Economics June 2013

1. India’s trade deficit widened to a seven month high of $20.1 billion in May as gold imports continue to surge while exports declined by over a percent.

   

2. Reserve Bank on Monday kept the key interest rates unchanged citing elevated food inflation, rupee depreciation and uncertainty over foreign fund inflows. Key short term lending rate (repo rate) kept unchanged at 7.25 per cent;Cash reserve ratio unchanged at 4 pc;
   

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3. A slew of stimulating reforms are in the offing. Over the next three weeks, the Centre is likely to set up a railway tariff authority, a coal and road regulator, unveil a new policy of auctioning coal blocks and remove the FDI cap in various sectors. The moves come as an attempt to kick-start a sluggish economy, remove the investment gloom and improve investor confidence.
4. Search engine giant Google on Monday launched a new ad format ‘Product Listing Ads’ in India to provide users information like images, price and brands of products, which will help people shop better both online and offline.