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Britain and China to hold new round of financial talks in London in June

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond attends a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua in Beijing
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond attends a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua (not pictured) at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee/Pool

April 25, 2019

By William James

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain and China will hold the next round of their Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) in mid-June in London, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Thursday, after months of reports that talks had been delayed by diplomatic tension.

The EFD has been used in the past to announce closer cooperation on trade and banking initiatives, and to sign commercial contracts.

However, relations between London and Beijing have been strained in recent years, most notably after a British warship sailed close to islands claimed by China last August.

The EFD talks were agreed during Hammond’s visit to Beijing to speak at a summit on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, championed by President Xi Jinping, which envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China to Asia and beyond with extensive infrastructure investment.

“By deepening our cooperation on financial services, trade, and investment with international partners, we can ensure Britain’s global future,” Hammond said in a statement.

In that light, Britain will view the agreement of potentially lucrative talks as a success and a step closer to rebuilding the close ties seen earlier in the decade when then-finance minister George Osborne successfully courted Chinese investment.

Hammond said the talks would continue the “golden era” of cooperation – a phrase used repeatedly since Xi’s state visit to London in 2015 which has become a byword for Britain’s pitch to tap the investment power of the Chinese state.

Earlier on Thursday, Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua expressed regret to Hammond that the South China Sea issue had harmed ties, and that he hoped Britain could “respect China’s core interests and important concerns”.

A Treasury statement said Hammond was due to tell the Belt and Road forum that Britain is a “natural partner for quality global infrastructure initiatives due to the world class talent and expertise the UK has to offer.”

The Chinese initiative has become mired in controversy, with some partner nations bemoaning the high cost of projects, though China has repeatedly said it is not seeking to trap anyone with debt.

Hammond will emphasis in his remarks that projects must meet international standards on governance, debt sustainability and environmental impact, the Treasury said.

(Reporting by William James, additional reporting by Andy Bruce, Editing by Kylie MacLellan and Elizabeth Piper)

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ECB extends deadline for binding bids for Italy’s Carige to mid-May: sources

FILE PHOTO: The Carige bank logo is seen in Rome
FILE PHOTO: The Carige bank logo is seen in Rome, Italy, April 16, 2016. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/File Photo

April 11, 2019

MILAN (Reuters) – The European Central Bank has pushed back a deadline to submit binding bids for troubled Italian lender Carige to mid-May so as to give a specialist fund run by BlackRock more time, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The BlackRock fund has remained as the only buyer still known to be considering a bid. One of the sources said it needed more time to study a possible offer, given all the moving parts involved.

Carige was placed under special administration at the start of the year after its top investor blocked a planned capital raising, derailing an industry-financed rescue plan.

The ECB has extended by six weeks an original April 5 deadline, one source said. The first source said there was no set deadline but “a process made up of several steps which is expected to conclude in the first part of May.”

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Andrea Mandala, editing by Valentina Za)

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DE Ogbah a no-show at Browns workouts

FILE PHOTO: NFL: Carolina Panthers at Cleveland Browns
FILE PHOTO: Dec 9, 2018; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah (90) catches a pass during warmups before a game against the Carolina Panthers at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

April 1, 2019

Cleveland Browns defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah did not report to the team’s offseason program Monday because he expects to be traded, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.

Ogbah, selected by the Browns in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft, reportedly has been on the trading block since the team acquired edge rusher Olivier Vernon from the New York Giants in March.

One notable player who did show up for the first day of the voluntary workouts was receiver Odell Beckham Jr., acquired in another trade with the Giants. The Browns tweeted a photo of him arriving at their facility with a simple caption: “Welcome to Cleveland, @obj!”

Another Browns wideout, Ricardo Louis, has been waived, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday. He was a fourth-round pick in 2016, but didn’t play last season because of a neck injury.

Louis, 25, caught 45 passes for 562 yards and no touchdowns over 32 games in the 2016-17 seasons.

Ogbah is entering the final year of a four-year, $6.6 million rookie deal he signed in 2016. He is due to make $1.35 million this season.

The 25-year-old has played in 40 games (all starts) in Cleveland, tallying 122 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks and 29 quarterback hits.

–Field Level Media

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EU tightens rules on London-based investment firms

People walk through the Canary Wharf financial district of London
People walk through the Canary Wharf financial district of London, Britain, December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

February 27, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union governments and lawmakers have reached a deal on tighter supervision of investment firms that offer “bank-like” services, including proprietary trading and underwriting of financial instruments.

The deal, reached late on Tuesday and which confirms an agreement in January by EU states, will boost the European Commission’s powers in overseeing foreign financial firms operating in the EU, giving Brussels more clout over London-based financial firms after Britain leaves the EU.

