official release of the Commerce & Industry Ministry.
India must negotiate with caution
May 06, 2021
Negotiators must ensure that the scope, coverage, duration do not get diluted
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s statement supporting waiver of intellectual property (IP) protection for Covid-19 vaccines is a big boost to India and South Africa’s efforts to get their proposal accepted at the WTO. However, India has to negotiate with caution in the days ahead. “.We welcome US government supporting this initiative and joining 120 other countries working towards affordable Covid-19 vaccines,” Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted on Thursday.
“We are hopeful that with a consensus-based approach, the waiver can be approved quickly at the WTO,” as per an official statement from the Commerce & Industry Ministry.
Wholesale inflation jumps to over 8-year high to 7.4% in March
April 15, 2021
The sharp rise is attributed to crude oil and metal prices
Producers’ inflation, popularly known as Wholesale Inflation, surged to over 8 years high of 7.4 per cent in March, over 3 percentage points more than February.
On Monday, National Statistical Office (NSO) had released data for Consumer Price Index (CPI) which showed rate of retail inflation jumped to four months high of 5.52 per cent. Though, retail inflation data is primarily used in monetary policy decisions, increase in WPI will also impact policy review. With, both the inflation indices at high, any possibility of interest rate going down will be very unlikely. Earlier this month, RBI Governor led Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep policy rate unchanged and likely to continue with when it will meet again in June.