Apr 20, 2019; Hilton Head, SC, USA; Dustin Johnson tees off from seventh hole during the third round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament at Harbour Town Golf Links. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
April 20, 2019
(Reuters) – World number one Dustin Johnson overhauled halfway leader Shane Lowry to open up a one-stroke advantage after the third round of the windswept RBC Heritage in South Carolina on Saturday.
Johnson, a South Carolina native, shot a three-under 68 in trying conditions to end on 10-under 203, making his move with three consecutive birdies from the 13th and holding on to his lead despite dropping shots at 16 and 17.
Lowry’s lead evaporated with three bogeys on the back nine and he finished with an even-par 71, tied for second on nine-under along with Ian Poulter (67) and Rory Sabbatini (68) at Hilton Head Island’s Harbour Town Golf Links.
Six others were tied a shot further back on eight-under 205.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Aides set up platforms before a group photo with members of U.S. and Chinese trade negotiation delegations at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China February 15, 2019. Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS
February 19, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new round of talks between the United States and China to resolve their trade war will take place in Washington on Tuesday, with follow-up sessions at a higher level later in the week, the White House said on Monday.
The talks follow a round of negotiations that ended last week in Beijing without a deal but which officials said had generated progress on contentious issues between the two trading partners.
The talks are aimed at “achieving needed structural changes in China that affect trade between the United States and China. The two sides will also discuss China’s pledge to purchase a substantial amount of goods and services from the United States,” the White House said in a statement.
A Florida man who allegedly shot at police during a high-speed chase near Miami’s South Beach Friday faces charges of attempted murder, armed robbery and eluding police, according to reports. (iStock)
A Florida man who allegedly shot at police during a high-speed chase near Miami’s South Beach Friday faces charges of attempted murder, armed robbery and eluding police, according to reports.
The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Terence Daniel II, robbed a valet attendant at gunpoint, stealing about $1,500 before leaving in a Dodge Challenger, the Miami Beach News reported, citing the arrest report. Officers eventually spotted the Challenger, identified by the valet, and attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the report claimed.
Daniel allegedly shot at officers through his windshield before speeding away. After driving into Miami, he reportedly bailed out of the car and barricaded himself in a shed. After setting up a perimeter and dispatching K-9 units to find him, police said they were able to negotiate to get Daniel out of the shed.
He was reportedly injured by a police dog when he failed to follow police commands and was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released.
Evangelical Pastor Ramón Rigal and his wife Ayda Expósito were both sentenced to prison after engaging in and promoting homeschooling in the communist country of Cuba.
“Homeschooling is illegal in Cuba, as it is considered a “capitalist” practice and prevents the state from indoctrinating children in Marxist atheism in public schools. Rigal has been homeschooling his children for years, forcing him into consistent confrontations with the Castro regime, and began helping other Christian families homeschool following his arrest in 2017.”
Rigal and Expósito, who are from Guatemala, were detained last week over their refusal to send their children to government-run schools.
In two previous cases against the couple, journalist Yoe Suarez reported, “the prosecutor indicated that education at home is ‘not permitted in Cuba because it has a capitalist foundation’ and that only [the government] teachers are prepared ‘to instill socialist values’.”
On Monday, the judge presiding over their cases found them guilty of “illicit assembly and incitement to delinquency” for helping other families interested in homeschooling.
Cuban state security wouldn’t let friends or family attend the sentencing and they got violent with attorney and journalist Roberto de Jesús Quiñones Haces.
“They punched me in the mouth, my shirt is bloody, and I am detained here now, I don’t know why,” Quiñones told a Cuban reporter.
Before the couple was arrested, they were planning on leaving the country for a nation that respects their right to freely educate their children.
Watch Rigal explain his situation in the video below that was released days before his arrest.
The case took place amid rising tension in Cuba after the country adopted a new constitution earlier this year that was met with opposition from religious leaders who say it weakens protections for freedom of religion.
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FILE PHOTO: Lens producers Essilor' s logo is seen in an optician shop in Paris, France, March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo
March 13, 2019
By Claudia Cristoferi
MILAN (Reuters) – The top shareholder in EssilorLuxottica sought to ease concerns over governance at the merged Franco-Italian group on Wednesday by saying he would not insist on his right-hand man becoming chief executive of the combined company.
