World Bank Vice President for South Asia, Martin Raiser on Sunday advised Pakistan to take internal measures along with help from the international community by implementing economic reforms to recover from the cataclysmic floods. In an interview with Geo News, Raiser talked about Pakistan's situation after facing heavy flooding and said that the country has been badly affected by climate change. He said that the depth of the crisis is unprecedented and added that Pakistan needs a roadmap for flood recovery. "In order to recover from the devastations caused by floods, Pakistan needs a roadmap," said Raiser. The vice president of the global lender said that the international community needs to help Pakistan, however, Islamabad also needs to implement financial reforms, reported Geo News. Raiser said Pakistan would have to take internal steps as the citizens are already disturbed by massive electricity bills. "This is why the authorities are facing losses in distribution and the prices are high," he said. In this regard, he suggested that it was imperative for Pakistan to bring reforms to its energy sector. The vice president also said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has assured implementation of reforms as they are important for long-term investment, reported Geo News. On Friday, the World Bank said that Pakistan will have to take "tough" decisions for economic recovery and hoped that the country will focus on reforms as promised. "We acknowledge that it will be difficult for Pakistan to work on the reforms considering the country's economic situation after the floods as they have caused enormous damage," said the World Bank. This year's unprecedented flood situation has left one-third of Pakistan underwater and affected approximately 33 million people. The ongoing crisis has left many regions uninhabitable and unsafe and also caused estimated damage of USD 10 billion.  Source: ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Sri Lanka's newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe and said that India will continue to be supportive of the quest of the people of the island nation for stability and economic recovery, through established democratic means, the Indian High Commission said on Tuesday. Wickremesinghe, 73, was on Thursday sworn in as Sri Lanka's eighth president after he was elected by lawmakers. "PM @narendramodi sent a congratulatory letter to H.E President @RW_UNP on his election," the High Commission of India in Colombo said in a tweet. "PM reiterated that India will continue to be supportive of the quest of the people of Sri Lanka for stability and economic recovery, through established democratic means, institutions and constitutional framework, it said. The Prime Minister also conveyed that he looked forward to working closely with the Sri Lankan President for the mutual benefit of people and strengthening the age-old, close and friendly relations between India and Sri Lanka, it added. In Colombo, Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay on Tuesday paid a courtesy call on newly-appointed Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and conveyed greetings from the leadership, Government and people of India. "High Commissioner thanked the PM for his guidance in various capacities to strengthen the long-standing and close India-Sri Lankan relations in all areas of engagement. High Commissioner also thanked him for his whole-hearted appreciation for India's unprecedented support to the people of Sri Lanka, the Indian mission tweeted. The Indian government assistance to Sri Lanka has reached almost USD 4 billion since January this year. Sri Lanka needs about USD 5 billion in the next six months to cover basic necessities for its 22 million people, who have been struggling with long queues, worsening shortages and power cuts. Source: Business Standard  

India's services sector has witnessed a broad-based recovery in sales revenues in both nominal and real terms during the January-March 2022 quarter 2022, the Ministry of Finance said in its latest Monthly Economic Review report. The Information technology (IT) companies maintained strong growth while non-IT service companies continued to recover from the slump caused by the lockdown. A broad-based recovery in service activity continued in the first quarter of 2022-23, which can be attributed to improvements in demand following the retreat of pandemic restrictions, capacity expansion, and a favorable economic environment. Domestic freight movement data also signaled resilience, with railway freight continuing to expand in double-digits on a year-on-year basis in June 2022. "Hotels and tourism, trading, shipping transport services, information technology or software and films exhibition all witnessed a growth of over 20 per cent," the report said, adding that road, railway, shipping transport, and media content, however, experienced negative growth in real terms. On the other hand, the report raised concern about India's rising current account deficit. India's current account deficit, meaning a shortfall between the imports and exports, will deteriorate in 2022-23 on account of costlier imports and tepid exports, if recession concerns do not lead to a sustained and meaningful reduction in the prices of food and energy commodities. A sudden and sharp surge in gold imports amid wedding season, as many weddings were postponed to 2022 from 2021 due to pandemic-induced restrictions, is also now exerting pressure on the trade deficit, it said. The country's trade deficit widened to $45.18 billion in April-June 2022 period as compared to $5.61 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year. In order to alleviate the impact, the government recently hiked the customs duty on gold from the present 10.75 per cent to 15.0 per cent. The widening of the current account deficit has depreciated the Indian rupee against the US dollar by 6 per cent since January of 2022 and is on the brink of touching the 80 mark. Depreciation in the rupee typically makes imported items costlier, which is already reflected in the country's foreign exchange reserves data. India's forex reserves during the six months in 2022 have declined by $34 billion.   Source: ANI

