Textiles and garment imports, as percentage of such exports, surged from just about 13% in FY14 to a record 25% in the first eight months of this fiscal. Similarly, at 1.7%, the share of textiles and garments in the country’s overall imports in the April-November period was the highest in recent memory. India’s textile and garment trade is witnessing an unusual trend: imports are rising at a brisk pace even as exports are falling. While the export slump is ascribed to a host of factors, including global demand slump and the continuing inability of Indian exporters to have the desired competitive edge in key markets, the double whammy that demonetisation and goods and services tax (GST) dealt to the unorganised sector, the backbone of the domestic textile and clothing industry, appears to have necessitated increased imports. Weavers, fabric processors, texturisers and garment units in key textile hubs have borne the brunt of the twin policy steps taken in quick succession, in what impacted domestic supplies significantly. Textiles and garment imports, as percentage of such exports, surged from just about 13% in FY14 to a record 25% in the first eight months of this fiscal. Similarly, at 1.7%, the share of textiles and garments in the country’s overall imports in the April-November period was the highest in recent memory. On the other hand, the labour-intensive sector’s share in the overall merchandise exports has been sliding consistently in recent years, having dropped from as much as 13.7% in FY16 to just 10.27% this fiscal (up to November), the lowest in at least a decade. In the April-November period, while textile and garment imports surged 18.6% y-o-y, albeit at a relatively low base, to $5.5 billion (despite a contraction in overall merchandise imports), exports plunged by 7.9% to $21.7 billion, showed the DGCIS data. Importantly, imports of cotton fabrics and made-ups jumped as much as 17.3% y-o-y to $396 million, even though India has been a major player of cotton-based textiles and garments. This suggests a Rs 6,600-crore package for garments exporters, announced in 2016, hasn’t helped much in turning the sector around, although industry executives argue the fall in outbound shipments would have been even sharper without the succour. The decline also underscores why the timely release of benefits worth thousands of crores, which is held up, to garment and made-up exporters under two major schemes – the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) and the Rebate of State and Central Taxes & Levies (RoSCTL) · by the government are critical, industry executives argue. While the MEIS gains have been held up since August, benefits under the RoSCTL, meant for compensating garment/made-up exporters for various state and Central government imposts, have never been extended since its introduction in March, exporters had told FE earlier. This has exacerbated a liquidity squeeze for the exporters, who typically factor in such incentives while firming up deals – and hurt their ability to honour fresh contracts on time ahead of Christmas, the most critical season for western apparel buyers, Ajay Sahai, director general and chief executive at exporters’ body FIEO, had told FE. Noted textiles sector expert DK Nair pitched for urgent government intervention to improve the “inherent competitiveness” of domestic manufacturing for exports to flourish, instead of just extending dole-outs. “Labour laws have to be made more flexible. Affordable and ample credit should be made available to even small players. Infrastructure reforms must be taken up on an urgent basis. Unless all these things are done, our export competitiveness will remain under severe pressure,” Nair said. Already, India has failed to take advantage of a slowdown in China’s textile and garment exports as also persisting global concerns about violations of labour norms in Bangladesh in recent years, while Vietnam has emerged as the largest beneficiary. Even Bangladesh has left India far behind in garment exports. Do you know What is Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), Finance Bill, Fiscal Policy in India, Expenditure Budget, Customs Duty? FE Knowledge Desk explains each of these and more in detail at Financial Express Explained. Also get Live BSE/NSE Stock Prices, latest NAV of Mutual Funds, Best equity funds, Top Gainers, Top Losers on Financial Express. Don’t forget to try our free Income Tax Calculator tool.
