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US shuts interior checkpoints to focus on Mexico border

U.S. immigration authorities have temporarily closed highway checkpoints in New Mexico and much of West Texas, as they reassign agents and use the outposts to help process the growing numbers of Central Americans arriving at the Mexican border.

The checkpoints, located up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the border, are designed to be a final layer of defense against illegal border crossings.

"Because of the volume we are processing wherever space is available," said U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The orange traffic cones used to divert traffic off Interstate 10 into the canopy-covered border checkpoints west of Las Cruces, New Mexico, now block the entrance, signaling to drivers that they don't have to stop. Checkpoints are closed throughout the Border Patrol's El Paso, Texas, sector, which stretches across 268 miles (429 kilometers) of border in Texas and New Mexico.

The unusual move, first reported by Texas Monthly, comes as the Trump administration says the border is in a state of crisis, helping justify the president's decision to declare a national emergency and free up military funds to erect a border wall. CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan will be in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday to discuss "the dramatic increase in illegal crossings."

Arrests on Mexican border jumped to 66,450 in February, up 149 percent from a year earlier, as more Central American families seek asylum. After years of calm, El Paso has quickly emerged as the second-busiest corridor for illegal crossings behind Texas' Rio Grande Valley, with arrests in February about eight times higher than they were a year ago.

March has been even busier. John P. Sanders, Customs and Border Protection's chief operating officer, said Tuesday that the agency was on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry during the month, up about 30 percent from in February and about double the same period last year. Nearly 6 of 10 are arriving as families.

U.S. authorities made more than 4,000 border arrests on Monday alone, Sanders said at a conference in San Antonio.

While arrests are still well below highs of the early 2000s, the surge of families and children has stretched the Border Patrol.

"When you have checkpoints shutting down and you have huge distractions away from the core mission of border security, that puts our country in a very vulnerable position," said Manuel Padilla, commander of the Department of Homeland Security's Joint Task Force-West and the former head of the Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley.

U.S. officials say the checkpoint closures are a temporary measure to handle an increase in families and unaccompanied children entering the country illegally.

The Border Patrol operates 34 permanent checkpoints along the Mexican border — typically brick-and-mortar buildings with canopies over vehicle lanes — and another 103 "tactical" stops, often cones and signs that appear for brief periods, the Government Accountability Office said in a 2017 report.

While checkpoints account for only a sliver of Border Patrol arrests — 2 percent from 2013 to 2016 — they also handled 43 percent of drug busts during that time, according to the GAO.

At a gun range operated by the City of Las Cruces and used by Border Patrol agents, grandmother and Pichacho Gun Club volunteer Cindy Pollock said she first noticed the checkpoint closures on Thursday.

She thought the agents might be off training. When she heard that they were reassigned to process migrants, she wasn't surprised.

"There's only so many officers and there's nothing they can do," said Pollock, who believes the current wave of migrants draws resources away from anti-crime efforts. "My husband said 'boy just think about how many drugs are getting through today.'"

___

Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report from San Antonio.

Source: Fox News National

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Taiwan’s March exports seen falling for fifth month; inflation quickens: Reuters poll

A container is lifted at Keelung port, northern Taiwan
A container is lifted at Keelung port, northern Taiwan, October 30, 2015. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

April 3, 2019

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s exports are expected to have contracted 8.3 percent in March from a year earlier, logging a fifth consecutive month of decline, according to the median forecast of 12 analysts polled by Reuters.

Taiwan’s February exports suffered their steepest fall in nearly three years, declining 8.8 percent from a year earlier at a much faster pace than expected.

Taiwan is one of Asia’s major exporters, especially of technology goods, and its export trend is a key gauge of global demand for technology gadgets worldwide.

Taiwan’s annual inflation rate in March is seen at 0.65 percent, compared with 0.23 percent in February, the poll showed.

(Poll compiled by Carol Lee; Reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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Trump says he does not mind if public sees Mueller’s Russia probe report

U.S. President Trump departs on travel to Ohio from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs on travel to Ohio at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

March 22, 2019

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he does not mind if the public is allowed to see the report that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing about his investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and any possible links to the Trump campaign.

“Let it come out, let people see it, that’s up to the attorney general … and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“We’ll see if it’s fair,” he added.

Mueller is preparing to submit a report to U.S. Attorney General William Barr on his findings, including Russia’s role in the election and whether Trump unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe. Trump has denied collusion and obstruction. Russia has denied interfering in the election.

Barr already is coming under pressure from lawmakers to make the entire document public quickly, though he has wide latitude in what to release.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 420-0 last week on a non-binding resolution calling for Mueller’s report to be released both to Congress and to the public, but it is not clear how the measure will fare in the Senate.

Asked if the public should be allowed to see the report, Trump said: “I don’t mind.” He said he had no idea when it would be released.

As he has before, Trump questioned the legitimacy of Mueller’s investigation.

“I had the greatest electoral victory – one of them – in the history of our country, tremendous success, tens of millions of voters and now somebody’s going to write a report who never got a vote,” he said.

Mueller was appointed to handle the Russia investigation in May 2017 after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been overseeing the effort. Mueller has previously held several senior positions in the Justice Department, including FBI Director.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; writing by David Alexander and Andy Sullivan; editing by Tim Ahmann and Jonathan Oatis)

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CNN: Polls Show Bernie Sanders' Popularity Dropping

Polls are showing that Sen. Bernie Sanders' popularity is dropping among all voters over the past few months, even after he was able to hold onto most of the popularity he enjoyed during his 2016 presidential race through the end of last year.