The overhaul also imposes stricter liquidity and capital requirements to large EU investment firms, tightening an initial proposal put forward by the European Commission in December 2017.

“The agreement further strengthens the equivalence regime that would apply to third country investment firms,” the EU said in a statement, adding more powers would be given to the Commission to assess whether foreign rules are compatible with EU regulations.

More than half of the 6,000 European investment firms, including U.S. giants Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, have their EU headquarters in Britain, although many have started setting up continental subsidiaries to ensure they can continue to serve clients after Brexit.

Under the new rules, that require a final rubber stamp by the European Parliament and the EU Council, the Commission would assess whether foreign investment firms operate as banks. In that case they would be subject to stricter conditions, especially if they are deemed “of systemic importance”.

The agreement “levels the playing field between the largest investment firms and the largest banks; they will follow the same rules,” the Commission’s vice-president in charge of investment and growth, Jyrki Katainen, said in a statement.

Under the reform, EU legislators also agreed to halve a threshold for the automatic application of the strictest capital and liquidity rules for EU-based firms, which the Commission had initially proposed would only apply to financial companies with assets above 30 billion euros.

As a result, investment firms with assets of 15 billion euros ($17 billion) or more would automatically be subject to the same requirements as large banks, while firms with assets between 5 and 15 billion euros could face lighter requirements unless their activities are seen to pose risks to financial stability, an EU statement said.

Other smaller firms would face a lighter prudential regime.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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Pakistan sentences 2 men to life terms in 2017 student death

A court in northwestern Pakistan has sentenced to life imprisonment two men convicted of involvement in the killing of Mashal Khan, a university student who was beaten and then fatally shot by a mob in 2017 after being falsely accused of blasphemy.

The two men — Arif Khan, a local leader of Pakistan's ruling party led by former cricket star Imran Khan, and Asad Khan — were in court in Peshawar for the sentencing.

The death of the 23-year-old Mashal was caught on video that later circulated on social media. Initially 61 people were charged with a variety of offences and 57 people were handed varying sentences in the case. Many are appealing the verdicts.

It wasn't immediately known if the two men sentenced on Thursday would also appeal.

Source: Fox News World

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California man catches alleged gun, valuables theft on security video

A California man who claimed two men allegedly robbed "priceless items" from his home seemingly caught it all on surveillance footage.

MISSOURI MEN ALLEGEDLY TRIED STEALING AL CAPONE STATUE

Kevin Valone, who lives in Elk Grove, said that he left his house around 9 a.m. on Tuesday, and when he returned an hour later, he said his front door was unlocked.

"I thought that was kind of strange and I walked back here to the bedroom," Valone told Fox affiliate KTXL. "As I walked in I noticed a huge hole in my sliding glass window right here and glass all over the floor."

Valone said he checked his security camera, and noticed a man, wearing a black t-shirt and a red True Religion brand sweatshirt, walking up his front sidewalk to his front door just before 10 a.m.

Roughly 10 minutes later, he said his surveillance footage captured two men leaving his home in Elk Grove, a city roughly 16 miles southeast of Sacramento.

Valone said one of the men appeared to be holding a handgun as he exited his house carrying what was reportedly his rifle in a case over his shoulder.

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A .40-caliber Sig Sauer handgun and an AR-15 were taken from his home, he told the news outlet.

"Violated, definitely, more angry than violated," is how Valone described how he felt following the alleged theft. "I’m more angry than anything else. I'd like to see justice."

Source: Fox News National

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Ohio man, 20, arrested for attacking teen for allegedly raping 5-year-old: police

An Ohio man was arrested last week for attacking a teen he said was raping a 5-year-old, police said.

Richard Adams, 20, walked into a room of his Eastlake, Ohio, home last Thursday and said he saw a 17-year-old raping a 5-year-old boy, WEWS reported.

“I kinda blacked out,” Adams told Cleveland's Fox 8. “I saw a 17-year-old molesting a 5-year-old. I wanted to help the young boy and that was all I was thinking about was getting it stopped.”

FLORIDA MAN CHARGED WITH SEXUAL BATTERY ON UNDERAGE GIRL HE ALLEGEDLY LURED AFTER CLAIMING TO BE 'INSTAGRAM FAMOUS'

Both the teen and Adams were arrested – the teen for rape, and Adams for felony assault, police said.

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Adams’ relationship to the 17-year-old -- whose identity was not released -- was not immediately clear. Adams posted bond and is due in court next month, Fox 8 reported.

Source: Fox News National

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Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London
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)

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
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.

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

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FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London
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)

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Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba
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)

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A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai
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.

(GRAPHIC: India Polls: Fuel price hike lags crude surge – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XLlxik)

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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