Source: Financial Express
New Delhi: Ahead of Budget 2020-21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met here with around 40 economists, industry heads, experts, bankers and entrepreneurs where he addressed them on India''s target of achieving a $5 trillion economy, according to official sources. The meeting discussed ways of boosting growth and job creation, apart from a host of other issues raised by the participants, including investment climate, credit growth and structural reforms. The meeting, seen as a pre-Budget discussion, is expected to lead to the incorporation of some of the suggestions in the Finance Minister''s presentation on February 1, sources said. Modi has already met industry captains recently to seek their suggestions. "The Prime Minister addressed the gathering of industry, economists, experts and entrepreneurs on the $5 trillion dollar target and their role in helping the economy achieve it. The meeting discussed the consumption slowdown, investment climate , exports, credit growth, governance of PSBs (public sector banks), asset monetisation, real estate, external commercial borrowings, the MGNREGA rural emplyment scheme, textiles , start-ups and cluster developmentm" among others", one source said. Another source said some participants sought lower income taxes to boost consumption. "The PM took suggestions on boosting consumption and generating demand in economy. There were some short-term and long-term suggestions as well. The government will consider the structural reform proposals, some of the suggestions may make it into the Budget," he said. Modi welcomed the criticisms of the meeting participants and said it was a "free and frank" discussion, he added. A wide range of industry sectors were present at the Prime Minister''s meeting, including auto, apparel, education, analytics, travel, private equity, venture capital, rating agencies, health, real estate and domestic private banks. All the Secretaries in the Finance Ministry were present at the meeting, besides the Commerce Secretary, Cabinet secretary, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and the Principal Advisor. The Ministers present at the meeting were Home Minister Amit Shah, Commerce minister Piyush Goyal, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. The sources said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman could not be present at the meeting owing to party work assigned to her. Others present included Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar and Chief Executive Amitabh Kant, Prime Minister''s Economic Advisory Council Chairman Bibek Debroy, Punjab and Sind Bank non-executive Chairman Charanjit Singh Sanjay Nair, and the Bandhan Bank CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh. The economists at the meeting included Arjun G. Nagarajan, Farazana Afridi, Illa Patnaik, Laveesh Bhandari, Pranjul Bhandari and Sachidanad Shukla, among others. As economic growth slips for lack of demand and consumption, global agencies and the National Statistical Office (NSO) itself have scaled down the current fiscal''s GDP projections to an 11-year low of 5 per cent, mainly due to poor showing by the manufacturing and construction sectors. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also lowered its growth estimate to 5 per cent. On Thursday, the World Bank too lowered its India GDP growth projection to 5 per cent. As per the official advance estimates for 2019-20, manufacturing sector output growth will decelerate to 2 per cent, down from 6.9 per cent in the previous fiscal. Likewise, the construction sector growth is estimated at 3.2 per cent, as against 8.7 per cent in 2018-19. The previous low in economic growth was recorded at 3.1 per cent in 2008-09. The dismal performance of the current fiscal was anticipated as the gross domestic product (GDP) growth registered in the first quarter was 5 per cent and 4.5 per cent in the subsequent one.
Source: Outlook India
New Delhi: The commerce and industry ministry on Thursday held a meeting with special economic zone (SEZ) players and discussed ways to further promote growth of the sector, an official said. The meeting took up certain suggestions from Bharat ForgeNSE 2.57 % Chairman Baba Kalyani-led committee on SEZ that are not yet implemented, the official said. One of the members of this committee, Srikanth Badiga, said issues related to further improving ease of doing business for these zones were also discussed. The industry demand to extend the direct tax incentives to SEZ units beyond March 31 also figured in the meeting. In the Budget 2016-17, the government had stated that income tax benefits to new SEZ units would be available to only those units that commence activity before March 31, 2020. Units in SEZs enjoy 100 per cent income tax exemption on export income for the first five years, 50 per cent for the next five years thereafter and 50 per cent of the ploughed-back export profit for another five years. SEZs, which emerged as major export hubs in the country, started losing their sheen after the imposition of Minimum Alternate Tax and introduction of sunset clause, according to the industry. Exports from these zones stood at over Rs 7 lakh crore in 2018-19.