A four-member delegation led by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, including top Finance Ministry officials, assured the Sri Lankan leadership on Thursday that New Delhi is ready to help Colombo’s quick economic recovery by promoting investments, connectivity and strengthening economic linkages.   The delegation — which included Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance; Dr V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor; and Kartik Pande, Joint Secretary of the Indian Ocean Region, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) — met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo.   India’s recent economic aid stands at $3.5 billion. New Delhi also supported Colombo during the meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in March this year, and in other forums including regional and plurilateral organizations.   MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Kwatra, accompanied by Seth and Nageswaran, held “productive discussions” with President Rajapaksa “on the current situation in Sri Lanka and India’s ongoing support”.   During the meeting, the delegation underlined that India stands ready to help Sri Lanka in quick economic recovery by promoting investments, connectivity and strengthening economic linkage, he said. “(They) reiterated Sri Lanka’s centrality to India’s Neighbourhood First policy. Both sides reaffirmed commitment to development of India-Lanka ties,” Bagchi said.   The Indian High Commission in Colombo said the talks were held in a “frank, cordial and constructive manner”. In a statement, it said the Indian delegation underscored that the recent economic, financial and humanitarian assistance of over US$ 3.5 billion to Sri Lanka was “guided by the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.   “During the call on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Indian side thanked the President of Sri Lanka for his commitment to the development of India-Sri Lanka bilateral relations. Both sides had a productive exchange of views on the current economic situation in Sri Lanka as well as India’s ongoing support,” the statement said.   At the meeting with Wickremesinghe, the two sides had an in-depth discussion on the Sri Lankan economy and efforts undertaken towards achieving economic recovery, it said. “In this context, both sides highlighted the importance of promoting India-Sri Lanka investment partnership including in the fields of infrastructure, connectivity, renewable energy and deepening economic linkages between the two countries,” the statement said.   Kwatra also had a separate meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Aruni Wijewardena, where they agreed to work in close coordination towards strengthening diplomatic engagement and undertaking a bilateral visit at an early date.   “The Sri Lankan side appreciated the consistent support of the government and people of India over the past few years in a variety of fields such as counter-terrorism, maritime security, disaster management, humanitarian assistance, development cooperation, commercial engagement and people-to-people ties,” the statement said.   Source: indianexpress.com

Ukraine, to recover its damaged economy and business, has reached out to India seeking assistance to expand business and goods presence and also for Indian businesses to start or resume operations there.   And recently the ukrainian embassy has written to the commerce and industry ministry to support Ukraine and its people in financial and humanitarian ways to renew its infrastructure and economy amid its ongoing conflict with Russia As disclosed in an official statement of Indian commerce and industry ministry.   Kyiv has requested for "India's assistance in expanding Ukrainian business and goods presence in Indian market to support Ukraine and its people in financial, humanitarian or any other meaningful way to renewing infrastructure and economy to become a full-fledged member of the European Union and invites global business community official and business entities and relevant business association to join other multinational companies to start or resume business in Ukraine".   Last week, India handed over 7,725 kg of humanitarian aid comprising essential medicines and medical equipment to Ukraine. The official added that the ministry has shared the communication with trade bodies.   Exporters said that though there is an opportunity in the construction and building sector in Ukraine but the prevailing uncertainty in the region is a deterrent from making use of that opportunity.   "There will be reconstruction and rebuilding opportunities in Ukraine so exports related to engineering goods and turnkey projects would benefit but these can happen only once ceasefire is announced," said an industry source.   But an exporter of engineering goods expressed concerns of uncertainty that industry is unsure of the scope of the opportunity as logistics and general safety remain key concerns. "Exporters may not have the confidence as no one knows what will happen. The uncertainty may not lead to large projects taking place and only small deals are likely," said the exporter.   Source: the economics times

