By Anjana Pasricha
India’s finance minister is pledging to revive economic growth
by trimming the country’s fiscal deficit. He also says India is in critical
need of foreign investment to reverse the worst slowdown in a decade for Asia’s
third largest economy.
Speaking to parliament during the presentation of the country's
annual budget, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram vowed to cut India’s fiscal
deficit to 4.8 per cent in the next fiscal year. He said the country needs to make tough
spending decisions.
"I have no choice but to rationalize expenditure. We took
a dose of bitter medicine. It seems to be working," he said.
India’s fiscal and current deficits have raised concern of a
downgrade by rating agencies.
However, government spending will rise by about 16 per cent in
the next year. To meet those expenses, the Finance Minister announced a
temporary tax on the super rich - those with an annual income of about $200,000
- and on local companies with an income of over $2 million.
Minister Chidambaram acknowledged that the Indian economy,
which has slowed to a decade-low of about five percent, is in a trough. He says
restoring high growth is a challenge, but that he is optimistic about the
future.
"There is no reason for gloom or pessimism," he said.
"Even now, of the large countries of the world, only China and Indonesia
are growing faster than India in 2012-13. And in 2013-14, if we grow at the
rate projected by many forecasters, only China will grow faster than India.”
The government estimates that India’s economy will grow by over
six percent in the next fiscal year, after slipping to five percent in the last
year.
Chidambaram focused on winning back foreign investors assuring
them that India will be business friendly.
He pointed out that India needs $75 billion to finance its
current account deficit, or trade imbalance, which has grown rapidly due to
massive imports of oil, gold and coal.
"I have been at pains to state over and over again that
India does not have the choice between welcoming and spurning foreign
investment. Foreign investment is an imperative," he said.
Foreign investment fell last year as investors were alienated
by a series of unexpected tax proposals, by corruption scandals and India’s
tough regulatory regime. Opposition parties have also opposed the government’s
decision to open the retail sector to foreign supermarkets.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed hope that the measures
announced will revive the economy and that India will return to growth levels
of about eight percent in two to three years.
Forecasters say returning India to those levels of growth will
depend on the government’s willingness to reduce spending, initiate reforms and
control inflation. ---VOA News
Mali Conflict Disrupts Schooling for 700,000 Children
By Kim Lewis
On-going fighting has disrupted education for hundreds of
thousands of school children in both the north and south of Mali. UNICEF as
well as educational authorities there report that some 700,000 children are
affected, with 200,000 of those left with no access to school at all.
UNICEF says schools in the north have been closed and looted,
and many teachers have failed to return.
In the south, schools have become so overcrowded teachers are not able
to handle the influx of displaced students from the north.
“At this point there have been more than 115 schools that have
been closed or destroyed or looted. One
of the other problems that we are facing is that many teachers are still scared
to go back to the northern part of the country.
And in the southern part, we have already overcrowded schools that have
to cope with the influx of displaced students from the north,” explained
Laurent Duvillier, UNICEF spokesperson for west and central Africa. He added this is an extra burden on the
teachers and infrastructure.
He explained that in the north only one out of three schools is
functioning, and in Kidal, all schools are closed. “That means that a child in Kidal at this
stage has no opportunity to get access to education. So that’s extremely
concerning, “ said Duvillier.
He said his organization is working to provide educational
materials to school children and teachers.
“UNICEF is moving forward first with the distribution of school
kits and teaching materials to the teachers and the schools in the southern
part of the country, closer to the northern part of the country,” he said.
Duvillier also said they have access to Mopti in the central
part of the country.
“So the teachers and the school kids have arrived in Mopti, and
we’ll soon be distributing in the northern part of the country, together with
our partners and local NGO’s,” explained Duvillier.
For those schools that have been destroyed or looted, central
learning spaces are being set up under tents where children can learn and play
in a safe environment. ---VOA News
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