Italy’s Luxottica and France’s Essilor merged last October to create the world’s biggest producer of spectacles and lenses. Analysts say the division of power at the group is unclear and that tensions could undermine the integration process.
The group has just launched the search for a new chief executive, to be appointed by the end of next year.
Leonardo Del Vecchio, the founder of Luxottica who is now the largest shareholder and the executive chairman of the combined group, had appeared to indicate in November that he wanted his right-hand man Francesco Milleri to get the CEO job – a prospect that has irked the French side.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for Del Vecchio, 83, said his November comments “shouldn’t be interpreted as his desire to appoint Francesco Milleri as CEO of EssilorLuxottica.”
The spokesman added that Del Vecchio, who has 32 percent of EssilorLuxottica, wanted to transfer some operational functions to Milleri, so that he could focus more on strategic matters.
The governance issue came back into focus on Wednesday after a Financial Times report said the French and Italian sides were pushing their own candidates for the top job.
Milleri started off as an IT consultant to Luxottica and grew closer to Del Vecchio over the years, eventually becoming the billionaire founder’s most trusted aide and CEO of the Italian company.
The spokesman said giving additional powers to Milleri now would not alter the balance of power with the French side of the group and would not affect the search for the new CEO. Under the terms of the merger, Del Vecchio and Essilor CEO Hubert Sagnieres are sharing powers for the first three years.
“(Del Vecchio’s holding) Delfin wants to respect all the merger agreements,” the spokesman said.
EssilorLuxottica declined to comment.
Analysts said the group should urgently define a clear leadership.
“It is essential for the execution of the plan. We think this should be a priority and cannot wait until 2020,” said analysts at broker Equita in a note.
(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi; editing by Silvia Aloisi and Keith Weir)
FILE PHOTO: An oil platform operated by Lukoil is seen at the Korchagina oilfield in the Caspian Sea, Russia October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
February 19, 2019
(This Feb. 14 story corrects the figure in the second paragraph to 200,000 tonnes per month – not per year)
By Alexander Ershov, Olga Yagova and Dmitry Zhdannikov
MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) – A clash between trading house Vitol and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR over Caspian Sea oil shipments is forcing Turkmenistan to slash exports of crude due to a lack of tankers.
Turkmenistan typically exports about 200,000 tonnes of oil per month via the Caspian to world markets, mainly from fields operated by the UAE’s ENOC and Italy’s Eni, but flows have halved in recent weeks, six traders involved in operations said.
That happened after Turkmen producers decided to export oil via Russia with the help of Swiss trader Vitol and ditch the previous Azeri route, operated by state-owned SOCAR.
The reasons behind the change are not fully clear but trading sources attributed it to pricing disagreements. Three trading sources said SOCAR had raised tariffs, while one source said Vitol had offered lower tariffs.
“The only problem was that Vitol was lacking tankers,” one of the sources involved in operations said.
Vitol said it would not comment on commercial activity or trading. SOCAR, ENOC and the Turkmen Energy Ministry declined to comment. Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft did not respond to a request for comment.
Eni said it had not been forced to reduce exports or production and that “the situation was stable”.
Russian Energy Ministry data shows that no exports of Turkmen oil occurred via Russia in January. In February, only 80,000 tonnes will be loaded from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk.
Eni declined to say why its production and exports were stable after such a drop in shipments or whether it was stockpiling oil in Turkmenistan.
SUNKEN SHIP
SOCAR controls the Caspian’s largest fleet of small and mid-sized tankers, which used to ship Turkmen oil to Baku. From there, it was loaded into the BTC pipeline to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
In Turkmenistan, ENOC’s Dragon Oil is developing the Cheleken oilfield, with annual output of some 2.4 million tonnes. Eni produces nearly 300,000 tonnes per year from the Okarem field.
In 2018, crude from Dragon Oil was exported via BTC through SOCAR. Eni also sold volumes to Vitol, which in turn resold it to SOCAR. Under new long-term deals for this year, Dragon and Eni chose Vitol to export oil to the Russian port of Makhachkala, where Transneft is taking it to Novorossiisk.
Upset by the development, SOCAR refused to let Vitol use its tankers, the six traders said.
“Everyone is free to defend their commercial interests,” said a source at SOCAR when asked about tankers.
Vitol has secured several tankers, but these will be able to transport only around 120,000 tonnes a month until the Russian river-canal system becomes ice-free and opens to navigation in April, trading sources said. Shipments can then increase.