Bangladesh has ranked 5th out of 121 countries in the Nikkei Covid-19 Recovery Index while the country secured top position among the South Asian countries. Bangladesh achieved the highest rank among South Asian countries with a score of 80 points, followed by Nepal which ranked 6th with a score of 79, according to the latest rankings published on Thursday( May 5). "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has been successful for controlling both infection and fatality rate of coronavirus," Director General of Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam told BSS. He said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been constantly monitoring the entire situation of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in the country.   "With efforts of all, Bangladesh has been lauded globally for prevention of the outbreak of COVID-19... we have achieved remarkable success for handling three waves of coronavirus," Alam added. The health service chief dubbed success stories of COVID-19 in global stages as great achievement for Bangladesh.   With a score of 80 on the index, Bangladesh ranks only below Qatar, the UAE, Cambodia and Rwanda. Of the other South Asian countries in the list, Nepal ranked 6th, Pakistan 23rd, Sri Lanka 31st, and India 70th in the world. Covid-19 infections in Bangladesh have been on a downward trend since Mid-February this year. The country's total fatalities remain unchanged at 29,127, with no new deaths reported for over a fortnight now. Bangladesh was placed at 13th position in the Covid recovery index in March. Taiwan's ranking has plunged in the latest edition of Nikkei's Covid-19 Recovery Index as the island transitions from a strict zero-virus strategy to living with the respiratory illness, even as infections surge. The country tumbled out of the fourth spot to 94th in the latest ranking, tying with China, which fell 62 places from last month as it battles its worst outbreak since the virus was first detected in the city of Wuhan more than two years ago. The index, updated at the end of each month, assesses countries and regions on infection management, vaccine rollouts and social mobility. The higher the ranking, the closer it is to recovery, characterised by lower infection and death rates, better inoculation coverage, as well as fewer movement restrictions. The index is maintained by Nikkei, Japan's leading business publication group that includes the Nikkei, Nikkei Asia, and the Financial Times (of London). Source: BSS AH

The Spring Meeting of the World Bank (WB)-International Monetary Fund (IMF), 2022 praised Bangladesh for successful implementation of its policy to face Covid-19 pandemic and economic recovery from its impact. The meeting was held on April 17-24 in Washington DC, USA and an 11 members delegation led by Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fazle Kabir attended the meeting, said a press release. The delegation includes Alternative Executive Director of the World Bank Mohammad Shafiul Alam, Senior Secretary of the Finance Division Abdur Rauf Talukder, Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States M Shahidul Islam and Secretary of the Economic Relations Division Fatima Yasin. The Bangladesh delegation met the Vice-President of the World Bank, IFC and MIGA, and the IMF delegation. The team also took part in different bilateral seminars. They also met delegations of the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD), Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) and Asia and Pacific Department (APD). At the meeting, everyone praised Bangladesh for its policy to face the Covid-19 pandemic and economic recovery. The meeting discussed the World Bank's pipeline projects. It was requested to come forward to provide guarantee for foreign investment in the economic zones to be established in Bangladesh. Source: BSS AH

