India
to lead in GDP growth in South Asia
India's gross domestic product (GDP)
growth rate has been estimated 6.3 per cent for the fiscal year
2003, out performing all other South Asian contries including
Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and
Maldives.
India's high growth rate is attributed
to a vibrant private sector, continued liberalisation and rising
labour productivity, says Asian Development Outlook 9003 (ADO-2003),
launched in Kathmandu, recently.
Nepal's GDP growth is projected to
creep up from a 0.6 per cent contraction registered in 2002, to
post 1.5 per cent growth in the fiscal year 2003.Despite this
marginal improvement, Nepal remains at the bottom in terms of
expected growth rate out of all the countries in South Asia.
Growth in South Asia is expected
climb to 5.7 per cent in 2003 up from 4.2% in 2002 following improved
performance by India.
In India, 2002 savings and investment
rates were about 24 per cent of GDP, but less than what would
contribute to more rapid poverty reduction, said Vokes at a news
conference.
Savings and investment rates vary
widely across countries, with gross domestic savings reaching
over 46 per cent of GDP, in Maldives and only about 15 per cent
in Pakistan.Similarly, gross domestic investment as a share of
gross domestic product ranges from under 14 per cent in Pakistan
to 48 per cent in Bangladesh, says ADO.
Growth in GDP for the sub-region
declined to 4.2 per cent from 5 per cent in 2001, instead of increasing
as forecasted in Asian Development Outlook 2002, primarily as
a result of adverse weather conditions in Bangladesh, India and
Nepal.
In addition, economies of Bangladesh
and Nepal suffered from extremely weak external demand. In contrast,
Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka experienced stronger
growth in 2002,, compared to previous years.
India's
Industrial output up 5.8%
India's industrial output rose 5.8
per cen the year ending March 31, 2003, boosted by a robust manufacturing
sector despite fears the country's worst drought in 15 years would
hurt demand in Asia's third largest economy,
Data released by the government's
Central Statistical Organisaion (CSO) recently showed output was
up from a meagre 2.7 per cent in the previous years, when a global
and domestic slowdown hit demand Industrial output has been maintaining
a steady pace in the past few months,rising 5,0 per cent in December
and 6.4 per cent in January and February. Output rose 6.0 per
cent in March compared to 3.2 per cent ill the same month a year
ago.
Industry accounts for 27 per cent
of India's GDP but contributes a large chunk to government revenues
as the vital agricultural sector, a mainstay of the worlds 12th
largest economy, is untaxed.
Indian
software exports jump
India's software exports grew by
26.3 per cent to $9.5 billion in the year to March but fell short
of projections due to the appreciation of the Indian currency,
the country's premier IT body, said recently.
The National Association of Software
and Service Companies (Nasscom) had set a 30 per cent growth target
for software exports during the last fiscal year.
"Despite the challenges, such as
a continued technology slowdown in the global market and the appreciation
of the Indian currency, the industry has been able to maintain
its growth momentum," Nasscom chief Som Mittal said.
Donors
to support Bangladesh poverty reduction plan
Foreign donors endorsed a Bangladesh
government plan to halve poverty by 2015 and enhance social development,
offering financial support based on performance and priority,
the country's finance minister said recently
"If our agenda for stability, growth
and employment is implemented, our economic growth will be better
in the next two years," Finance Minister Saifur Rahman said at
a news conference at the end of a two-day meeting with Bangladesh's
major donors.
'If we show good work, the donors
have assured us that there will be no lack of funds," Rahman said.
"They welcomed the government's national poverty reduction strategy
and pledged support for its implementation," he added.
But the donors' representatives made
no monetary pledges during the meeting, which was a forum to learn
about government programs and their implementation.
The donors also advised prioritizing
projects to prevent wastage of funds.
'We need to invest more to improve
education, health and gender equity, "Rahman said. "We have to
use our own resources properly - we can't waste," he added.
The poor account for half the country's
130 million people.
Bangladesh's per capita income grew
by 3.3 percent three times faster than the average for low-income
countries in the past decade, according to a recent World Bank
report.
World
Bank Suggests Bangladesh to export gas
The World Bank recently urged Bangladesh
to lift restrictions that prevent foreign companies from exporting
the country's natural gas, saying this could help boost economic
growth
"The expoft of gas will encourage
more foreign investment, (which) Bangladesh needs for faster economic
growth, "the World Bank's country representative, Frederick Temple,
told reporters. Bangladesh does not allow the export of its natural
gas, fearing depletion of its limited reserves.
Foreign companies sell to state-owned
electricity and fertilizer companies, but complain the income
is not enough to justify their investment.
The companies have been compaigning
since 1996 to be allowed to export natural gas by pipeline to
neighboring India, saying this could bring Bangladesh US$ 500
,million a year.
Bangladesh has been weighing the
prospect but has differed a decision amid concern that allowing
such export could leave it unable to meet its domestic needs.
Pakistan
promises new economic reforms
Pakistan recently flagged a new series
of economic reforms aimed at tackling, rampant poverty among its
145 million people.
"We are going to introduce a new
series of broad-based reforms at provincial and district levels,
targetting a growth rate of six percent to curb the menace of
poverty," Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz told a business seminar
in the Islamic republic's commercial capital Karachi.
"Over the next couple of years we
want to bring the poverty level down to 28 percent."
Using figures from 1999, the United
Nations estimates that nearly 31 percent of Pakistanis earn less
than one dollar a day, its standard for measuring poverty. The
government is in the process of measuring poverty for the year
2001 and 2oo2, according to the state Planning Commission.
A raft of economic reforms introduced
by President Pervez Musharraf after he seized power in an October
1999 coup has won streams of praise, from the World Bank, International
Monetary Fund and Asian development Bank.
$
3.5 b Pakistan gas pipeline starts
Work on the long-awaited $3.5 billion
Pakistan-Afghanistan-Turkmenistan gas pipeline will start early
next year, Pakistan's minister for petroleum and natural resources
said recently.
Nourez Shakoor's statement, carried
by Pakistan's state-run news agency, came more than a month after
he attended meeting in the Philippines to discuss the 1,600-kilometer
(1,000. mile) pipeline project. Oil and gas ministers from the
three countries attended.
The pipeline would transport up to
39.2 billion cubic meters (yards) of natural gas from the Central
Asian country of Turkmenistan through war-ravaged Afghanistan
to Pakistan, and possibly to India. It also would give cash-strapped
Afghanistan an estimated $300 million in annual fees and create
many jobs.
The Associated Press quoted Shakoor
as saying the work on the $US3.5 billion project will start in
the first quarter of 2004.
Sri
Lanka Must reduce inflation
Sri Lanka's inflation rate, among
the highest in the region, could be reduced by keeping a tight
rein on the fiscal deficit, the Asian Development Bank said recently.
According to the bank's outlook report,
Sri Lanka's annual average inflation should fall to 8.5 per cent
in 2003 from 9.6 per cent at the end of 2002, if supported by
proper monetary policy.
The bank's economic forecasts for
Sri Lanka are more conservative than the government's projections.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is
aiming for an average inflation rate of 8 per cent in 2003.
