Interest rate subsidy for export sector extended

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Thursday approved one percent interest rate subvention for housing loans up to Rs.10 lakh, and okayed the allocation of Rs.1,000 crore for the scheme. "The one percent subvention would be for the first 12 EMIs (equated monthly instalments) on loans up to Rs.10 lakh," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Union Government on Thursday announced a five percent increase in the dearness allowance for its employees and pensioners, with effect from July this year. The announcement will entail an outgo of about Rs 2,904 crore this fiscal.

August 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government should announce subsidies to the crisis-hit exporters in the forthcoming foreign trade policy to make India's exports sector more competitive, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has said. "Subsidies need to be extended to Indian exporters by substantially reducing excise and local levies and other export duties," Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said in a paper submitted to Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

August 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate at near 0 percent Wednesday and showed no signs of changing course as the US begins to emerge from a 20-month recession. The central bank in a statement pointed to signs that US economic activity was "leveling out" and said the financial sector had "continued to improve" in the last few weeks.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Finance Minister Pranab Minister on Monday presented the General Budget 2009-10 in the Parliament. The highlights of the General Budget 2009-10 are as follows: 1.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With the exports dipping for the second consecutive month in May, the allocation for the market development scheme for exporters has been increased 148 percent to Rs.124 crore, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting the union budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha Monday. The market development scheme provides support to exporters in developing new markets.

June 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Representatives of the ailing export sector sought a slew of sops including a Rs.5,000-crore market development fund when they met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and top officials Tuesday as part of pre-budget consultations. The exporters' wish-list, apart from the bailout package in the form of a market development fund, also includes elimination of the fringe benefit tax, income tax exemption, reduction of interest rates, and speedier insurance and service tax refunds.

May 9th, 2009 Czech central bank cuts interest rates to 1.5 pctPRAGUE — The Czech Republic's central bank has cut its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.5 percent to help the economy combat reccession. It is the lowest rate since the country came into existence after the split of former Czechoslovakia in 1993.

April 16th, 2009 DHAKA - The Bangladesh government will unveil a cash subsidy package ranging between Taka 25 billion and 30 billion ($357-427 million) to export-oriented industries hit by the global meltdown, a minister said. 'Only the affected exporters will be given bailout assistance from the package, and it may be Tk 2,500 crore to Tk 3,000 crore,' Commerce Minister Faruk Khan told media Wednesday.

March 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The auto sector has no scope for any further price reduction, according to TVS Motor chairman and managing director Venu Srinivasan, the newly-elected president of industry group Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). 'The auto sector is among the worst-hit sectors and the higher interest rate has further hit the profit margins of auto companies,' Srinivasan told reporters after taking over as CII chief Tuesday.

February 8th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Faced with the ire of farmers after a glut of potato crop in the state, the Punjab government Monday announced that 3,000 tonnes of potatoes would be exported to Middle East countries. The export of the potato crop will be in addition to the 200,000 tonnes of potatoes being sent to other states within the country like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

February 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A leading Indian garment exporters' lobby Thursday demanded sops like duty cuts and interest free loans to help them tide over a crisis that has seen thousands of layoffs. 'We really don't know what step we would take further without any special package for our industry,' said Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) chairman Rahul Vaid.

January 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The apparel sector will lose about one million (10 lakh) jobs by March because of slackening demand in the US and Europe and increasing input costs, the apex body of the garment export sector said Wednesday. 'Nearly five lakh jobs have been already lost since July 2008 because of the global recession and the sector will lose another five lakh jobs by March 2009,' Rakesh Vaid, chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), told reporters.

January 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nearly 10 million workers across management levels in the export sector may lose their jobs by March this year due to the global economic slowdown, a top official of an Indian exporters' body said here Tuesday. 'Owing to recession and high interest rates, 10 million jobs could be lost in the export sector in India between January and March 2009,' said A.

January 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian export sector will lose nearly 10 million jobs by March following cancelled orders and higher transaction costs, a top official of an Indian exporters' forum said here Tuesday. 'This year is already bad for exporters and the next fiscal is only going to be worse.