Source: Economic Times
With both sides "declaring victory and going home”, the first phase of the US-Iran standoff triggered by Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani’s assassination last Friday appears to have been defused. It is perhaps a good time to assess the likely impact of the crisis on Indian economy. The emergent picture, though fuzzy, nevertheless provides definitive indications. The global economic turmoil that peaked during the first two business days following the last Friday incident, inflicted the following collateral consequences on India’s economy: The BSE Sensex fell by nearly 2%, resulting in erosion of investments worth Rs 3 lakh crore, or nearly $42 billion. Nearly 5% rise in crude prices pushed our annual import bill by nearly $5.7 billion. The 1% decline in the value of Indian rupee against the US dollar further raised our annual oil import bill by over Rs 112 billion, or $1.6 billion. A 2% surge in gold prices pushed cost of annual gold imports by over $660 million. India is the world’s second largest importer having imported gold worth over $33 billion in FY19. In addition to these, we also need to factor in other tangible but less real-time quantifiable setbacks such as loss of expatriate remittances from the Gulf, disruption in our exports to this region, withdrawal of investments from India and other emerging markets, and higher political risk premium on logistics and air travel.The total impact of the Soleimani assassination on Indian economy at this stage can thus be conservatively put at a ball-park figure of $50 billion, or nearly 2% of India’s GDP. This bill could have been manifold higher if the various worse case scenarios were played out. In such eventuality, not only each of the aforementioned factors could worsen, but additional economic pain would come from the loss of expatriate jobs, their repatriation and resettlement. The situation would have been a déjà vu of 1990-91 Gulf War crisis, which sent Indian economy into a tailspin, forcing us, for the only time, to pledge our gold reserves to avoid a sovereign default. Coincidentally, then too, Indian economy was facing a twin balance sheet problem, but the Gulf had only a third of Indian expatriates it currently hosts. The impact assessment is admittedly empirical, and the figures are prone to change as the situation evolves. Some of the damages, by nature, are reversible. Stock markets, crude and gold indicators are already on the mend, for example. While some of our economic exposure is due to other factors including the overarching globalisation of the Indian economy, there is no getting away from a fundamental conclusion: India, arguably, has become the world’s most exposed major economy to any turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This exposure is hinged, in the main, on three vital economic linkages: hydrocarbons where we, the world’s third largest importer, depend on the region for over half of our total needs worth $112 billion (in 2018-19); more than eight million expatriates in the Gulf region remit more than $40 billion annually; and, commodity trade, which in FY19 stood at $188 billion, or 23% of our global commerce, with our exports at over $63 billion, or nearly a fifth of our global figure. The above narrative is not to imply that our extreme exposure to the Middle East is a one way street. On the contrary, many Indian products, services and investments have a sellers’ market in various parts of MENA. For instance, Indian automobiles, food products, textiles, jewellery, handicrafts, etc. have niche markets in the region. Till recently, Maruti counted Algeria to be its top export market. Thanks to strong Indian footprint in Dubai’s real estate, our investments in the UAE are actually higher than the UAE’s in India. Also, Gulf preference for Indian professionals is well known. Given the strong Indo-MENA economic symbiosis and potential thereof, it cannot be left to a laissez-faire approach. We need to manage its course in a proactive manner that is effective and forward-looking. To this end, we should put in place an early warning mechanism to monitor the regional developments with economic impact for us. A synergetic public-private partnership in various sectors to leverage the emerging economic opportunities is also called for. We should foster tieups with potential partners – both within and outside the region – to collaborate on strategic economic issues. In fact, much of the international political posturing in the region is focused on gaining the economic advantage. If looked carefully in granular fashion, the ongoing developments in the MENA region have both opportunities and challenges for us. According to a BP projection, India would be the biggest contributor to the global growth in consumption for hydrocarbons during next two decades. This possibility should be leveraged more effectively to set up strategic joint venture projects in this sector. Over the long-term horizon, the conflict raging in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, etc. are likely to wind down and these countries would be rebuilt – creating huge opportunities for Indian project exporters, provided G2G (government-to-government) funding is ensured. The pent-up demand for economic growth in most populated countries of the region, such as Iran, Egypt, Algeria and Sudan would be eventually released – creating vast opportunities for our stakeholders. The recently discovered enormous offshore gas-field in eastern Mediterranean is already looking for markets – and India’s LNG demand is destined to grow the fastest. Perhaps equally important is the amelioration of politico-economic disconnect and inequity that lies at the heart of ongoing Arab Spring phenomenon in Algeria, Sudan, Iraq and Lebanon. India’s seven decades of experience in creating credible political and economic institutions in a multi-ethnic, inclusive developing society can be useful. All that we need is to abandon our traditional penchant for either prevarication or minimalism, identify and focus on emerging opportunities in this extended neighbourhood, and go for them. Even otherwise, the bills from MENA region would keep coming and getting bigger all the time.
