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OK,now l know what you want:Its hard to get more offtopic than this....
Your intention to troll is obvious....
NEW DELHI--India's wholesale inflation slowed to below 6% for the first time since November 2009, comforting authorities and brightening prospects for an interest-rate cut by the central bank next month.
The wholesale price index -- the country's main inflation gauge -- rose 5.96% from a year earlier in March compared with 6.84% in the previous month, government data showed Monday. The reading was significantly lower than the median estimate for a 6.30% increase in a poll of 13 economists.
The data would add to optimism that price pressures are easing steadily, likely providing the central bank the headroom to shift attention to reviving growth in an economy expanding at its weakest pace in a decade.
The reading is "likely to provide the green light" for the Reserve Bank of India to cut its policy lending rate by a quarter percentage point next month, said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, director of Asian Economics at Credit Suisse CSGN.VX +0.61% .
In March, the central bank cut its lending rate by a quarter percentage point, which was its second rate reduction in 2013.
But the RBI also cautioned that it had little room for further rate reductions as price pressures were still high. It wants to bring inflation down to about 5%.
The central bank's next policy meeting is on May 3.
Industry lobby groups have been clamoring for more cuts, arguing these would help encourage businesses revive their investment plans necessary to stimulate growth.
"The RBI needs to work in tandem with the government in boosting growth by easing interest rates by at least 100 basis points [one percentage point] in the current fiscal [year]," S. Gopalakrishnan, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry, said at a conference Monday.
Since September, the government has taken several measures such as reducing fuel subsidies, easing foreign investment restrictions and fast-tracking industrial projects to improve economic conditions. The government has also favored rate cuts, but the RBI hasn't always toed the line.
India's economy is projected to have grown 5% in the last fiscal year ended March 31, far slower than its 9% expansion just before the 2008 financial crisis. Data Friday showed industrial output grew a mere 0.6% from a year earlier in February, underscoring the economic slowdown.
Elevated consumer inflation has also constrained the RBI from making sharp rate moves. But, data Friday alleviated some of those concerns.
Consumer inflation slowed to 10.39% in March from 10.91% in February. That raised hopes retail prices, which have risen in recent months despite easing wholesale prices, may now be on their way down.
Also, Monday's data showed core inflation -- a closely tracked measure that strips out volatile food and fuel items -- eased to 3.48% from 3.78%. This would further comfort the central bank. The RBI has been battling high inflation for more than three years.
Economists say subdued demand, which reflects the weak state of the economy, has led to the fall in the core inflation rate. This has also helped cool headline inflation from above 8% levels as recently as in September.
However, concerns of intermittent spikes in inflation still remain due to regular increases in state-set fuel prices. Structural problems in India's farm distribution chain are also contributing to high food prices.
Economists are now watching for the June-September monsoon rainfall.
India receives about 70% of the annual rainfall during the four-month period. Monsoon rains are crucial for the farm sector as more than 60% of India's farmland is rainfed. According to preliminary government forecasts, the country is expected to receive normal rainfall this year and this could cool food prices.
Data Monday showed prices of primary articles rose 7.6% from a year earlier, slower than the previous month's 9.7% increase. Primary articles include food and minerals, and have a 20% weight in the index.
Food inflation eased to 8.7% in March from 11.4% in February.
The government meanwhile revised sharply January's inflation reading to 7.31% from the previously reported 6.62%, raising worries that the March print could also be changed later.
Source: WSJ : India Inflation Slows to Below 6% - WSJ.com
NEW DELHI: Another door has opened for two of India's biggest exports, automobiles and pharmaceuticals, with Iran agreeing to source these from here to help New Delhi settle payment for oil imports in rupees.
The two countries had agreed to settle bilateral trade in rupees after it became difficult for India to route payments to Iran because of the sanctions. However, the mechanism failed to take off as the trade was heavily in favour of Iran - India exported goods worth $3.36 billion in 2012-13 while its imports were $ 11.6 billion -- prompting New Delhi to look for more items to sell to the country.
"We visited Iran and suggested sectors they could look at including engineering, power, steel, auto and pharma. They are keen on automobile and pharma for now," said a commerce ministry official, adding that the country did not appear keen on a larger trade agreement.
(Reuters) - Iran has offered insurance for Indian refiners to boost its crude sales, industry sources said on Monday, as the Islamic nation looks to counter a fall in revenues hit by tough western sanctions.
U.S. and European Union sanctions aimed at choking the flow of oil money into Iran and forcing Tehran to negotiate curbing its controversial nuclear programme slashed its crude exports in half in 2012, costing it as much as $5 billion a month.
The sanctions have forced refiners in India, Iran's second-largest oil buyer, to reduce imports because Indian insurers have said they can no longer cover refineries that process Iranian crude.
"They (Iran) said they can provide insurance for our refineries," said one of the sources, after a meeting between Indian Oil Minister Veerappa Moily with his Iranian counterpart Rostam Qasemi.
"We had a fruitful meeting...Our meetings are about the energy sector," Qasemi told reporters, without elaborating.
Qasemi is on a three-day visit to India from Sunday to woo New Delhi for stepping up oil imports and invest in the OPEC-member's oil and gas sector.
Two refiners - Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL.NS), and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL.NS) - halted Iranian oil purchases in April due to insurance problems.
India cut imports of Iranian oil by 26.5 percent in the fiscal year which ended March 31, and had reduced shipments by 56.5 percent in April, according to data from trade sources.
Sources said Qasemi also offered a production-sharing contract to Indian firms to develop the Farzad B gas field in the Farsi block and asked New Delhi to boost exports to Tehran to fix a trade imbalance.
Iran also offered to ship gas to India in liquefied form via Oman, they said. Iran does not have the technology to liquefy gas so they have asked India to use Oman for liquefying the gas for further supplies to New Delhi, said a second source.
"Both of us expressed our desire to continue with business with each other. We need to nurture business with them...there are problems which will be sorted out," said Moily after the meeting.
India has asked Iran to participate in tenders seeking oil supplies for its strategic storage, they said. India aims to build its strategic oil storage at two places with a combined capacity of 18.55 million barrels in the first quarter of 2014.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by Jason Neely)
(Reuters) - Essar Energy Plc(ESSR.L) on Tuesday signed a $1 billion financial cooperation agreement with the China Development Bank and PetroChina International Co. Ltd., according to a document seen by Reuters.
Detail of the deal - signed in Mumbai during a visit by the Chinese premier - were not immediately known.
Sources on Monday told Reuters that the debt would be backed by a supply of refined fuels by Essar Oil (ESRO.NS), a subsidiary of Essar Energy, to PetroChina.