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Tag: foreign investment

  • Share purchase by foreign investors peaked on Aug 12

    Share purchase by foreign investors peaked on Aug 12

    Foreign investors bought Rs 18,828 crore worth of stocks up to August 12, as per NSDL data…reports Asian Lite News

    Foreign institutional investors (FII) have bought highest amount of shares on August 12 since the beginning of this month.

    As per data, FII bought shares worth Rs 3,040.46 crore on Friday, however, domestic investors sold Rs 839 crore in Indian equity market.

    “The sentiments in the market have turned bullish due to the sustained buying by FPIs. FPIs turned net buyers in July and they have turned aggressive buyers in August. India is a preferred destination since India has the best growth prospects among large economies of the world. FPIs have turned buyers in autos, capital goods, FMCG and telecom. They continued to sell in IT,” said Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

    Foreign investors bought Rs 18,828 crore worth of stocks up to August 12, as per NSDL data.

    Depreciation in dollar (dollar index declined from above 109 during late July to around 105.26 on August 12th) is the primary driver of capital flows to emerging markets, Vijayakumar added.

    Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) have invested Rs 12,190 crore in last 10 days in Indian equity market after remaining sellers in last few months. However, Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) in the same period have sold stocks worth Rs 2,677 crore.

    The increase in the amount of money coming in to the market has helped benchmark indices to rise sharply and rupee to appreciate against the US.

    On Friday, Sensex ended up 130.18 points or 0.22 per cent at 59,462.78, and Nifty closed 39.15 points or 0.22 per cent higher at 17,698.15.

    Whereas, at the interbank foreign exchange market, rupee ended at 79.66 against US dollar, as against 79.64 close on the previous trading session.

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  • Lanka woos foreign investors

    Lanka woos foreign investors

    Sri Lanka’s state-owned investment agency the Board of Investment (BOI) last week said the country is aiming to attract $3 billion in the FDI by 2026…reports Asian Lite News

     Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers on Tuesday approved a proposal to issue long-term visas for tourists interested in investing in the island nation.

    Minister of Youth and Sports Namal Rajapaksa said in a statement that the proposal was submitted by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and approved by the cabinet, reports Xinhua news agency.

    Namal said the option of long-term visas for keen investors will not only significantly increase Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), but also encourage more professionals and experts to invest, work, and live in Sri Lanka.

    Sri Lanka’s state-owned investment agency the Board of Investment (BOI) last week said the country is aiming to attract $3 billion in the FDI by 2026, and the BOI has finalised a strategic plan for the period of 2022 to 2026.

    As per the BOI’s plan, export revenue with new investments would reach $15 billion by 2026, and more than 100,000 jobs would be created in the country.

    The Central Bank of Sri Lanka.(pic credit: https://www.cbsl.gov.lk )

    Sri Lanka allows currency to devalue

    Central Bank of Sri Lanka has allowed the country’s rupee to devalue to 230 per US dollar considering the severity of the external shocks and recent developments domestically.

    The bank said that it will closely monitor the emerging macroeconomic and financial market developments, both globally and domestically, and will stand ready to take further measures as appropriate, Xinhua news agency reported.

    The aim is to achieve stability in inflation, the external sector, the financial sector, and real economic activity, according to the bank.

    “In that context, greater flexibility in the exchange rate will be allowed to the markets with immediate effect. The central bank is also of the view that forex transactions would take place at levels which are not more than 230 rupees per US dollar,” it said in a statement.

    Earlier the Sri Lankan rupee was pegged to the dollar at 200.

    A number of Sri Lankan economists have been urging the government to devalue the rupee in the past few months, stating that this policy was creating forex shortages and parallel exchange rates.

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  • Russia temporarily halts exit of foreign investments

    Russia temporarily halts exit of foreign investments

    Mishustin said in the current sanctions situation, foreign entrepreneurs are forced to be guided not by economic factors, but by making decisions under political pressure…reports Asian Lite News

    Russia is temporarily halting the exit of foreign investments from the country, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has announced on Tuesday.