The Caspian tanker shortage was such that Vitol had to charter old ships, including the Grigoriy Bugrov, a 44-year-old vessel that sank in 2011 and was later repaired.
“These vessels were chartered on an exceptional basis and only after physical inspection by an experienced professional. Vitol is extremely mindful of its responsibilities in respect of customers, stakeholders and the environment,” Vitol said when asked about the Bugrov tanker.
The slowness of crude exports has forced Turkmen producers to stockpile oil throughout January and February, the six trading sources said.
“Storage tanks are full so the Turkmens now face the risk of suspending some production,” a market source familiar with the matter said.
STAKES HIGH
Despite their modest volumes, Turkmen oil exports have always been a high-stakes, high-margins game.
Oil is bought in Turkmenistan at a discount of several dollars per barrel to the dated Brent benchmark.
Crude is then sold in the Mediterranean at a premium to dated Brent as Azeri BTC – in case of shipments via Azerbaijan – or as Siberian Light, which also normally trades at a premium to dated Brent if it flows via Russia’s Novorossiisk.
“Losing Turkmen crude means lower exports via BTC and lower crude quality,” a trader with a European refiner said.
For Russia, getting Turkmen volumes does the opposite – it helps improve the quality of oil in the pipeline system.
Azeri BTC crude oil loadings are scheduled to fall some 10 percent in March versus February.
The situation regarding quality was not critical, the SOCAR source said.
“Negotiations about getting oil from Turkmenistan are not over … We hope there is a chance that we will get some Turkmen oil volumes,” the SOCAR source added.
(Reporting by Olga Yagova, Alexander Ershov, Gleb Gorodyankin in Moscow, Nailia Bagirova in Baku, Dmitry Zhdannikov and Jonathan Saul in London, additional reporting by Olzhas Auyezov in Almaty; Editing by Dale Hudson)
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey
April 26, 2019
By Hanna Rantala
LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.
“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.
Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.
With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.
“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.
“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”
The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.
O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.
“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.
“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”
The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.
“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.
“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”
Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.
Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.
“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.
“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
April 26, 2019
By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce a bill Friday that offers new protections for U.S. military families facing unsafe housing, following a series of Reuters reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes.
The Reuters reports and later Congressional hearings detailed widespread hazards including lead paint exposure, vermin infestations, collapsing ceilings, mold and maintenance lapses in privatized base housing communities that serve some 700,000 U.S. military family members.
(View Warren’s military housing bill here. https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dy5aht)
(Read Reuters’ Ambushed at Home series on military housing here. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-military)
The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would mandate both regular and unannounced spot inspections of base homes by certified, independent inspectors, holding landlords accountable for quickly fixing hazards. The military’s privatization program for years allowed real estate firms to operate base housing with scant oversight, Reuters found, leaving some tenants in unsafe homes with little recourse against landlords.
The bill would also require the Department of Defense and its private housing operators to publish reports annually detailing housing conditions, tenant complaints, maintenance response times and the financial incentives companies receive at each base. The provisions aim to enhance transparency of housing deals whose finances and operations the military had allowed to remain largely confidential under a privatization program since the late 1990s.
The measure would also require private landlords to cover moving costs for at-risk families, and healthcare costs for people with medical conditions resulting from unsafe base housing, ensuring they receive continuing coverage even after they leave the homes or the military.
“This bill will eliminate the kind of corner-cutting and neglect the Defense Department should never have let these private housing partners get away with in the first place,” Warren said in a statement Friday.
The proposed legislation comes after February Senate hearings where Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, slammed private real estate firms for endangering service families, and sought answers about why military branches weren’t providing more oversight.
Her legislation would direct the Defense Department to allow local housing code enforcers onto federal bases, following concerns they were sometimes denied access. Warren’s office said a companion bill in the House of Representatives would be introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico.
In response to the housing crisis, military branches are developing a tenant bill of rights and hiring hundreds of new housing staff. The branches recently dispatched commanders to survey base housing worldwide for safety hazards, resulting in thousands of work orders and hundreds of tenants being moved. The Defense Department has pledged to renegotiate its 50-year contracts with private real estate firms.
Congress has been quick to take its own measures. Earlier legislation proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, along with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would compel base commanders to withhold rent payments and incentive fees from the private ventures if they allow home hazards to persist.