Rating agency Icra on Wednesday said while there is some evidence of the economic recovery becoming broad-based in the third quarter of fiscal 2022, it is yet to attain the durability being sought by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) as a precursor to policy transmission. The agency expects the real GDP to expand 6-6.5 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of FY2022 (+8.4 per cent in Q2 FY2022). It also sees the RBI maintaining the status quo in the upcoming monetary policy review to be held in February. Its chief economist Aditi Nayar said economic activity rebounded in December 2021, even as many sectors continued to trail the performance recorded in October 2021. Encouragingly, the quarterly data suggests a modest broad-basing of the recovery in Q3 FY2022, relative to Q2 FY2022, when compared to respective pre-COVID-19 volumes. "However, the onset of the third wave of COVID-19 has triggered state-wise restrictions, which have expectedly interrupted the momentum in the ongoing month, reiterating that the recovery is yet to attain durability," Nayar said in a report released on Wednesday. The agency said the y-o-y performance of 10 of the 15 high-frequency indicators improved in December 2021 compared to November 2021. These include generation of GST e-way bills, non-oil merchandise exports, electricity generation, two-wheeler output as well as aggregate deposits and non-food credit of scheduled commercial banks. The report further said the y-o-y performance of nine of the 15 high-frequency indicators in December 2021 trailed the growth seen in October 2021. FASTag toll collections and retail payments rose to all-time highs in December 2021, while the monthly mobility for retail and recreation rose above the level of baseline period for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, it said. Nayar further said that following the re-imposition of state-wise restrictions to curb the third wave of COVID-19, the early data for January 2022 is expectedly weak. The daily average generation of the GST e-way bills dipped to 2.1 million during January 1-16, 2022, from 2.3 million in December 2021. After a y-o-y growth in December 2021, the sales of petrol and diesel of state refiners slipped back to a contraction in the first half of January 2022. Even, the y-o-y growth in electricity demand eased to 1.9 per cent during January 1-16, 2022, from 2.8 per cent in December 2021, she said. The agency said that with the fresh uncertainty triggered by Omicron and the associated restrictions, it expects a status quo on the stance of the monetary policy as well as the reverse repo rate in the upcoming RBI policy meeting, in spite of the rise in the retail inflation in December 2021. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) accelerated to a six-month high of 5.59 per cent in December 2021, close to the RBI's upper tolerance band of six per cent.   Source: Reddif.Com  

Students of the Balochistan University protesting against disappearance of two fellow students locked on Tuesday the institution’s gates, boycotted ongoing MA and MSc examinations and announced they would keep the seat of learning closed until the missing persons were recovered. Sohail Baloch and Safi Baloch went missing several days ago. Students belonging to different factions of the Baloch Student Organisation locked gates of their university and announced that no student would take the semester examinations. No student or teaching staff was allowed to enter the university premises by the protesting students. Speaking at a press conference, BSO leaders Baloch Qadir and Zubair Baloch said that Sohail Baloch and Safi Baloch had been missing for the last several days, but the university administration had taken no action in this regard. The apathy of the university administration had forced the students to launch a protest movement for recovery of the missing students and lock the gates of the university. “Our protest will continue till the missing students are recovered,” they said. Source: The Dawn

Although the health authorities in Bangladesh on Monday confirmed the recovery of 1,914 more patients raising the recovery rate to 54.74 percent, it is still lower than neighboring India (63.8 percent) and Pakistan (77.7 percent). With the latest figure, the total number of recoveries stands at 1,13,556. The death toll in Bangladesh climbed to 2,668 as the country reported 50 more deaths in the last 24 hours. The mortality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.29 percent. Health authorities detected 2,928 new patients after conducting 13,362 RT-PCR tests during the period. Bangladesh on the 19th week of infection registered 2,07,453 total cases after the first three were detected on March 8. The daily infection rate has reduced further to 21.91 percent while overall 19.92 percent of people found infected against 10,41,461 tests conducted. Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Additional Director General Prof Dr Nasima Sultana came up with the disclosure at its daily health bulletin broadcasted from Mohakhali.  She noted that so far, 78.86 percent male and 21.14 percent female have died from the disease. “Age-based analysis of the new deceased says, one was below 10 years, one between 21 and 30, one between 31 and 40, 11 between 41 and 50, nine between 51 and 60, 20 between 61 and 70, four between 71 and 80, two between 81 and 90 and another between 91 and 100 years,” she added. Twenty-one patients died in Dhaka division, 10 died in Khulna division, five in Rajshahi division, three in Sylhet division, seven in Chattogram division, two in Barishal division and two more died in Rangpur division in the span of 24 hours. DGHS data reveal that the overall death percentages in Dhaka and Chattogram divisions have again seen a slight reduction. “48.9 percent died in Dhaka division, 25.22 percent in Chattogram, 5.40 percent in Rajshahi, 6.48 percent in Khulna, 3.75 percent in Barishal, 3.37 percent in Rangpur and 2.17 percent died in Mymensingh division,” Dr Nasima said.  In the last 24 hours 42 patients died in hospitals across the country and eight died at home. Source: UNB AH