    The move comes in response to Russian capital being frozen abroad by the US, EU and their allies, RT reported.

    “We hope that those who have invested in our country will be able to continue to do so in the future. I am sure that the sanctions pressure will eventually subside, and those who will not curtail their projects in our country, succumbing to the slogans of foreign politicians, will win,” Mishustin said at a daily briefing on Russia’s economic development.

    The Prime Minister added that the Russian government’s working commission on countering Ukraine-related sanctions is moving into the mode of operational headquarters.

    Mishustin said in the current sanctions situation, foreign entrepreneurs are forced to be guided not by economic factors, but by making decisions under political pressure.

    “To enable businesses to make informed decisions, a draft Presidential Decree has been prepared to introduce temporary restrictions on exiting Russian assets. As practice shows, it is easy to exit the market, but it is much more difficult to return to a place that is already densely occupied by competitors”, the Russian PM said.

    Moscow’s response follows harsh economic penalties imposed on Russia over the past week by the US and its allies, that oppose the country’s ongoing military intervention in Ukraine. The measures include disconnecting the largest Russian banks from the SWIFT payments system, freezing Russian assets and government reserves held abroad, as well as penalties against the country’s Central Bank.

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  • Taliban to lure investment in agriculture

    Taliban to lure investment in agriculture

    The Taliban administration is making efforts to encourage more national and international businessmen to invest in various sectors…reports Asian Lite News

    Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Afghan caretaker government’s acting Deputy Prime Minister, has chaired a cabinet meeting, reviewing the agriculture situation and discussing agriculture land survey for foreign investors, according to the country’s General Directorate of Administrative Affairs on Tuesday.

    During the meeting, the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock was instructed to locate lands for foreign investors, the office said in a statement.

    The meeting also decided that potential revenues in the sector should only be collected by the country’s state-run banks, according to the statement.

    The administration is making efforts to encourage more national and international businessmen to invest in various sectors, Xinhua news agency reported.

    Meanwhile, The shipment of Indian wheat for Afghanistan to be transported through Pakistan is expected to start in early February after both sides finally agreed on the modalities following months of discussions, a media report said on Saturday.

    It will be rare when India transports goods using Pakistan’s land route to Afghanistan as Islamabad would otherwise never permit two-way trade between New Delhi and Kabul, said The Express Tribune report.

    But an exception has been made due to the precarious humanitarian situation in Afghanistan with Pakistan allowing one time permission to India to transport 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat through the Wagah border, the report said.

    It took both the sides several weeks of discussions to agree on the modalities.

    Initially, Pakistan wanted the transportation of humanitarian assistance goods to Kabul in its trucks under the banner of the UN.

    But India made a counter proposal and wanted the food grain to be shipped to Afghanistan either in Indian or Afghan trucks, the report said.

    The two sides then agreed that wheat would be carried by Afghan trucks and a list of Afghan contractors was shared with Pakistan, The Express Tribune further said.

    Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar told a weekly news briefing on Friday that all arrangements were now put in place and Islamabad was waiting for the date of the first consignment.

    Diplomatic sources told The Express Tribune that the shipment would start in early February.

    As per the modalities, India has to transport the total amount of wheat within 30 days of the first consignment.

    The two countries have decided to cooperate on Afghanistan despite their otherwise tense relationship, the report added.

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  • Bangladesh all set for investment boom

    Bangladesh all set for investment boom

    Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the summit at a city hotel in Dhaka which was aimed at showcasing the potential of Bangladesh to foreign investors….reports Asian Lite News

    A two-day international investment summit has started in the Bangladesh capital to help the country woo more foreign investors.

    Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the summit at a city hotel in Dhaka on Sunday joining virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

    Speaking as the chief guest, she invited investors of the world to come up with investment in Bangladesh, saying Dhaka is set to provide all policy support for creating investment-friendly environment, Xinhua news agency reported.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eORLuBeM45c

    The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) organised the summit in which video messages of Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, Ren Hongbin and World Economic Forum Managing Director, Jeremy Jurgens, among other world dignitaries, were broadcast.

