India could regain 8 to 9 per cent growth rate: PM

April 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Guwahati, Apr 19 (PTI) In the backdrop of a grave global financial crisis, India’s economic growth is expected to be in the range of 6.5-7 per cent in the current financial year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said. Singh said the economy grew by close to 7 per cent in 2008-2009 after registering an average expansion of 9 per cent in the previous four years.

Earlier in March, multilateral agency IMF has projected India’s growth to moderate to 5.25 per cent in 2009-10, while pegging it at 6.25 per cent in the past fiscal. The World Bank had also scaled down India’s economic growth rate forecast to a dismal four per cent for 2009-10.

It also said that the recovery could be in as late as 2010-11. However, India is still among the two fastest growing economies in the world.

Responding to questions on the global meltdown and its impact on India, the Prime Minister said the world is faced with a “grave” economic crisis that arose because of mishandling of the financial system by the major developed countries. PTI.
PTI

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Yen slips on short-term bets, Citi eyed

April 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

TOKYO (Reuters) – The yen slipped against the dollar and other majors on Friday as short-term traders pushed it down, but uncertainty about economic recovery prospects left the market struggling for momentum as it also awaited results from Citigroup (C.N).

The yen had risen against the greenback and commodity currencies on Thursday after China’s 6.1 percent economic growth rate disappointed many who had bet on a faster pace.

But it failed to maintain the gains into Friday, prompting short-term speculators to push the dollar up instead, triggering dollar buy orders at higher levels and taking the likes of the Australian and New Zealand dollar up with it.

Analysts said investors remain cautious of holding positions for very long, given uncertainty about the prospects for economic recovery in the United States and other big economies, which was reinforced by mixed U.S. data on jobless claims and housing starts on Thursday. As a result day-to-day trading was choppy.

“It is speculators and intraday trading which are running the market action,” said Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney.

“But if you take a step back, we are in a very wide range overall with a very modest bias toward risk appetite on a one-month timeframe.”

The dollar, which has climbed gradually against the yen since hitting a 13-year low in January, rose 0.3 percent to 99.65 yen on Friday, after breaching support from its 200-day moving average at 98.88 on Thursday but then not staying below it.

“The dollar/yen temporarily went lower than that level but failed to close below it – this one reason why the yen’s appreciation didn’t continue,” said Toru Umemoto, chief FX strategist Japan at Barclays Capital.

With trading short-term and chart-based, the Australian dollar rose 0.3 percent to 71.80 yen and edged up 0.1 percent to $0.7203 after sliding 1 percent on Thursday.

The euro firmed 0.1 percent to 131.05 yen but slipped 0.3 percent to $1.3149.

Wall Street closed higher, with better-than-expected JP Morgan (JPM.N) results adding to hopes of bank sector stabilization but the currency market was waiting to see earnings from Citigroup expected later in the day. .N

U.S. housing starts and building permits both fell in March while continued claims for jobless benefits rose to a record high in early April as the recession bit and added to the gloom.

But Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said the U.S. recession should end by mid-year, with growth slowly picking up in the following months.

(Editing by Kazunori Takada)

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Delhi to host National Conference of Housing/Urban Development Ministers today

January 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Jan 20 (ANI): Union Minister of State for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja will inaugurate a National Conference of Ministers of Housing/Urban Development and Municipal Administration here today.

The Ministry is organising a conference in order to discuss and deliberate the revival of the state housing boards, cooperative and group housing construction and also the issue of making available land for housing at affordable prices.

The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007 (NUHHP) adopts the goal of affordable housing for all, and seeks to promote multiple schemes and private-public partnerships in order to achieve it.

Between the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) effort and state sector schemes in some states, it is estimated that about two million houses may be constructed for the economically weaker sections of the populace by the end of the 11th Plan.

Given the housing shortage in the country, 98 per cent of which is in the EWS and LIG segment, it is estimated that 26.53 million houses would be required by the end of the 11th Plan. It is thus clear that much greater effort and a much larger programme for housing construction is required.

The high economic growth rate of the last few years has enabled the Central Government, in partnership with the State Governments and urban local bodies, to take up social housing under the (JNNURM).

Against the target of 1.5 million houses countrywide, projects for 1.2 million have been sanctioned, and an unprecedented Rs.23,000 crores already dedicated for house building and provision of basic municipal amenities to the urban poor.

The shortage of housing hits mainly the economically weak, low and even middle income groups. While states have started on a social housing programme, the magnitude of shortage – 26.53 million at the end of the Eleventh Plan – calls for a wider range of strategies and a much larger effort.

The Ministry has taken up the matter with states for making land available for affordable housing and reviving the state housing boards, which would contribute strongly towards revival of the economy, and in the process meet a felt need of the people. (ANI)

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Delhi to host National Conference of Housing/Urban Development Ministers tomorrow

January 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Jan 19 (ANI): Union Minister of State for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja will inaugurate a National Conference of Ministers of Housing/Urban Development and Municipal Administration here tomorrow.

The Ministry is organising a conference in order to discuss and deliberate the revival of the state housing boards, cooperative and group housing construction and also the issue of making available land for housing at affordable prices.

The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007 (NUHHP) adopts the goal of affordable housing for all, and seeks to promote multiple schemes and private-public partnerships in order to achieve it.

Between the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) effort and state sector schemes in some states, it is estimated that about two million houses may be constructed for the economically weaker sections of the populace by the end of the 11th Plan.

Given the housing shortage in the country, 98 per cent of which is in the EWS and LIG segment, it is estimated that 26.53 million houses would be required by the end of the 11th Plan. It is thus clear that much greater effort and a much larger programme for housing construction is required.

The high economic growth rate of the last few years has enabled the Central Government, in partnership with the State Governments and urban local bodies, to take up social housing under the (JNNURM).

Against the target of 1.5 million houses countrywide, projects for 1.2 million have been sanctioned, and an unprecedented Rs.23,000 crores already dedicated for house building and provision of basic municipal amenities to the urban poor.

The shortage of housing hits mainly the economically weak, low and even middle income groups. While states have started on a social housing programme, the magnitude of shortage – 26.53 million at the end of the Eleventh Plan – calls for a wider range of strategies and a much larger effort.

The Ministry has taken up the matter with states for making land available for affordable housing and reviving the state housing boards, which would contribute strongly towards revival of the economy, and in the process meet a felt need of the people. (ANI)

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