India’s exports plunge by 34.57% in March

India’s exports plunged by a record 34.57 per cent in March due to a steep decline in shipments of leather, gems and jewellery and petroleum products, dragging the total exports in 2019-20 down to $314.31 billion, official data showed. Merchandise exports in March stood at $21.41 billion, down by 34.57 per cent compared to $32.72 billion in the same month last year. This is expected to be the steepest fall in monthly exports since 2008-09, when shipments dipped by 33.3 per cent in March 2009. Imports too contracted by 28.72 per cent to $31.16 billion. This is the steepest decline since November 2015, when imports declined by 30.26 per cent. Dip in exports and imports narrowed the trade deficit —  the difference between imports and exports — in March to $9.76 billion, the lowest in the last 13 months. It was $9.6 billion in February last year. For the full fiscal (2019-20), imports declined by 9.12 per cent to $467.19 billion, narrowing the trade deficit to $152.88 billion as against $184 billion in 2018-19.

Gold imports decline by 14% in India

Gold imports, which have a bearing on the country’s current account deficit (CAD), fell 14.23 per cent to $28.2 billion during 2019-20, according to commerce ministry data. Imports of the yellow metal stood at $32.91 billion in 2018-19. The decline in gold imports has helped in narrowing the country’s trade deficit to $152.88 billion during the last fiscal, as against $184 billion a year ago. Gold imports have been recording negative growth since December last year. India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of the jewellery industry. In volume terms, the country imports 800-900 tonnes of gold annually. To mitigate the negative impact of gold imports on trade deficit and CAD, the government increased the import duty on the metal to 12.5 per cent from 10 per cent. Industry experts claim that businesses in the sector are shifting their manufacturing bases to neighbouring countries due to the high duty.

Govt hikes foodgrain production target 

The agriculture ministry aims to increase foodgrain production by 6.35 million tonnes to record 298.3 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year riding high on hopes of a normal monsoon. The foodgrain output in the 2019-20 crop year (July-June) is estimated at an all-time high 291.95 million tonnes, as per the second advance estimates released by the ministry in February. “IMD has forecast the June to September southwest monsoon rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be normal. This augurs well for rain-fed kharif crops,” agriculture commissioner S.K. Malhotra. He said the sowing of kharif crops has already begun in some parts of the country. The ministry has set a target of 149.92 million tonnes of foodgrains production in the kharif (summer) season and 148.4 million tonne in the rabi (winter) season, taking the total foodgrain target to record 298.3 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year, he said.

Landslide victory for South Korea’s ruling party in elections

The ruling liberal party secured a resounding victory in South Korea’s parliamentary elections, which had the highest turnout in nearly three decades despite the coronavirus sickening thousands and forcing social distancing at polling places. The ruling Democratic Party and a satellite party it created to win proportional representative seats combined to win 180 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly, election officials said with vote-counting nearly complete. Meanwhile, conservatives suffered their worst showing in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area in years. The comfortable majority will likely embolden President Moon Jae-in’s government to pursue its key domestic and foreign objectives, such as reviving diplomacy with nuclear-armed rival North Korea, while it grapples with a historic public health crisis that is shuttering businesses and threatening livelihoods.

Govt may clear Rs 10,000 cr ‘Fund of Funds’ for MSMEs

A ‘Fund of Funds’ of Rs 10,000 crore will soon be approved by the government to buy up to 15 per cent equity in MSMEs with high credit rating that want to list on stock exchanges and raise money from the capital markets, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said. He also said a separate scheme was being formulated for credit rating to MSMEs based on their annual turnover, exports and GST payments, and that the National Small Industries Corporation or another government body will control the ‘Fund of Funds’. He said the government wants the Fund’s corpus to be utilised by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) having AAA rating. The AAA rating implies high credit worthiness. Gadkari said up to 15 per cent of the amount an AAA-rated MSME raises from the capital market will be contributed by the government  through the Fund as equity. The minister said he was expecting Cabinet clearance for the Fund soon and will implement it immediately upon approval.

Panel proposes institutional framework for valuers

A government-appointed committee of experts has proposed an institutional framework for valuers by way of setting up the National Institute of Valuers. The panel, headed by IBBI (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India) chairperson M.S. Sahoo, has also submitted the ‘Draft Valuers Bill, 2020’. The corporate affairs ministry sought comments on the Bill, which has recommended setting up of the institute. The panel was constituted by the ministry on August 30, 2019 to examine the need for an institutional framework for regulation and development of valuation profession. Based on a comprehensive study and analysis of all relevant issues and taking the inputs of key stakeholders, the committee has submitted its report to the government on March 31, 2020 along with Draft Valuers Bill, 2020, recommending to establish a National Institute of Valuers,” the ministry said. According to the committee, there should be enactment of an exclusive statute to provide for the establishment of the institute to protect the interests of users of valuation services in India and to promote the development of, and to regulate the profession of valuers and market for valuation services.

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