India’s economy recovering, reforms vital: IMF

Friday, 13 March 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: India’s economy is recovering and its ability to withstand external shocks has improved, but growth is likely to fall short of government targets, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. In an annual report, the IMF forecast that Asia’s third-largest economy would grow by 7.5% in the 2015/16 fiscal year that starts on 1 April, up from 7.2% in the year now ending. That is less optimistic than the forecasts in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s annual budget, which foresees growth of up to 8.5% in 2015/16 – making India the world’s fastest-growing large economy ahead of China. “The Indian economy is reviving, helped by positive policy actions that have improved confidence and lower global oil prices,” the Washington-based lender said, adding: “To continue on this trend, India needs to revitalise the investment cycle and accelerate structural reforms.” Both the IMF and the government forecasts are based on new methods for calculating gross domestic product that have raised the reported growth rate but led to a slight downward revision in the size of India’s $ 2 trillion economy. The IMF’s mission chief for India, Paul Cashin, said India’s balance of payments position was comfortable thanks to a fall in gold imports and the price of oil. Investments in power and transport projects were starting to pick up. The IMF praised Modi’s government for backing inflation targeting as the main goal of monetary policy in a recent deal with Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan. Cashin said there would be room for the RBI, which has cut interest rates twice already this year, to ease policy further and still achieve its goal of bringing down consumer inflation to 6% in early 2016.

Mars Inc set to open first chocolate factory in India

Reuters: Mars Inc said on Wednesday it is on track to open its first chocolate plant in India, where its popular Snickers and Galaxy bars will be made to meet growing demand. Mars International India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mars Inc, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maharashtra government in Mumbai for a $160 million plant in Pune, Maharashtra. The “chocolate industry in India is growing at nearly 20 percent every year and we see this as a huge opportunity to expand our chocolate portfolio in the country in the coming years,” said MV Natarajan, general manager of Mars International India, in a release. Mars India currently imports chocolate and manufactures its Pedigree and Whiskas pet care products. U.S.-based Mars Inc is the third biggest confectionery business globally behind Nestle SA and Mondelez International, the maker of Cadbury, according to Euromonitor International.