New Delhi, In the first official Indian figure ever mentioned on black money parked abroad, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday said an estimated 500 billion USD, which is equivalent to about Rs 24.5 lakh crore, of illegal money is stashed away in foreign tax havens by the Indian depositors. CBI director Ambar Pratap Singh made the disclosure at the inaugural function of the First Interpol Global Programme on Anti-Corruption and Asset Recovery. "India in particular has suffered from the flow of illegal funds to tax havens such as Mauritius, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, British Virgin Islands, etc. It is estimated that around 500 billion dollars of illegal money belonging to Indians is deposited in tax havens abroad," Singh said. "Largest depositors in Swiss banks are also reported to be Indians," he said. "Development of new methods of financial flows and communication technology have made it easier for the corrupt to conceal and stash away stolen wealth. On the other hand, differences in legal systems, high costs in coordinating investigations, inadequate international cooperation and bank secrecy laws have made the task difficult for the ...
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Rio de Janeiro, Cumulative foreign direct investment in Brazil expanded fourfold between 2005 and last year, from USD 162.8 billion to USD 660.5 billion, the country's central bank said Thursday. Even with the exclusion of multinationals' transfers to their Brazilian subsidiaries, estimated by the central bank at $80.9 billion, FDI rose by 256 percent over the period. The leading foreign investors in Latin America's biggest economy are the US, with $104.7 billion; Spain, $85.3 billion; and Belgium, with $50.4 billion. Just over $98 billion, or 16.9 percent of total FDI during the period studied, went to Brazil's financial sector, while 9 percent - $52.2 billion - was captured by the beverage industry. The oil and gas sector received $49.5 billion in FDI, 8.5 percent of the total, and $40.6 billion flowed into telecoms. Brazil will post around $60 billion in additional FDI for 2011, according to the latest projections by the central ...
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Colombo, Aiming to spur economic growth, the Sri Lankan central bank has relaxed regulations of foreign investments in corporate debentures of local firms and foreign borrowings by local firms, it said in a statement Tuesday. In the case of corporate debentures raised by local companies, the ceiling imposed on the interest rate of the debentures has been removed as have the requirement for the maintenance of a sinking fund by the issuing company, according to the statement. These new procedures are expected to support alternative financing needs at a competitive cost. In addition, the minimum tenure of the debentures has been reduced from the current level of five years to two years, reported Xinhua. In the case of foreign borrowing, the current limit on borrowing applicable to a local firm has been increased from USD 20 million to USD 50 million and local firms have been permitted to raise foreign loans against corporate or bank guarantees. "Other borrowing arrangements of a short-term nature and those by newly incorporated firms would also be considered for approval by the central bank, based on the merits of each case," said the statement. Sri Lanka's economy is ...
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Jajarta, Indonesian central bank has asked commercial banks in the country to lower their interest rates as the country will rely much on its domestic consumption to boost economic growth, central bank governor Darmin Nasution has said here. Darmin made the call as the Indonesian government has been struggling to ease the risks of global economic uncertainty due to slowing US economic growth and Europe debt crisis, reported Xinhua. "This is clearly not a short-term issue, it's a medium-term problem. But we cannot be weary of reminding and fighting for (lower lending rates)," Darmin was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying Monday. The central bank has cut rate by 75 basis points in September and October after keeping it unchanged for more than two years, aiming at fighting inflation and spurring economic growth. The bank expected the move would be followed by commercial banks in the country. Darmin said that next year's lending growth would remain robust at up to 25 percent like this year despite global economic woes. The central bank started with the "prime lending rate" policy earlier this year, which requires banks to publicly announce the rates they charge their ...
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Vienna, Global financial crisis would cause stagnation of Austrian economy, said the country's central bank Austrian National bank (OeNB) Friday. According to OeNB, Austrian economic growth rate in the fourth quarter this year would be zero. In the first and second quarters next year it would only reach 0.1 percent respectively, reported Xinhua. OeNB chief economist Peter Mooslechner even expected a negative economic growth for one or two quarters in Austria. OeNB President Ewald Nowotny told the press that the stagnation may last for a longer period, a scenario for which the Austrian government must be prepared. The Austrian government thus needs to make adjustments in public finance, said Nowotny. In particular, it would be necessary for the government to reduce its deficit, as the current budget deficit of Austria is too high, he added. He also said that it is necessary for Austria to limit the proportion of national budget deficits by drawing up the related law, hoping that this measure could be implemented by the government to limit the public debt as soon as possible. It was expected that the Austrian economy would recover slightly starting in summer or ...
