Dr M Khalid's global village blog

FISCAL DEFICIT * Fiscal deficit seen at 5.2 pct of GDP in 2012/13 * Fiscal deficit seen at 4.8 pct of GDP in 2013/14 BORROWING * Gross market borrowing seen at 6.29 trln rupees in 2013/14 * Net market borrowing seen at 4.84 trln rupees in 2013/14 * Net short-term borrowing seen at 198.44 bln rupees in 2013/14 * To buy back 500 bln rupees worth of bonds in 2013/14 SPENDING * Total budget expenditure seen at 16.65 trln rupees in 2013/14 * Non-plan expenditure estimated at about 11.1 trln rupees in 2013/14 * India's 2013/14 plan expenditure seen at 5.55 trln rupees * Revised estimate for total expenditure is 14.3 trln rupees in 2012/13, which is 96 pct of budget estimate SUBSIDIES * 2013/14 major subsidies bill estimated at 2.48 trln rupees from 1.82 trln rupees * Petroleum subsidy seen at 650 bln rupees in 2013/14 * Petroleum subsidy assumes crude oil price at $110/barrel * Revised petroleum subsidy for 2012/13 at 968.8 bln rupees * Estimated 900

Here are 10 reasons why markets fell sharply Increased spending: Mr Chidambaram proposed to raise government spending to   R s.   16.65 trillion against expectations of a closer check on spending to curtail the fiscal deficit to 4.8 per cent of GDP in FY14. "The biggest surprise in the Budget was the sizeable increase in public spending, including on welfare programmes, which will be financed largely through revenue raising measures. This will have surprised and disappointed many..." global investment bank Credit Suisse said. Quality of spending: Prabhat Awasthi, managing director & head of equity research at Nomura India said the growth in expenditure is on account of social schemes, not on capital expenditure, which is an indicator of an expansionary Budget. Higher taxes: The government sought to increase taxes on certain individuals and companies. Those tax proposals hit stocks. The government also disappointed some investors by not announcing a cut in de

China’s National Offshore Petroleum Corporation (CNOOC) has completed a $15.1 billion deal to absorb the Canadian oil company Nexen. According to analysts this is the largest acquisition of a foreign energy company by Beijing. Nexen is extracting oil in Canada, Nigeria and the Middle East. The takeover was originally announced in July and was completed in seven months. The last obstacle was removed when the United States gave its approval because of Nexen's extraction work in the Gulf of Mexico. According to a Nexen shareholders will be paid 27.5 dollars per share. In a few days Nexen’s stocks will be delisted from the Toronto and New York stock exchanges while Kevin Reinhart will stay on as CEO of the company which is now a 100% subsidiary of CNOOC. From http://rt.com/business/ More on : http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/25/us-nexen-cnooc-idUSBRE91O1A420130225

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co( JPM.N ) plans to cut 3,000 to 4,000 jobs in its consumer bank in 2013, it said in a presentation to investors on Tuesday. http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/jpmorgan-jobs-idINDEE91P0BH20130226

Italians are going to the polls in a election which will set Italy's future economic path. It's a vote that has implications for the whole of the euro zone. WSJ's Christopher Emsden reports from Rome. Photo: Getty Images ROME—Forty-something Italians are facing austerity for the rest of their working lives—just as they have since becoming adults. "We are the lost generation," says Andrea Bolla, the 46-year-old chief executive of energy provider Vivigas and the Valdo Prosecco winery near the northern city of Verona. He says he pays more taxes and receives fewer services while navigating more red tape than his father did while running the family businesses. WSJ's Giada Zampano in Rome feels the pulse of Italian disaffected voters as they head to the polls for Italy's most-watched elections in decades. Photo: EPA "He always felt difficulties could be overcome," says Mr. Bolla, who has three daughters. "Now we're often

RMB to be fully convertible by 2015: RBS SINGAPORE: With the Chinese renminbi increasingly a currency of settlement, some analysts have advanced their expectations for full international convertibility. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said it may come as early as 2015. A fully convertible currency is one criteria the U.S. and Europe demands as a condition for China being part of the International Monetary Fund's currency basket. China has been floating the yuan in a narrow margin around a fixed base rate, determined with reference to a basket of world currencies. However, this year, traders have seen the People's Bank of China broadening the trading band to around two per cent. Chia Woon Khien, head of Non-Japan Asia FX & Local Market Rates at RBS, said: "I think it will follow quite quickly with more broadening of the trading band and eventually when you get to about five per cent, the next thing is to just let it go. Why would you run a freely floating