Business & Economy

World Bank predicts high growth year, cautions against burnout

What is India News Service, Thursday, 30 Sept 2004, 2200 hrs IST

In its World Economic Outlook (WEO), the International Monetary Fund has argued that unless events take an "awful turn," the world economy will enjoy one of its strongest years of growth this year.

"It is but natural then that the equilibrating forces bringing growth back to trend will come to play. Commodity prices are increasing, while central banks are slowly withdrawing the accommodative conditions that were put in place to deal with the recession. This is as it should be," says Dr Raghuram Rajan, Economic Counsellor and Director of IMF, in his foreword to the report.

"We always knew that the phenomenal growth of China and, to a lesser extent, India, would eventually weigh on global energy resources. But that future is now upon us. There are some obvious steps some countries can take to ensure that growth is sustainable, such as greater efforts at conservation and efficiency and a reduction on unnecessary impediments to exploration and production. There may also be a need to explore new ways of reducing energy-related risk in the world economy," Mr Rajan has said.

IMF projects 6.4% growth for India in 2004: The World Bank has projected a 6.7% growth in 2005, while slightly trimming its forecast for the current year to 6.4%.

Cabinet approves changes in Competition Act: The Competition Commission of India may soon become a reality with the proposed amendments to the Competition Act, 2002 clearing one more hurdle.

Centre supports Zee; Springing a surprise on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Union Government today supported Zee TV on the maintainability of its petition.

Rules eased for issue of fresh equity to foreign investors; Besides easing fresh equity rules, the government has further liberalised norms for conversion of foreign loans and preference shares into equity.

Centre issues special securities to bail out IDBI: The Government has issued special securities worth Rs. 9,000 crores for the creation of a `Stressed Assets Stabilisation Fund' to address the problem of bad loans extended by the Industrial Development Bank of India.

Lease breather for Tatas: Jharkhand High Court today ordered the state not to take any coercive action if Tata Steel pays Rs 5.41 crore in lieu of the money due for renewal of its lease.

Montek briefs PM on foreign experts' issue: Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan singh and is believed to have discussed ways to defuse the crisis over the inclusion of "foreign" experts in its consultative bodies.

Microsoft's new system to drive PC usage: Aimed at making computer more affordable, Microsoft today unveiled its low-cost Windows XP Starter Edition operating system in Hindi, specifically designed for first-time home PC users.

Etihad Airways launches India operations; Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), today announced the launch of its India operations. 

ONGC to get bonanza from high world oil prices:  Soaring world oil prices will give the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) a temporary bonanza as it is now getting import parity prices for domestic production of crude oil.

Overall:

World economy outlook looked bright: The World Bank predicted a fast growth year, but cautioned against resources burnout.

Government came out in support of Zee: The telecast rights row took an unexpected turn on Wednesday.

Microsoft launched entry-level computer: The system runs on Hindi software, and is meant specially for India.