1.   

P Chidambaram hints at sops to boost growth

Finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday indicated that the government will announce sops for certain sectors when he responds to the Budget discussion in Parliament. "Budget making is a continuous process. When I reply to the debate on the Budget, there will be some more announcements and then when we reply to the Finance Bill there will be more announcements ," he said, while suggesting that the Centre could close the year with a better-than-Budgeted fiscal deficit level of 5.2%.

2.   

Optimistic about Indian exports touching $300 bn in FY'13: Anand Sharma

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma today said he is optimistic about India touching the USD 300 billion-mark in exports this fiscal although it remains a challenge. He said shipments for February and March are expected to be in the positive zone. In January, India's exports made a marginal recovery and entered the positive zone after a gap of eight months, recording a growth of 0.82 per cent to USD 25.58 billion.

3.   

India, SACU preferential trade pact likely to conclude by Dec 2013

India and South African nations are expected to conclude a preferential trade agreement by the end of this year, which aims at reducing tariffs on certain items traded between the two sides. The India-SACU Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) would enhance economic ties by reducing tariffs on several key products. "Work is in progress (to conclude the PTA)... It is nearing completion as far as I can say.

4.   

High-level delegation from Kuwait to visit India this month

A high-level delegation from Kuwait is going to visit India later this month, which would pave the way for further economic cooperation, India's Ambassador to Kuwait, Satish C Mehta, has said. The visit will be followed by the meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commission of the two nations in Kuwait. Mehta said India and Kuwait enjoy friendly relations and presence of a large number of Indian expatriates continues to sustain this relationship.