IMF Says No Talks On Selling More Gold - April 06, 2009

The International Monetary Fund said that there have been no talks about selling additional gold than the proposed a year earlier. The leaders from the Group of 20 said that the revenue from the previously proposed IMF gold sales will be used to help the poorest countries to stimulate the world economies.

The board of IMF approved a proposal in April 2008 to sell 403.3 tons of bullion as part of a plan to close the Washington-based lenders annual deficit. "The gold sales are part of what we have already announced a year ago," IMF spokesman Bill Murray said.

Moreover, there have been no talks about sales of additional gold and the proposal is subject to the approval of US Congressional, he said. However, a decision to sell the gold requires the majority support of the executive board of IMF and the board representative from the US needs the approval of Congress to vote in favor of any sales, according to the bank.

IMF Sees India''s Growth Rate Slowing Considerably - March 18, 2009

India''s economy is slowing considerably and uncertainty surrounding the outlook in unusually large, International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday.

The IMF predicted the India''s gross domestic product growth may slow to 6.3 per cent in the fiscal year 2008-2009, ending in March, and to 5.3 per cent the following year. That would be lower than the 9 per cent growth rate in the 2007-2008 year.

The IMF cautioned that a big expansion of deficit may raise fears of fiscal sustainability as India''s debt as a percentage of GDP was already elevated.

The fund said, "Policy measures to stimulate the economy and a good harvest should support domestic demand."

"The uncertainty surrounding the forecast is unusually large, with significant downside risks. The main upside risk stems from a larger-than-anticipated impact of the stimulus measures that the authorities have already implemented."

India Needs To Tighten Monetary Policy: IMF - July 3, 2008

India needs to tighten its monetary policy even though the impact of surging oil and food prices being felt globally is "not so big" in the country, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. Some countries really are at a tipping point, said IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the release of a new study based on information and analysis by Fund economists working on 162 countries.

If food prices rise further and oil prices stay the same, some governments will no longer be able to feed their people and at the same time maintain stability in their economies, he said.They need good policy options and they need help from the international community.

Their challenge is ours, he added.Strauss-Kahn said the findings of the study underscored the need for a broad cooperative approach involving the countries affected, donors, and international organizations to cope with the effects of high prices.Although India has not been flagged in the IMF report because of many mitigating factors, the broad general policy implications apply, a senior IMF official said.

Forex Reserves Increase $1b - June 16, 2008

The foreign exchange reserves increased by $1.046 billion to $315.7 billion for the week ended June 6. In the previous week, the reserves had fallen by $1.56 billion. According to the RBI''s Weekly Statistical Supplement, foreign currency assets rose by $1.045 billion to $305.93 billion. Foreign currency assets expressed in dollar terms comprise the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies (such as euro, sterling, yen) held in reserves. Gold and SDRs remained unchanged at $9.2 billion and $11 billion, respectively. The reserve position in the IMF rose by $ 1 million to $527 million.

India-China Has Led To Rise In Consumption Level Has Led To Shortage

Firmly rejecting the contention that rising consumption in developing nations was responsible for the soaring food and fuel prices, India has blamed the policies of World Bank and IMF and ''''excessive and unsustainable'''' demand in developed countries for the crisis. This consumption trend has existed for more than a decade, said Indian UN Ambassador Nirupam Sen, pointing out that over last two years, the demand for oil has gone up one per cent but prices in dollar terms have risen by 90 per cent.

Addressing a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council to consider the issue of rising food prices, he held financial crisis leading to weakening dollar and diversion of grains to production of bio-fuels among the major causes.Sen also blamed the policies followed by the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) responsible and severely criticized their advice to countries to shift from food crops for domestic population to cash crops for exports.The debate came in the backdrop of UN agencies warning that more than one billion could added to those already needing food assistance because of high prices. Finger pointing over the issue was sparked off after the US and EU said the growth of India and China which has led to rise in consumption level has led to the shortage.

Indian Economy To Grow At 8.75% This Fiscal: IMF

The International Monetary Fund has projected the Indian economy to grow at a rate 8.75 per cent this fiscal on the back of rising productivity and investment. Though the country''s favourable outlook attracts huge capital flows which help finance investment, it also poses a challenge to find a balance between exchange rate stability and financial openness, IMF Executive Directors said in their summary note. The IMF estimate comes in the wake of India revising upwards its growth estimates for the last fiscal to 9.6 per cent from earlier calculation of 9.4 per cent a few days ago and Finance Minister P Chidambaram exuding the confidence that the economy will grow close to nine per cent for the current fiscal. On the other hand, the Reserve Bank of India in its quarterly review of monetary policy has retained its estimate of at 8.5 per cent this fiscal, true to the conservative style of most central banks. The apex bank also maintained a status quo policy rates against market expectation of a reduction in key rates.