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NYC mayor seen flapping to R. Kelly’s ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ amid child abuse claims

Mayor de Blasio got himself into a real Space Jam on Sunday when he was caught on video flapping his arms to a version of R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” while visiting a church in South Carolina.

An 18-second video shows de Blasio standing on the left side of the chapel as a female choir member belts out the refrain of the late 1990s mega-hit by the since-disgraced R&B superstar, who is facing sexual abuse charges tied to four underage victims.

ALLRED: NEW VIDEO SURFACES

The mayor moves his arms from front to back, then holds them out by his side and waves them up and down before clasping his hands.

“I wonder if the @NYCMayor realizes who sings this song,” tweeted NY1 reporter Courtney Gross, who captured the video.

The clip shows a sizeable number of women churchgoers remaining seated, despite the encouragement of their pastor, whose gestures appear to urge the congregation to stand up and join in.

Kelly was indicted last month in Chicago on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse against four underage victims between 1998 and 2010.

In an email, de Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips insisted: “The Mayor wasn’t the church’s DJ and he certainly can’t be expected to recognize every R. Kelly track.”

“I Believe I Can Fly” was featured in the 1996 move “Space Jam,” which starred Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny in a combined live action/animated comic adventure at the peak of the legendary Chicago Bull’s playing career.

The movie grossed more than $250 million in global ticket sales, and “I Believe I Can Fly” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s “Hot R&B/Hip-Hop” chart and No. 2 on the “Hot 100.”

Aside from the linkage of the once revered song to the Kelly sex scandal de Blasio’s arm flapping also evoked imagery from critics who’ve likened the 6-foot-5 pol to various avian characters.

During the mayor’s 2017 re-election campaign, challenger Bo Dietl repeatedly derided him as “Big Bird,” while a 2015 profile in The Atlantic magazine said his “hooded eyes and dour countenance” was reminiscent of “Sam the Eagle, the Muppets’ harrumphing, censorious patriot.”

Click for more from The New York Post

Source: Fox News Politics

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Md. GOP Gov. Hogan Gives ’20 Run ‘Serious Consideration’

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday he is considering a Republican primary challenge against President Donald Trump for next year's presidential election.

Hogan spoke at a "Politics & Eggs" event in New Hampshire and confirmed a White House run could be in his near future.

"A lot of people have been approaching me, probably since around my inauguration in late January," Hogan said, according to ABC News. "People have asked me to give this serious consideration, and I think I owe it to those people to do just that. That's what I'm doing."

The governor added that seeing the Republican Party throw its full weight behind Trump for the 2020 election indicates a shift in how the party used to be.

"Not that the Republican National Committee doesn't have the right to support the sitting president," he said. "But to change the rules and to insist 100% loyalty to the dear leader, it just didn't sound much like the Republican Party that I grew up in."

Regarding the Mueller report, which was released last week after nearly two years of investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump or his campaign conspired with the Russians, Hogan said the report had some "very disturbing stuff."

"Just because aides did not follow his orders, it's the only reason we don't have obstruction of justice," Hogan said.

Hogan has been critical of Trump in the past. He told the media in March it is not the "enemy of the people," a phrase often used by Trump. Earlier in March, he teased a potential White House run but said he would need to see "an actual path to victory" before joining the race.

Source: NewsMax America

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Australian Senator Slapped With Egg By Teen After Criticizing Mass Immigration

A teenager assaulted an Australian Senator with a raw egg over his negative comments about mass immigration of Muslims, and video of the incident went viral.

The teen boy smashed a raw egg on the back of Sen. Fraser Anning’s head during a press conference Saturday, who retaliated with several swings of his own.

The exchange went viral on social media, with leftists hailing the boy as a hero.

The Australian Senate and premier sided with “Egg Boy,” asserting that Anning must face consequences for fighting back.

“The full force of the law should be applied to Sen. Anning,” said Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Anning had complained about the “increasing Muslim presence” in New Zealand from its mass immigration program following the Christchurch shooting.

“I am utterly opposed to any form of violence within our community, and I totally condemn the actions of the gunman,” Anning said Friday. “However, whilst this kind of violent vigilantism can never be justified, what it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand of the increasing Muslim presence.”

Additionally, Anning criticized the left’s double standard when it comes to terror attacks, claiming they would designate the next Islamic terror attack as a “lone wolf” attack with “no connection to Islam.”

New Zealand’s government has responded to the Christchurch shooting with virtue-signaling and calls for gun control rather than putting forward practical solutions.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised that gun control would come to New Zealand, and donned a hijab while meeting with victims of the Christchurch terror attack committed by a white supremacist.


Reports are now emerging that the Mosque shooter is not the white “Christian conservative” the MSM says that he is. Alex Jones exposes the false narrative surrounding this tragedy.

Source: InfoWars

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Oklahoma teen pleads guilty in teacher's death, other crimes

An Oklahoma teenager charged with murder, rape and other felonies during a 2017 string of crimes has pleaded guilty less than a month before his trial was to start.

Seventeen-year-old Deonte James Green pleaded guilty in Tulsa County court Wednesday to first-degree murder and 19 other counts in a blind plea, meaning it was entered without a sentencing agreement with prosecutors. His trial was scheduled to begin April 1.

