New Delhi, June 27
The current account deficit (CAD) touched a record high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 on rising gold and oil imports, though still better than market expectation, bringing relief to the government which is struggling to arrest the sliding rupee.

CAD, which is the difference between the outflow and inflow of foreign currency, however, moderated "sharply" to 3.6 per cent of GDP in the last quarter of 2012-13 fiscal after it touched a historic high of 6.7 per cent in the October-December quarter.

It was 4.4 per cent in the March quarter of 2011-12.

The CAD was at $78.2 billion (4.2 per cent) in 2011-12 fiscal, but a higher oil and gold imports pushed it up to $87.8 billion (4.8 per cent) last fiscal, RBI data said. The central bank's comfort level for CAD is 2.5 per cent of GDP.

The Finance Ministry, meanwhile, said "the short-term increase or decrease in CAD should not be a cause for either optimism or pessimism".

"We must look at the figure at the end of the year where the CAD stands," it said.

The rupee had touched a record low of 60.72 to a dollar yesterday. After the CAD data, the domestic currency recovered to 60.23 to the dollar.

The RBI said petroleum and gold constituted about 45 per cent of total merchandise imports during 2012-13. While petroleum import rose by 9.3 per cent, gold import declined by 4.8 per cent during the fiscal.

For the full fiscal, gold import stood at $53.8 billion, down from $56.5 billion.

Import of petroleum in 2012-13 fiscal rose from $155 billion to $169.4 billion.

According to the data, trade deficit in 2012-13 remained at an elevated level of $195.7 billion on account of a decline in merchandise exports by 1.1 per cent and rise in imports by 0.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Decline in exports was due to fall in outbound shipment of manufactured items like engineering goods, textiles, gems and jewellery and also primary products like iron ore and minerals.

The RBI said the CAD widened in 2012-13 on account of "burgeoning trade deficit, decline in net invisible earnings due to sharp increase in investment income payments and only a modest rise in net services receipts".

Net foreign direct investment (FDI) moderated to $19.8 billion in 2012-13 from $22.1 billion in 2011-12. — PTI

Mumbai, June 27
Helped by a smart rebound in rupee after current account gap moderated sharply, the S&P BSE Sensex today surged by 324 points to end at one-week high of 18,875.95 on strong gains in RIL, HDFC Bank and Infosys.

Hectic short-covering activity on last day of June derivative series as well as hopes of US Fed possibly delaying the planned tapering of monetary stimulus, also boosted the Indian markets, traders said. Investor wealth rose by over Rs 1 lakh crore as overall more than 1,200 stocks gained.

The BSE 30-share gauge resumed higher following firm Asian cues triggered by strong rally on Wall Street yesterday and remained in positive terrain before settling at 18,875.95, a rise of 323.83 points or 1.75 per cent. This is its highest close since 19,245.70 on June 19. Yesterday, Sensex had slipped by 77 points.

Buying today was seen in frontline, mainly index-based, stocks while second-line counters underperformed the Sensex on lack of major support from retail investors.

Out of the 30-scrip Sensex, 20 stocks closed with gains led by ONGC gaining 4.14 per cent. Reliance Industries surged by 3.48 per cent and Infosys jumped by 3.31 per cent.

Overall, 11 out of 13 sectoral indices closed in the green while only BSE-CD and BSE-CG ended with losses. Shares from refinery, IT, Teck, pharma, realty and banking segments were at the forefront of the recovery.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty gained 93.65 points, or 1.68 per cent, to close at 5,682.35. Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, closed 170.48 points, or 1.54 per cent higher at 11,219.19.

Recovery in the rupee value today to 60.2 levels soothed frailed nerves of investors. — PTI

New Delhi, June 27
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has assured that concerns of players in the multi-brand retail sector will be addressed to attract investments.

After meeting the companies in the sector, Sharma said the purpose of this meeting has been to interact with the multi-brand retailers and potential investors, some of them have established presence in India, in the back end or setting up sourcing establishments.

“It is an ongoing dialogue between the government, businesses and the investors. Some questions have been frequently raised, there has been speculation and also misgivings”, he said.

He said it was important for the government to hear which are the areas or the issues that require some more clarity.

“Therefore we have sufficient space to address those concerns, bring in the clarity and an early and appropriate view will be taken so that the guidelines can accordingly be given out”, Sharma said.

Industry body CII has sought relaxation in certain key norms for foreign participation in multi-brand retail. A CII delegation led by Bharat Wakhlu, resident director, Tata Group, met Anand Sharma and sought to differentiate between multi-brand retail trade (MBRT) in food and non-food categories separately.

CII asked the government to consider changes in three key areas. On strategic investments, it has suggested that FII and private equity investments be treated differently than strategic investments.

On the sourcing stipulations from SME, the chamber suggested that the SME sourcing be made preferable rather than compulsory and also suggested that sourcing from farm sector be considered as part of the 30 per cent stipulation. On the back-end investment, CII recommended that the investments made by retailers in back-end directly or indirectly be consolidated.

It emphasised a need to ensure consistency between the Central and the state government to facilitate investment. It urged the government to clarify that while the market opportunity has been positioned to international investors as being national, the rollout is at a regional or even state level. This disconnect is causing industry and investors to adopt a “wait-and-watch” approach.

Chandigarh, June 27
The Punjab State Cooperative Agricultural Development Bank bagged the award for best performance during the 16th Indian Cooperative Congress held at New Delhi yesterday. The award was presented to GS Mangat, managing director of the bank, by Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil.

The bank’s total business is now Rs 2,700 crore, and it is one of the few profit-making cooperative agriculture development banks. The banks’ bet profit in the last fiscal is over Rs 23 crore and it has a recovery rate of 82 per cent. Ever since the cooperative banks have been allowed to raise deposits, the bank has raised Rs 135 crore as term deposits. 

BRIEFLY

New Delhi
Telenor wins licence in Myanmar: Norwegian firm Telenor and Qatar Telecom on Thursday won telecom licences in Myanmar, pipping Airtel and nine others. The expression of interest floated by Myanmar for two telecom licences received application from 91 entities and 12, including Vodafone, SingTel, Telecom-Orange and Marubeni Corporation, were shortlisted. — PTI

Seoul
Samsung unveils OLED TV: Samsung Electronics launched its first organic light emitting diode (OLED) TV on Thursday, taking the ultra-thin technology into a nascent market. The 55-inch model is priced at $13,000. OLED technology offers better picture quality than standard LCD screens, with crisper picture resolution, faster response times and high-contrast images. — Reuters

New Delhi
CCD to open 500 more outlets: Coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day on Thursday said it will open over 500 outlets by 2015 to take its total network to 2,000 outlets as part of a pan-India expansion programme. The company will set up outlets based on the three formats — cafe, lounge and square — which it currently operates. — PTI

Bangalore
BEML awarded: BEML Limited, a public sector undertaking, has bagged Export Excellence Award for the year 2012-13 from the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bangalore, for its performance in exports in the special category of best exporter. Union Minister for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises KH Muniyappa presented the award to the company recently. — TNS

New Delhi
CCEA clears NFL stake sale: The government on Thursday cleared the proposal for 7.64 per cent stake sale in National Fertilisers Ltd, which is expected to fetch around Rs 125 crore to the exchequer. At the current market price of Rs 33.90 apiece, the stake sale could fetch over Rs 125 crore. At present, the government holds 97.64 per cent stake in NFL. — PTI