India criticises EU trade quotas
New Delhi: India has slammed the European Union's generalised system of preferences (GSP) that provides higher quotas and lower duties to imports from select countries. New Delhi said that the GSP benefits were decided arbitrarily and were aimed at garnering support to push its case at the World Trade Organisation.

Officials were quoted as saying that India will wait for the EU to act on the WTO directive asking Brussels to refrain from providing preferential access to countries under the drug window. The EU is planning to approach the appellate body of the WTO against the dispute settlement body's decision of 5 September. EU officials said the future course of action will be taken in consultation with trading partners like Pakistan and Latin American countries, which were given GSP benefits to help them in their fight against drugs.
Back to News Review index page  

Centre govt to cross FY04 borrowings target by 10%
Mumbai: The central government is likely to exceed its budgeted borrowings for 2003-04 by about 10 per cent as its disinvestment plan has come unstuck. The centre had projected Rs 13,200 crore disinvestment proceeds in 2003-04. The only divestment this fiscal was Maruti Udyog's initial public offer, which fetched Rs 993 crore. The possibility of increased mop-up has been further fuelled by the delay in announcing the auction calendar for the second half, reports said.

Thus far, the government has raised Rs 70,000 crore in the first half against the budgeted gross borrowings of Rs 1,66,230 crore for the whole of FY04. The net borrowing for the fiscal is pegged at Rs 1,07,194 crore. In FY03, gross borrowings were Rs 1,51,126 crore and net borrowings Rs 1,04,118 crore. Last week, the Supreme Court had told the government to seek the parliament's approval to privatise oil public sector undertakings, HPCL and BPCL.
Back to News Review index page