Taiwan's exports down 2.3pc in 2012

TAIPEI, Jan 7: Taiwan's exports fell 2.3 per cent last year due to sluggish overseas demand for mobile devices in the slowest growth rate since 2009, the government said Monday. Shipments in 2012 totalled $301.1 billion, down from $308.3 billion the previous year, as the island's overseas sales of mobile phones plunged $4.54 billion, or 42.8 percent, the ministry of finance said in a statement. But it said there are signs that the export sector, the chief growth engine of the island economy, started to pick up from the fourth quarter. Exports in the three months to December rose 2.5 per cent to $77.51 billion, ending three consecutive quarterly export declines, it said. In 2009 exports fell 20.3 percent from a year earlier to 203.7 billion dollars, while imports dropped 27.4 percent to 174.6 billion dollars, according to the ministry. — AFP

Japan to compile 12t yen extra budget

TOKYO, Jan 7: Japan's government will compile a 12 trillion yen ($136.30 billion) extra budget with up to 10 trillion yen set aside for economic stimulus, several sources said Monday. The government will sell more than 5 trillion in new bonds to fund the budget, the sources said. The remaining funds will come from unspent money from last fiscal year's budget and money originally allocated to servicing existing debt, the sources said. — Reuters

Indian govt may fix a per litre

subsidy on diesel

NEW DELHI, Jan 7: In lieu of the fact that diesel amounts for 60 per cent of under-recoveries, the government may fix a per litre subsidy on this fuel to bring predictability in expenditure. According to ET Now sources in the government, a permanent solution for the approximately Rs 1,80,000 crore under-recoveries for this fiscal is being thought of. A per litre subsidy on diesel will imply that oil marketing companies will not be reimbursed on an ad hoc basis for the losses that they incur. Instead a compensation of fixed amount on a per litre basis would be given. The relatively fixed subsidy burden can be brought down in case global crude oil prices decline. Last year's economic survey and renowned economists like Kirit Parikh and Kaushik Basu have already recommended this form of subsidy in the past. This however, does not rule out the chances of a hike in diesel prices, reported ET Now. A Re 1 hike on a ten-month basis is unlikely to find political favour.

— Economic Times