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    An audio-visual documentary titled “Discover Limitless Opportunities” in Bangladesh was screened at the function. The summit is aimed at showcasing the potential of Bangladesh to foreign investors.

    Pic credits @BangladeshBida

    Hasina said 11 potential investment sectors have been identified, including infrastructure, capital markets, financial services, information technology, electronics manufacturing, leather, automotive and light engineering, agro-products and food processing, healthcare and medicine, jute-textiles and blue economy.

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    The government has formulated sector-wise industrial development policies, the Prime Minister added, along with the National Industrial Policy, and passed the Labor (Amendment) Act-2018, taking environmental protection projects and automating bond management for growth of the export-oriented industry.

    She said the government has built 39 high-tech parks and are building 100 economic zones in phases.

    https://twitter.com/BangladeshBida/status/1464816377957470212

    “We’ve received investment proposals of $27.07 billion in the economic zones,” she added.

    Meanwhile, Hasina said about $30 billion of investment proposal is awaiting implementation in 79 public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

    Speaking of Bangladesh’s graduation from one of the least developed countries to a developing country, she added that the size of Bangladesh economy is now $411 billion, foreign exchange reserves stand at $48 billion and per capita income is $2,554.

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  • Hidden forex fee: Nearly Rs 97bn looted from Indians

    Hidden forex fee: Nearly Rs 97bn looted from Indians

    This highlights a lack of transparency in remittance fee structures, putting consumers at risk of hidden fees as they unknowingly pay more than advertised for the remittance service in the form of a marked up exchange rate…reports Asian Lite News

    Indians paid over Rs 263 billion on foreign exchange fees in 2020, of which roughly Rs 97 billion were hidden as exchange rate markups on currency conversions, payments, and card purchases and the remaining Rs 166 billion were spent on transaction fees, a new report showed on Wednesday.

    The research, carried out by global technology company Wise, along with independent economic research consultancy Capital Economics, also revealed that between 2016 and 2020, the annual amount Indians lost in fees and exchange rate markups increased from Rs 187 billion to Rs 263 billion.

    While the overall amount Indians have spent on transaction fees for sending money abroad has decreased over the past five years, the fees paid to exchange rate margins are growing.

    Pic credits IANS

    This highlights a lack of transparency in remittance fee structures, putting consumers at risk of hidden fees as they unknowingly pay more than advertised for the remittance service in the form of a marked up exchange rate, the report noted.

    “The research exposes a severe lack of transparency in foreign exchange transactions as for far too long, consumers have been fleeced into paying unnecessary costs for foreign transactions when providers hide fees in exchange rate markups,” said Rashmi Satpute, Country Manager, Wise India.

    “While technology and internet has eased some of the issues related to the convenience and speed of foreign funds transfers, the age-old practice of hiding fees in the exchange rate results in people spending too much on hidden foreign currency fees – money which should rightfully stay in their pockets,” Satpute added.

    Consumers sending money into India from abroad are not spared from hidden fees.

    Over the past five years, money lost to exchange rate margins on inward remittances has grown from Rs 42 billion to Rs 79 billion.

    Pic credits ANI

    Meanwhile, fees paid to transaction costs have grown from Rs 102 billion in 2016 to Rs 140 billion in 2020.

    A significant portion of these fees paid on remittances to India come from people in Gulf countries where most people are employed in blue-collar jobs to support their families back home in India.

    “Of the share of total fees paid on inward remittances to India in 2020, Saudi Arabia ranked first at 24 per cent, followed by the US (18 per cent), the UK (15 per cent), Qatar (8 per cent), Canada (6 per cent), Oman (5 per cent), the UAE (5 per cent), Kuwait (5 per cent) and Australia (4 per cent),” the report showed.

    The study also revealed that pre-pandemic, Indian travellers spent Rs 42 billion in foreign exchange fees in 2019 alone, of which Rs 24 billion is hidden in exchange rate markups.

    Over 11 million people and businesses use Wise, which processes over 5 billion pounds in cross-border transactions every month, saving customers over 1 billion pounds a year.

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