Source: Economic Times
NEW DELHI: Free trade agreements with Australia, Canada, and the European Union will help boost the country's textile exports, an apparel export promotion body said on Thursday. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel said the government should pursue free trade agreements (FTAs) with these countries as they hold huge potential for India's exports. "India should do comprehensive FTAs with Australia, Canada, the UK and the EU. Once we get these pacts done, the sector would not require hand holding from the government," he said. Sakthivel said currently Indian textile exporters have to pay about 10 per cent customs duty in these countries. "FTAs will help in significantly reducing or eliminating these duties, which will help exporters to increase their shipments," he told PTI. Currently, the European Union (EU) accounts for 45 per cent of India's total textile exports. On the other hand, Canada and Australia account for only 2-3 per cent, he added. The chairman said India should also look at such pacts with the UK after Brexit. India is already negotiating agreements with both Australia and Canada, but the talks are going at a slow pace. Similarly, negotiations with the EU are stalled since May 2013. Both the sides are working to resume the talks soon. Under an FTA, two or more trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on maximum number of goods traded between them. They also liberalise norms to increase trade in services and boost investments. Further, Sakthivel urged the government to announce support measures for the sector in the forthcoming Budget to increase exports as it faces certain challenges at liquidity front. India's apparel exports sector is facing tough competition from Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia. The country's apparel exports stand at USD 17 billion, while Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia ship apparel worth USD 38 billion, USD 27 billion and USD 12 billion, respectively. The textile sector employs about 360 lakh people directly and 180 lakh indirectly.
Source: Economic Times
Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday appreciated by 48 paise to close at 71.21 against the US dollar as investors cheered easing tensions between the US and Iran. Besides, a strengthening domestic equity market supported the rupee, dealers said. At the foreign bank exchange, the domestic unit opened strong at 71.44 per dollar as against the previous day's close of 71.70. During the day, it traded in the range of 71.52 and 71.17 to the US currency. "Rupee traded in the range of 71.52-71.17 after a strong gap up opening on the back of positive cues from the US and Iran as both hinted at want to be away from war with each other. Rupee surges 48 paise to close at 71.21 as investors cheer on easing tensions between US, Iran "Overnight strong fall in crude prices gave rupee the strength and during the day it kept taking support near 71.60. The levels of 71.65-71.85 shall keep acting as a crucial barrier for USD/INR pair, whereas 71.45-71.25 as supports in coming sessions," said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities. On the equities front, the BSE Sensex opened on a strong footing and maintained its momentum throughout the session. It finally closed at 41,452.35, up 634.61 points, or 1.55 percent. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 190.55 points, or 1.58 percent, to 12,215.90. Anxiety over potential US-Iran conflict eased on Wednesday after President Donald Trump indicated he would not retaliate against Iran's missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing American troops. Meanwhile, crude benchmark Brent was trading 0.14 percent higher at $65.53 per barrel. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.12 percent to 97.41. Foreign investors pulled out Rs 431.11 crore from domestic equities on a net basis on Thursday, provisional data showed.
Source Financial Express
You may now be able to start a new business in five days with minimal processes. The government is set to slash the requirements & time taken for starting a new business from 10 process and 18 days to five processes and as many days. Ten key services, including name reservation, incorporation as well as registration for various taxes such as goods and services tax, will soon be available via two forms instead of multiple individual ones at present. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs will in a month unveil the two new forms — ‘Spice Plus’ and ‘Agile Pro’ — which will replace six forms currently required to avail of these services, a government official said. These two forms will provide access to GSTIN, PAN, TAN, ESIC, EPFO, DIN, bank accounts and professional tax. “The new forms will be web-based and much easier to use. The Spice Plus (incorporation form) will allow you to apply for name and incorporation in the same form besides other paservices,” the official said. Businesses will now have to register with the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) at the time of incorporation, the official said. Inclusion of director identification number (DIN) and registration for professional tax along with registrations of permanent account number (PAN), tax deduction and collection account number (TAN) and GST identification number (GSTIN) at the time of incorporation would greatly improve the ease of setting up a business. World Bank’s latest Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) report has measured the number of days required to set up a business in India at 18, and the number of processes at 10. On the World Bank’s list, India is ranked 136th out of 190 economies in the category of ease of starting a business. Improving ease of doing business has been a key agenda of the government, with India climbing 14 ranks to 63rd in the latest rankings. The official said the ministries of corporate affairs, finance and labour, as well as the state government of Maharashtra had coordinated to bring about this reform. The government had also tied up with eight banks to help newly registered businesses apply for bank accounts at the time of incorporation, the official said.