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
April 26, 2019
By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar
(Reuters) – Deloitte quit as Ferrexpo’s auditor on Friday, knocking its shares by more than 20 percent, days after saying it was unable to conclude whether the iron ore miner’s CEO controlled a charity being investigated over its use of company donations.
Blooming Land, which coordinates Ferrexpo’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, came under scrutiny after auditors found holes in the charity’s statements.
Ferrexpo on Tuesday said findings of an ongoing independent investigation launched in February indicated some Blooming Land funds could have been “misappropriated”. It did not provide any details or publish its findings.
Shares in Ferrexpo, the third largest exporter of pellets to the global steel industry, were 23.4 percent lower at 206.1 pence at 1022 GMT following news of Deloitte’s resignation.
“Ferrexpo’s shares are deeply discounted vs peers … following the resignation of Deloitte, we expect downside risks to dominate Ferrexpo’s shares near term.” JP Morgan analyst Dominic O’Kane said in a note on Friday.
Swiss-headquartered Ferrexpo did not provide a reason for the resignation of Deloitte, which declined to comment, while Blooming Land did not respond to a request for comment.
Funding for Blooming Land’s CSR activities is provided by one of Ferrexpo’s units in Ukraine and Khimreaktiv LLC, an entity ultimately controlled by Ferrexpo’s CEO and majority owner Kostyantin Zhevago, Ferrexpo said on Tuesday.
Ferrexpo’s board has found that Zhevago did not have significant influence or control over the charity, but Deloitte said it was unable reach a conclusion on this.
Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.
In a qualified opinion, a statement addressing an incomplete audit, Deloitte said it had been unable to conclude whether $33.5 million of CSR donations to Blooming Land between 2017 and 2018 was used for “legitimate business payments for charitable purposes”.
Deloitte said on Tuesday that total CSR payments made to Blooming Land by Ferrexpo since 2013 total about $110 million.
Ferrexpo, whose major mines are in Ukraine, has said that the investigation was ongoing and new evidence pointed to potential discrepancies.
Zhevago, 45, who ranked 1,511 on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires for 2019 with a net worth of $1.4 billion, owns the FC Vorskla soccer club and has been a member of Ukraine’s parliament since 1998.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Bernard Orr)
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES
April 26, 2019
By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer
JOHANNESBURG/LUANDA (Reuters) – Cyclone Kenneth killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday.
The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280 km per hour (174 mph) when it made landfall on Thursday evening, after killing three people in the island nation of Comoros.
It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Mozambique’s northern coast and came just six weeks after Cyclone Idai battered the impoverished nation, causing devastating floods and killing more than 1,000 people across a swathe of southern Africa.
The World Food Programme warned that Kenneth could dump as much as 600 millimeters of rain on the region over the next 10 days – twice that brought by Cyclone Idai.
One woman in the port town of Pemba died after being hit by a falling tree, the Emergency Operations Committee for Cabo Delgado (COE) said in a statement, while another person was injured.
In rural areas outside Pemba, many homes are made of mud. In the main town on the island of Ibo, 90 percent of the houses were destroyed, officials said. Around 15,000 people were out in the open or in “overcrowded” shelters and there was a need for tents, food and water, they said.
There were also reports of a large number of homes and some infrastructure destroyed in Macomia district, a mainland district adjacent to Ibo.
A local group, the Friends of Pemba Association, had earlier reported that they could not reach people in Muidumbe, a district further inland.
Mark Lowcock, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned the storm could require another major humanitarian operation in Mozambique.
“Cyclone Kenneth marks the first time two cyclones have made landfall in Mozambique during the same season, further stressing the government’s limited resources,” he said in a statement.
FLOOD WARNINGS
Shaquila Alberto, owner of the beach-front Messano Flower Lodge in Macomia, said there were many fallen trees there, and in rural areas people’s homes had been damaged. Some areas of nearby Pemba had no power.
“Even my workers, they said the roof and all the things fell down,” she said by phone.
Further south, in Pemba, Elton Ernesto, a receptionist at Raphael’s Hotel, said there were fallen trees but not too much damage. The hotel had power and water, he said, while phones rang in the background. “The rain has stopped,” he added.
However Michael Charles, an official for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said heavy rains over the next few days were likely to bring a “second wave of destruction” in the form of flooding.