According to a new CNN poll, Sanders' favorable rating is at 46 percent among registered voters, compared to an unfavorable rating of 45 percent, reports CNN

Meanwhile, a Quinnipiac University poll from late in December gave the Vermont Independent senator and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate a net favorability rating of plus two points, and an average of recent polls puts his net favorability at minus one point.

When Sanders' presidential bid ended in 2016, he had a 59 percent favorable rating, compared to a 36 percent unfavorable rating among voters in a CNN poll in June 2016.

Even in December 2018, a CNN poll gave the senator a plus 13 net favorability rating, and a Gallup poll in September put him at plus 15.

Sanders' net favorability, though, is at about the same place as the numerous others who have declared their candidacy for the 2020 nomination, even though he does enjoy more name recognition than many of the other contenders.

He also may need to show that he is electable against President Donald Trump. According to the newest CNN poll, 30 percent of Democratic voters think their party has a better chance of winning with him as the nominee, but 59 percent think a different candidate would be more likely to win.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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'Run Joe Run' Signs Greet Biden at Firefighters' Speech

Former Vice President Joe Biden is criticizing President Donald Trump's leadership and questioning Republicans' commitment to middle class America, teasing out themes of a possible 2020 presidential run.

Biden, a Democrat, spoke Tuesday to a gathering of the International Fire Fighters Association.

He has not announced a presidential bid, but the audience waved "Run Joe, Run" signs. Biden asked them to save their energy a little longer, because "I may need it in a few weeks."

Biden repeatedly ripped into Republicans, questioning those who oppose collective bargaining rights, saying: "Who the hell are these guys?"

He also criticized the Republican-championed tax cut signed into law by Trump, arguing they benefit the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Mexico Senate picks wife of president’s business ally for Supreme Court

Mexico's President Obrador gives a speech marking the first 100 days of his presidency at the National Palace in Mexico City
Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives a speech marking the first 100 days of his presidency at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

March 13, 2019

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s Senate on Tuesday chose the wife of a business ally of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to serve on the Supreme Court, sparking criticism that her appointment could undermine the independence of the top tribunal.

At the second time of asking, the Senate voted by an overwhelming majority to approve the nomination of Yasmin Esquivel, a Mexico City judge married to Jose Maria Rioboo, a construction magnate with close ties to Lopez Obrador.

After her ratification, Esquivel, who has rejected any suggestion that her relationship with Rioboo could compromise her integrity at the court, vowed to uphold the independence of the judiciary in serving her 15-year term.

But critics of Lopez Obrador expressed dismay that she would fill the seat vacated last month by Justice Margarita Luna Ramos.

Denise Dresser, a political scientist at Mexico’s ITAM university, said that Lopez Obrador’s National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) had fed suspicion of a conflict of interest by voting for Esquivel, and had undermined the court.

“The division of powers loses out, it looks weaker,” Dresser wrote on Twitter. “Mexico loses.”

MORENA and its allies needed a two-thirds majority in the 128-seat Senate to ratify Esquivel, and fell short with only 66 of the 122 votes cast during a first round of voting.

But after a recess, a second vote was held and Esquivel was elected with 95 votes, according to an interior ministry tally.

Esquivel was one of three women under Senate review for the post nominated by Lopez Obrador. The two others both had ties to MORENA, but they received little or no support.

During Lopez Obrador’s 2000-2005 stint as mayor of Mexico City, Rioboo was a contractor on one of the administration’s top public works, the construction of an elevated highway around part of the capital known as the Segundo Piso (Second Floor).

Rioboo was also a vocal proponent of abandoning a $13 billion Mexico City airport being built on the drained bed of Lake Texcoco by the previous government in favor of converting a military base north of the capital into a new travel hub.

Lopez Obrador canceled the Texcoco project in late October and said he would convert the base as a cheaper alternative. He said Rioboo would not be a contractor on the new project.

(Reporting by Dave Graham and Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Kansas parents of 3-year-old boy found dead in crib charged with murder, child abuse

The parents of a 3-year-old Kansas boy found dead in a crib last week were charged with his death, authorities said.

Authorities suspect Zaiden Javonovich may have been dead for several days when police officers found him on April 11, the Wichita Eagle reported. His parents, Brandi Kai Marchant, 22, and Patrick Javonovich, 28, both face first-degree murder and child abuse charges.

The officers were called to the Wichita home around 11:30 p.m. by a neighbor reporting a domestic disturbance. The parents were walking outside when officers arrived. Inside, they found Zaiden deceased and wrapped in a blanket in a crib and a 4-month-old boy, according to the paper.

“If they (the officers) wouldn’t have went inside and communicated out there, more than likely they would have left, made a report and we wouldn’t have known about this for I don’t know how long,” Wichita police Capt. Brent Allred said of the child’s death.

Both children had injuries and showed signs of neglect, he said. The boy was taken to a hospital and is “doing much better.” The parents have other children who do not live at the home, Allred said.

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Marchant and Javonovich are being held on $200,000 bond each.

“It’s shocking to see adults treat their kids in the way these two were treated,” Allred said. “It’s, I say, ‘pathetic,’ because that’s what it is.”

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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