Source: Economic Times
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1019.90 |
USD/Ton |
0.50% |
1/10/2020 |
|
VSF |
1363.70 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
ASF |
2013.90 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
Polyester POY |
1038.60 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2200.91 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
40D Spandex |
4128.50 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
Nylon POY |
2028.29 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
2200.91 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1186.76 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2431.07 |
USD/Ton |
0.60% |
1/10/2020 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
5394.38 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1287.46 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2006.71 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1639.89 |
USD/Ton |
0.44% |
1/10/2020 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2416.68 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2172.14 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1941.98 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
1783.74 |
USD/Ton |
0.81% |
1/10/2020 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2215.29 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.27 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.97 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.54 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.67 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/10/2020 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14385 USD dtd. 10/01/2020). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary Secretary for Commerce Aliya Hamza Malik informed the National Assembly that the country's exports had enhanced by 4.79 percent during the first five months of current fiscal year. Responding to a question during question hour, she said that import of the country had decreased by about 17 percent, and country's trade deficit was reduced by 35 percent which was a huge success. She said in order to promote exports to new markets, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) was undertaking various export promotional activities through trade exhibitions and delegations. She said that Commerce Division had been closely working with the industry to develop a comprehensive plan to increase their competitiveness. The commerce division in consultation with the stakeholders was in process of formulating the 3rd textiles policy. Advisor to the prime minister on commerce and textile had already constituted a Task Force for formulation of Textiles Policy. The textiles policy would provide a consistent policy regime for next five years and will take into account all the aspects of textiles value chain and would provide cogent proposals for resolving the chronic issues faced by the industry. She said that textile industry had not been facing any crisis. She said that present government had extended unprecedented facilitations to the textiles value chain resulting in exponential growth in terms of value and quantities of value added products during first five months of the current financial year.
Source: Brecorder
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged the country’s textiles sector to diversify products and expand the market for boosting the export income. ‘I think it’s very necessary to diversify textile products in keeping with the demand on the world market,’ she said while inaugurating National Textile Day 2019 and the Multipurpose Textile Fair at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital. She simultaneously asked the related entrepreneurs to add value to their existing products and ‘explore new markets to raise the country’s export income’. Hasina said that fashions, designs and colours of apparel items on the global market were constantly changing, requiring diversification of the products in line with buyers’ demands. She said that Bangladesh should undertake initiatives on its own to find new markets and assess the demand for fashion and designs of apparel items on the markets. Hasina also asked the public and private sectors to work hand in hand to boost the demand for Bangladeshi products on the world market. She said that though Bangladesh held the second position in textile export in the world, the reality was that the country’s share on the world market was only 6.40 per cent. ‘The garment manufacturers and others concerned will have to work hard to increase the demand for our products on the world market … they’ve to formulate short, medium and long term plans for achieving this,’ she said, assuring that her government would extend all sorts of cooperation to this. Noting that Bangladesh sells garment items at very low prices, the prime minister urged the businesspersons to take initiative so that the international buyers increased the prices of RMG products at least to some extent. Hasina said, ‘As competition prevails among the apparel manufacturers on the world market, I cannot say whether our exporters bargain with buyers or not. But I think they should do it and tell the buyers and concerned countries.’ She went onto say: ‘If the buyers raise the price of every garment item by at least one dollar, we could develop this sector further.’ In this connection, she said that she always raises the issue of paying more prices for Bangladeshi garments when she visits countries who import Bangladeshi RMG products. Pointing out that the textile sector is playing a great role in Bangladesh’s economy, the prime minister said that her government has formulated the Textile Policy, 2017 and the Textile Act, 2018 to fulfil the local demand for clothes and enhance exports. ‘Our government has strengthened this sector by providing the necessary legal support and incentives and presently, four textile sectors are getting the maximum four per cent incentive,’ she said. To accelerate RMG export, the government has declared one per cent incentive for rest of the textile sectors from this year, she said, adding that an additional Tk 2,825 crore has been sanctioned in the current budget. The prime minister said that the Textiles Directorate has been upgraded to Textiles Department and it has been vested with the duty of sponsoring authority of the textiles sector by undertaking multidimensional planning. Hasina said that ‘one stop service’ has been introduced at the Textiles Department to ensure speedy services while all kinds of registrations have been executed online. As a result, she said, the entrepreneurs of textiles and garments sectors are getting their required services easily and quickly. The prime minister said that it was necessary to create efficient manpower in the textiles sector and the Ministry of Textiles and Jute is working on it. ‘Simultaneously, non-government and private educational institutions are also contributing to building skilled manpower in the textiles sector,’ she said. The prime minister said: ‘My government has brought down the poverty rate to 20.5 per cent and our target is to cut down the rate further… We want to establish Bangladesh as a developed and prosperous country and I have the firm belief that we can achieve the goal.’ ‘For this, we have to work hard for development in all fields, including industrialisation, trade and commerce,’ she added. Hasina said that the countdown to observance of founder president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary will begin on Friday. ‘We’ll celebrate Mujib Barsho in 2020-2021 and the golden jubilee of independence next year and we want to build a hunger and poverty-free Sonar Bangladesh by this time,’ she said. The Ministry of Textiles and Jute arranged the function with textiles and jute minister Golam Dastagir Gazi in the chair. The theme of the day is ‘Globalisation of the textiles sector - sustainable development’. Alhough National Textiles Day was observed for the first time in the country on December 4 last year, the main programme was arranged on Thursday. Commerce minister Tipu Munshi, state minister for labour and employment Monnujan Sufian, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on textiles and jute ministry Mirza Azam and ministry secretary Lokman Hossain Mian also spoke on the occasion. At the function, the prime minister handed over awards to nine organisations and business enterprises for their outstanding contributions to the development of the textiles sector. Later, she opened the ‘Multipurpose Textile Fair’ by cutting a ribbon and visited different stalls.
Source Newage Business
The Ministry of Trade and Industry of Ethiopia said during the first five months of the budget year started July 8, 2019, the country has earned a total of $1.12 billion from export of different agricultural commodities, manufactured goods and minerals. Compared to the same period last budget year, the foreign currency Ethiopia has got from export is more by $100.7 million, according to the report of the Ministry. The export product also includes electric power sold to neighboring countries, mainly Djibouti. The major export items of Ethiopia include, coffee, textiles, flower, khat (the stimulant plant), cereals, fruits, vegetables, meat, natural gum, live animals (cattle) tea, honey, wax, leather and leather products and tantalum. Different kinds of spices, various chemicals and constructions inputs such as marble, steel, oil seeds, fish and gold are also among the export items of Ethiopia. Meanwhile, export of gold has been declining over the past few year because the political crisis the country has been going through, which forced the major gold producer, MIDROC Gold owned by the Ethiopian-born Saudi tycoon Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi to shut down its operations. As a result of the political crisis and poor performance of the export sector, Ethiopia’s foreign currency earnings from export commodities has been declining over the past year.
Source: News Business
The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) recently expressed his disappointment over the performance of the Federal Board of Revenue's newly-launched Fully Automated Sales Tax e-Refund (FASTER) system as the commitment of the government to release exporters' refunds within 72 hours is yet to be fulfilled. PRGMEA chairman Chairman Sohail Sheikh urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to immediately implement his directives as exporters are facing a severe liquidity crunch due to delay in payment of sales tax refunds despite the launch of the new system, according to Pakistani media reports. Timely payment of refund claims is still a major issue and needs resolution on high priority, he said. Despite the FBR commitment that sales tax refunds will be paid within 72 hours of submission of claims, billions of rupees of exporters are stuck on account of sales tax refunds, he said. Initially, exporters faced lots of hardship in filing their sales tax returns for getting refund as the FASTER system never worked because of flaws in ‘annexure H’ of the system, he added.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
The total trade of yarn of jute and other bast fibres is anticipated to move down to $441.11 million in 2022 with a drop of 8.08 per cent from 2019, according to Fibre2Fashion's market analysis tool TexPro. The global export of yarn of jute and other bast fibres was $290.83 million in 2017, which lowered by 9.55 per cent to $263.05 million in 2019. Total exports decreased by 9.93 per cent in 2019 over the previous year and is expected to reach $226.27 million in 2022 with a down of 13.98 per cent from 2019. The global import of yarn of jute and other bast fibres was $218.18 million in 2017, which curbed by 0.61 per cent to $216.83 million in 2019. Total imports crushed by 0.91 per cent in 2019 over the previous year and is expected to cut by 0.92 per cent to $214.84 million in 2022 from 2019. UK ($38.05 million), France ($29.28 million), Turkey ($25.38 million), China ($25.34 million), US ($21.57 million) and Italy ($21.57 million) were the key exporters of yarn of jute and other bast fibres across the globe in 2019, together comprising 61.28 per cent of total export. These were followed by Canada ($14.67 million), Germany ($12.48 million) and Denmark ($11.14 million). From 2014 to 2019, the most notable rate of growth in terms of export, amongst the main exporting countries, was attained by US (124.61 per cent), Turkey (109.36 per cent) and UK (40.42 per cent). US ($40.05 million), Germany ($17.58 million), Netherlands ($15.36 million), China ($13.45 million) and UK ($12.93 million) were the key importers of yarn of jute and other bast fibres across the globe in 2019, together comprising 45.83 per cent of total import. These were distantly followed by Guatemala ($9.78 million), Indonesia ($9.26 million), Spain ($7.93 million) and France ($6.69 million). From 2014 to 2019, the most notable rate of growth in terms of import, amongst the main importing countries, was attained by China (1376.69 per cent) and Netherlands (607.66 per cent).