“The houses are not all solid, and the topography is very sandy,” Charles said.
In the days after Cyclone Idai, heavy inland rains prompted rivers to burst their banks, submerging entire villages, cutting areas off from aid and ruining crops. There were concerns the same could happen again in northern Mozambique.
Before Kenneth hit, the government and aid workers moved around 30,000 people to safer buildings such as schools, however authorities said that around 680,000 people were in the path of the storm.
(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alexandra Zavis)
FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
April 26, 2019
By Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Surging global oil prices will pose a first big challenge to India’s new government, whoever wins an election now under way, especially as domestic prices have been allowed to lag, meaning consumers are in for a painful surge as they catch up.
For oil-import dependent India, higher global prices could lead to a weaker rupee, higher inflation, the ruling out of interest rate cuts and could further weigh on twin current account and budget deficits, economists warned.
But compounding the future pain, state-run fuel suppliers and retailers have held off passing on to consumers the higher prices during a staggered general election, which began on April 11 and ends on May 23, according to sources familiar with the situation.
That delay is expected to be unwound once the election is over. And there could be additional price increases to make up for losses or profits missed during the period of delayed increases, the sources said.
In some major Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, pump prices are adjusted periodically so they move largely in tandem with international crude prices.
That was what was supposed to happen in India but the election means there have been many days when pump prices have been unchanged.
In New Delhi, for example, while crude oil prices have gone up by nearly $9 a barrel, or about 12 percent, in the past six weeks, gasoline prices have only risen by 0.47 rupees a liter, or 0.6 percent.
State-controlled fuel suppliers and retailers declined to say why they had delayed price increases, or discuss whether there has been any pressure from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A government spokesman declined to comment.
The opposition Congress party said Modi’s government was violating its own policy of daily price revision by advising the state oil companies to hold prices steady.
“The government should cut fuel taxes otherwise consumers will have to pay much higher oil prices once the elections are over,” said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, a senior leader of the Congress party.
Nitin Goyal, treasurer at the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, representing fuel stations in 25 states, said prices were similarly held down for 19 days in the southern state of Karnataka last year, when it held state assembly elections.
Only for them to surge after the vote.
“Consumers should be ready for a rude shock of a massive jump in retail prices, similar to the level we have seen in the Karnataka state election,” Goyal said.
‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’
Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at Singapore-based consultancy FGE, said retail prices of gasoline and gasoil prices would have been up to 6 percent, or about 4 rupee, higher if they had been allowed to rise in line with global prices.
“Indian pump prices have failed to keep up with the recent uptrend in crude prices,” Paravaikkarasu said.
“With the country’s general elections underway, the incumbent government has been keeping pump prices relatively unchanged.”
India had switched to a daily price revision in June 2017 from a revision every two weeks, as the government allowed retailers to set prices.
But the government faced protests last October when retailers raised prices by up to 10 rupees a liter after the crude oil price went above $80 a barrel, forcing it to cut fuel taxes.
Global prices rose to their highest level in 2019 on Thursday, days after the United States announced all Iran sanction waivers would end by May, pressuring importers including India to stop buying Tehran’s oil. [O/R]
Higher oil prices will mean Asia’s third largest economy is likely to see growth of less than 7 percent rate this fiscal year, economists said. Growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the October-December quarter, the slowest in five quarters.
Rating agency CARE has warned that a 10 percent rise in global oil prices could increase demand for dollars, putting pressure on the rupee and widening the current account deficit.
India’s oil import bill rose by nearly one-third in the fiscal year ending March 31 to $140.5 billion, against $108 billion the previous year.
“The increase in international oil prices is a credit negative for the Indian economy,” ICRA, the Indian arm of the Fitch rating agency, said in a note.
“Every $10/ bbl increase in crude oil prices increases the fiscal deficit by about 0.1 percent of GDP.”
Any big price rise would also build a case for the central bank to keep rates steady, or even raise them.
The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, which cut the benchmark policy repo rate by 25 basis points this month, warned that rising oil and food prices could push up inflation.
Policymakers are worried that a sustained increase in the oil price in the range of $70-75/barrel or higher can move the rupee down by 3-4 percent on an annual basis.
The rupee has depreciated by 1.24 percent against the dollar since a year high in mid-March.
($1 = 70.1800 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Martin Howell and Rob Birsel)
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