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Washington, The rate of economic growth in the US continues to be "slow to moderate" in all but one of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts, the central bank said Wednesday in the latest edition of its Beige Book report. The exception was the St. Louis district, which "reported a decline in economic activity", the Fed said. The Beige Book, a periodic appraisal of economic conditions based on anecdotal information from the Fed's 12 regional banks, found that consumer spending increased moderately during the past two months. "Motor vehicle sales increased in a number of Districts, and tourism showed signs of strength," the publication added. Business activity in the service sector reached higher levels than were noted in the previous report and manufacturing activity expended at a constant rate in most of the country. The Fed also verified that the number of bank loans had increased and home refinancing had expanded even more. The construction sector registered a slight increase in single family homes and slow growth in the construction of commercial properties. The majority of the districts reported more favourable conditions for agriculture, energy production and ...
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Tehran, Iran has arrested 12 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives for allegedly targeting the country’s miltary and nuclear programme. A lawmaker, Parviz Sorouri, said the agents were collaborating with Israel''s Mossad and other regional agencies to achieve ther aim, the BBC reports. The arrest comes in the wake of the United States and its allies suspecting that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon program, which is vehemently denied by Tehran. "The US and Zionist regime''s espionage apparatuses were trying to use regional intelligence services, both inside and outside Iran, in order to deal a strong blow to our country," a National Security and Foreign Policy Committee member Sorouri was quoted as saying. "Fortunately, these steps failed due to the quick measures taken by Intelligence Ministry officials," he added. Lebanon''s shia miltant group, Hezbollah, which has close ties with Iran, had earlier reportedly busted a CIA spy ring within the Shia militant organisation. Hezbollah Member of Parliament Hassan Fadlallah had backed his organization’s claim. Iran had earlier arrested 30 people after busting a CIA spy network in ...
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Abu Dhabi, The board of directors of the Central Bank of the UAE has approved the budget for 2012 after reviewing it during a meet. The board held its 12th meeting for the year 2011 Tuesday. The board adopted the budget as -- total expected revenues of 4,322 million dirhams, total expected expenses of 822 million dirhams, with a net profit of 3,500 million dirhams, compared to 3,470 million dirhams expected in ...
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Colombo, Sri Lanka's currency depreciated by about 3.2 percent Wednesday for the second successive day on new government policy, the island's central bank said here. The exchange rate saw the Sri Lankan rupee buying rate at Rs.112.99 and selling rate at Rs.114.88 against the US dollar after the central bank set the new lower currency rate through the Bank of Ceylon, reported Xinhua. However, currency dealers speculate that the central bank spent around $15 million to defend the current depreciation as investors tried to sell off rupee denominated Treasury Bonds. On Monday, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa outlined plans to let the rupee depreciate by 3 percent in a shock announcement that halted trading. The decision was part of the country's second post-war budget detailing government policy for ...
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The gross collection under various small savings schemes of Post Office Savings Scheme during 2009-10 and 2010-11 were Rs. 2,50,931 crore and Rs. 2,74,720 crore (provisional) respectively. The gross collection has registered an increase of 8.78%, as compared to the previous year’s collections. Central and State Government take various measures from time to time to promote and popularise small savings schemes through print and electronic media as well as holding seminars, meetings and providing training to various agencies involved in mobilizing deposits under various small savings schemes. This statement was given by Shri Sachin Pilot, the Minister of State Communication and Information Technology in response to a question in Lok Sabha today. ...
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Chandigarh, February 2 (Doaba News Service)- The Punjab and Haryana High Court has found fault in the selection of six IAS officers from the PCS. The affected include two Deputy Commissioners. They will continue at their present postings till the fresh decision is taken to carry out selections. The officers are Gopal Krishan Singh; Dharam Dutt; Sukhjit Singh Bains; Yashveer Mahajan; Inderjit Singh and Karamjit Singh. Allowing a petition by PCS officer Parveen Kumar, the high court today quashed the combined eligibility list of the state civil services officers dated August 7, 2008. Justice MM Kumar and Justice Jitendra Chauhan also quashed notification dated August 13, 2008, issued by the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, (Department of Personnel & Training), “making appointments of the members of the state civil service of Punjab to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for the select list years 2007”. In his petition, Kumar had asserted that he was born on February 17, 1952. On April 23, 1986, he was inducted into the Punjab Civil Service (executive branch). He attained the age of 55 years on February 17, 2007, and his date of superannuation ...
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