Source: Fibre2Fashion
WASHINGTON: India's growth rate is projected to decelerate to five per cent in 2019-20 amid enduring financial sector issues, according to a World Bank report, which said the country's GDP was likely to recover to 5.8 per cent in the following financial year. India's GDP growth is seen dipping to an 11-year low of 5 per cent in the current fiscal, mainly due to poor showing by manufacturing and construction sectors, government data showed on Tuesday. "In India, where weakness in credit from non-bank financial companies is expected to linger, growth is projected to slow to five per cent in fiscal year 2019/20, which ends March 31 and recover to 5.8 per cent the following fiscal year," the Bank said in its latest edition of the Global Economic Prospects on Wednesday. It said tighter credit conditions in the non-banking sector are contributing to a substantial weakening of the domestic demand in India. "In India, activity was constrained by insufficient credit availability, as well as by subdued private consumption," the report stated. The Bank said the regional growth in South Asia is expected to pick up gradually, to six per cent in 2022, on the assumption of a modest rebound in domestic demand. "Growth in India is projected to decelerate to five per cent in FY(financial year) 2019/20 amid enduring financial sector issues," the WB report said. It said key risks to the outlook include a sharper-than-expected slowdown in major economies, a re-escalation of regional geopolitical tensions, and a setback in reforms to address impaired balance sheets in the financial and corporate sectors. In India, economic activity slowed substantially in 2019, with the deceleration most pronounced in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, whereas government-related services sub-sectors received significant support from public spending, the Bank said. GDP growth decelerated to five per cent and 4.5 per cent in the April-June and July-September quarters of 2019, respectively, the lowest readings since 2013, it said. Sharp slowdowns in household consumption and investment onset, the rise in government spending. High-frequency data suggest that activity continued to be weak for the rest of 2019, the Bank said. The Bank, in the report, praised India's efforts to gradually eliminate subsidies on LPG. In India, starting in 2012, the government reformed its subsidy regime for liquified petroleum gas (LPG). LPG subsidies to households encouraged the formation of black markets where subsidised LPG distributed to households was diverted to the commercial sector. The government gradually increased the price of LPG for households while implementing a large-scale targeted cash transfer mechanism, it said. "The programme successfully eliminated distortions in the LPG market, with limited adverse consequences for the poor, and the fiscal savings obtained from the reduction in subsidies fully offset the costs of the targeted cash transfer," the report stated. In its report, the Bank said the global economic growth is forecast to edge up to 2.5 per cent in 2020 as investment and trade gradually recover from last year's significant weakness but downward risks persist. America's growth is forecast to slow to 1.8 per cent this year, reflecting the negative impact of earlier tariff increases and elevated uncertainty. Euro Area growth is projected to slip to a downwardly revised one per cent in 2020 amid weak industrial activity, it said. The growth rate for Bangladesh has been projected to remain above seven per cent through the forecast horizon and, in Pakistan, it is projected to languish at three per cent or less through 2020 as macroeconomic stabilisation efforts weigh on economic activity, the Bank said. "With the growth in emerging and developing economies likely to remain slow, policymakers should seize the opportunity to undertake structural reforms that boost broad-based growth, which is essential to poverty reduction," the World Bank Group Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, said. "Steps to improve the business climate, the rule of law, debt management, and productivity can help achieve sustained growth," Pazarbasioglu said.
Source: Economic Times