In July, a hearing will be held for Green, who faces up to life in prison without parole, that will consider his age and likelihood of rehabilitation before Green is sentenced.

Green was 16 when he's accused of shooting Broken Arrow middle school teacher Shane Anderson to death and raping an 81-year-old woman in a separate incident.

Source: Fox News National

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Trump talks MAGA’s origins and GOP’s bright 2020 prospects

President Trump spoke at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual spring dinner on Tuesday. There, he took some credit for originating the now-iconic slogan "Make America Great Again" (MAGA).

PRO-TRUMP PAC ATTACKS 'CREEPY JOE' BIDEN IN AD RECALLING CLINTON CAMPAIGN

“They were saying it was the greatest theme in the history of politics,” he said, wondering aloud if MAGA should morph into Keep America Great.

“How do you give that up for a new one? KAGA. KAGA. Everything’s MAGA. Even when I do a tweet -- that has kept us in business, those tweets. It's the only form of defense because the press is 94 percent against us,” he said.

He said he came up with MAGA slogan himself.

On another note, Trump told House Republicans their time in the minority is not going to last long.

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Trump said: “We’re going to take back the House. We are.”

Democrats hold a 235-197 majority in the House, with three vacancies.

The Democrats found success in the November elections by attracting support from women, people of color and college-educated voters, particularly in suburban districts.

Trump said tax cuts and his work on trade deals would bolster the GOP in 2020.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Avoiding temptation, India likely to cut key rate by just 25 bps

CCTV cameras are seen installed above the logo of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) inside its headquarters in Mumbai
CCTV cameras are seen installed above the logo of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) inside its headquarters in Mumbai, India, February 7, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

April 2, 2019

By Suvashree Choudhury and Aftab Ahmed

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut its policy interest rate by 25 basis points on Thursday, despite some analysts believing the country’s weakening economic growth and subdued inflation outlook warrant a larger reduction.

The RBI’s six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) began its three day review on Tuesday, and most analysts expected it to take a cautious approach given uncertainty over who will lead the government after the coming election and what their fiscal policy will be.

Campaigning for votes, political parties have been promising dole-outs including direct cash payments to poor people if they win power, stoking potential inflation fears.

The inflation outlook could also be upset by the perennial risk of sharply higher food prices if the monsoon season rains disappoint.

With that in mind, more than 85 percent of the nearly 70 economists polled by Reuters expected the RBI to cut its benchmark lending rate, the repo rate, by 25 basis points to 6.00 percent on April 4.

Yet, India’s debt market appear to have priced in a 50 basis-point cut.

Trading at 5.90 percent, the one-year interest rate swap works out at 5.75 percent on a daily basis, putting it 50 basis points below the current repo rate, according to rate derivative dealers.

“I think the RBI will be more cautious than what the market is expecting,” said Abheek Barua, chief economist at HDFC Bank in New Delhi.

“We haven’t fallen off the cliff yet for a 50 basis point cut,” he said.

Whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration clashed with the RBI’s previous leadership on several issues including rate cuts last year, relations improved after the government appointed Governor Shaktikanta Das in December.

Officials with knowledge of the government’s thinking on monetary policy said there was no pressure on the RBI to make a sharper rate cut at this time, despite economic growth weakening to 6.6 percent in December quarter, its slowest in five quarters, and the unemployment rate hitting a multi-decade high.

“The mandate of the MPC is to focus on inflation and if inflation is below the target it should cut the rate,” said an official privy to policy discussions.

“Ideally there is a scope for 50 basis point cut now, but one has to be careful of any upside risks to inflation as well,” the official added.

Annual retail inflation was just 2.57 percent in February following five months of deflation in food prices, and the RBI has projected a rise to 3.9 percent by the end of December. But that could change quickly if the monsoon fails or global oil prices surge.

“We do not expect a drastic cut from the RBI, a calibrated approach would be our expectation, 25 basis points (bps) is more likely in our view. But, that is a call RBI has to take,” said a second government official.

The MPC could be reluctant to make a deeper cut in any case, as banks only reduced their lending rates by a token 5-10 basis points after the RBI’s last 25 bps cut in February.

“Savings growth has come down sharply and every bank is competing with another to attract depositors,” said a top banker at a very large state bank in India.

“Under such circumstance we won’t be able to lower deposit rates, and in that case there is no room to cut lending rates,” he said, declining to be named due to sensitivity over relations with the central bank.

(Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

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Group says 5 Egyptians disappeared after being deported back

An international rights group has expressed concern about the disappearance of five Egyptians who were recently deported back to the country, saying they are at serious risk of torture.

Human Rights Watch said in a report on Thursday that Malaysia had deported four of the men in early March while Turkey deported the fifth in January. Three of them were sentenced in Egypt over links to Islamist groups.

Michael Page, deputy Mideast and North Africa director at the New York-based watchdog, says "Egypt has a dire record of systematic torture, forcible disappearances, and unfair trials of dissidents."

It urged authorities "to provide full legal access to these deportees."

Egypt has waged heavy crackdown on Islamists and rights activists after the military's 2013 ouster of controversial Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Source: Fox News World

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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)

Source: OANN

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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)

Source: OANN

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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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