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EU trains guns on G-20 trade barriers
- The European Union (EU) has deplored the lack of progress in the reduction of trade barriers within the Group of 20 countries at a time when they have “a particular responsibility for maintaining trade openness” with their increasing economic weight.
- between October 2010 and September 1, 2011, 131 trade restrictive measures have been introduced by the EU's trading partners, taking the aggregate measures in vogue since the beginning of the crisis in 2008 to 424.
- The report covers 30 of the EU's main trading partners including the G-20 countries, besides Pakistan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Switzerland, Ukraine and Vietnam.
- Trade barriers as identified by the report range from import and export restrictions in the form of higher duties or lower export quotas applied at the border of a country, to so-called ‘behind-the-border' steps such as technical barriers to trade in the form of conformity assessment and certification requirements which are slapped in a stricter way on imported goods or which go beyond global practices.
- The European Union said the G20 Summit of Cannes (France) on November 3-4 marks “another opportunity for leaders to take stock of their two-fold pledge” taken at the inception of the crisis in 2008 which included (i) not to resort to trade restrictive measures during the economic and financial crisis and (ii) to rectify without delay any measures introduced.
- India, is trying to create incentives for its telecommunication equipment industry to develop, said the EU report, and India's agro-food products being subject to export duties with New Delhi prohibiting export of milk products, even as it hailed India for removal of export restrictions on cotton (raw and yarn) in August 2011.
PSBs extend home loan tenor
- A number of state-run banks, led by SBI, Central Bank, Syndicate Bank and Canara Bank, have decided to raise home loan tenors to 25 to 30 years or till the borrower touches 70 — well past the working age.
- Fearing more bad loans in the system as interest kept on rising following tight monetary policy being under taken by the RBI, the Finance Ministry had recently written to public sector banks (PSBs) to increase the loan tenor instead of increasing the equated monthly instalment amount.
- Generally, home loans are scheduled for 20 years and in some cases up to 25 years, if the borrower will not be retiring by then at 65.
Oil, gas blocks under NELP IX will be awarded by November end
- The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry is gearing up to award oil and gas exploration blocks under the ninth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) by next month end.
- The government had offered 34 oil and gas exploration blocks under the ninth round of NELP.
- India's crude oil production would rise marginally by 1.3 per cent to 38.19 millions tonnes in 2011-12 as higher output from Cairn India's Rajasthan fields offsets decline in old and maturing fields.
- Under eight rounds of NELP, production sharing contracts have been signed for 235 blocks and an investment of $15.88 billion has been made by Indian and foreign companies.
Foreign exchange reserves shoot up by $5.2 b to $317.5 b
- India's foreign exchange reserves shot up by a steep $5.269 billion to $317.5 billion during the week ended October 14
