FUNDAMENTALS, POLITICS

my WORLD

FINANCIAL
HYDERABAD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

09

Pages anchored by Shabir Dar, Sukanto

ECB holds interest rate at a record low of .75%

SAKARI SUONINEN
Reuters

West Asia focus on healthcare Cabinet puts off WHATSINIT decision on NIB slows Indias medical tourism for more debate 4 me
Region was once the biggest market for Indian hospitals
SANGEETHA G
Chennai

KR SUDHAMAN
New Delhi

FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank held interest rates at a record low of 0.75 per cent on Thursday, leaving investors to shift their attention to new economic forecasts for clues about possible cuts next year. ECB president Mario Draghi is expected to present a downward revision of the banks staff projections at his news conference, due to start at 1330 GMT. The projections will also include the first forecasts for 2014. The Governing Councils decision to leave its main interest rate unchanged matched economists' expectations in a Reuters poll, which also showed opinion was split down the middle over the chances of a cut early next year. The euro held steady after the decision was announced. The ECBs economic assessment will be analysed carefully, not only to sketch out a future interest rate path but also for other measures that could help revive the debt-stricken south of the euro zone. It will be interesting and important to look at how they see the risks of the economic outlook, said Nick Matthews, economist at Nomura.

THE increasing focus by Gulf countries in setting up their own healthcare infrastructure has started reflecting in the medical travel traffic from the region to India. Once the biggest source market for Indian hospitals, the travel volumes from the region are growing slower than that from Saarc nations and African continent. Four to five years back, GCC used to account for a major portion of the international patients in many of the Indian hospitals. The trend is however changing and their numbers are dwindling, said C Chandrasekhar, executive director of Global Hospitals. For Fortis Healthcare, currently Africa is the largest source market, contributing 40 per cent to the international patients and in case of Apollo Hospitals it is the Saarc region, accounting for 40 per cent of international patients. Patients from the Saarc region are growing by 20 to 25 per cent, whereas GCC is growing at a rate of 10 to 15 per cent. The slowing growth in volumes could be mainly due to the advanced healthcare infrastructure that has been coming up in the region in the recent

BIG MARKET: For Fortis Healthcare, Africa is the largest source market, contributing 40 per cent of its international patients

years. These hospitals are meeting the specialty care needs of the region. However, for high-end procedures like transplants, super-specialties and specialties like oncology, the region still depends on Indian hospitals, said Jithu Jose, GM, International Patients Division, Apollo Hospitals. Kuwait is one of the

leading countries in the region to come up with an extensive hospital investment scheme of over $8 billion on hospital projects by 2016. With worlds first integrated health care zone Dubai Healthcare City UAE too has been making huge investments in the sector. Countries like Turkey, Jordan and

Lebanon have been also wooing the patients in the GCC. The affluent in the GCC continue to travel to Europe for medical care; Thailand too has been attracting patients from the region for medical as well as tourism needs. The huge non-resident Indian population, however, come to India for procedures that can be postponed for a while, said Arvind Singhal, chairman of Technopak Advisors. Nevertheless, a recent study by Technopak projects that the number of international patients visiting Indian hospitals will grow 100 per cent from six lakh in 2010 to 12 lakh by 2015. The growth is expected to come mainly from the Saarc region and Africa. According to Anas Abdul Wajid, head, sales and international, Fortis Healthcare, traffic from Saarc region, especially countries like Bangladesh and Afghanistan, has been growing at 25 to 30 per cent and Africa even faster. The under-developed healthcare infrastructure in the African countries is driving patients from the region to India, though affordability continues to be an issue.
sangeethag @mydigitalfc.com

On hold
Cabinet deferred a

INDIAN consumers confidence on the rise

THE long awaited national investment board to speed up decisions on large projects over Rs 1,000 crore has been deferred by the cabinet on Thursday. The cabinet deferred a decision on NIB as prime minister Manmohan Singh felt there has to be a detailed inter-ministerial deliberations before taking a call on setting it up. National Investment Board was first mooted by finance minister P Chidambaram during a full planning commission meeting got up to approve the 12th five year plan earlier this year, was objected to by environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan, who feared that the body would usurp the powers of the ministry to take decisions on project. The proposal was mooted to ensure once a decision on a project by the board chaired by prime minister, then an individual ministry cannot stall the project using the powers it had take decision on such projects. The prime minister wanted more discussion to he held on the issue, said a cabinet minister who attended the Thursdays meeting. If there are some difficulties in the sense some rules would have to be amended

decision on NIB as PM felt there has to be a detailed inter-ministerial deliberations before taking a call on it
There are over 100

projects involving investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more that have been delayed for want of clearances
Jayanthi Natarajan had written to PM opposing the move to set up NIB saying it was an attempt to bypass the required green clearances

to set up NIB then proposal is that it could also be called cabinet committee on investment, which would be a sub-committee of cabinet like cabinet committee on infrastructure. Jayanthi Natarajan had written to prime minister opposing the move to set up NIB saying it was an attempt to bypass the required green clearances for mega projects. There are over 100 projects involving investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more each that have been delayed for want of clearances from some ministry or other and hence NIB was mooted.
krsudhaman @mydigitalfc.com

India fighting hard to salvage equity in Doha climate talks

WASFIA JALALI
Press Trust of India

StanChart to pay $330m for Iran dealings

KELVIN SOH & STEVE SLATER
Reuters

Sistema on verge of losing business, awaits Putin help

SRIRAM SHANKAR
New Delhi

DOHA: India is fighting an increasingly difficult battle to prevent the principle of equity from being junked from the platform of negotiations at the crucial climate change talks here, as certain powerful blocs seek to erase the baggage of history from the story of global warming. The principle of equity in deciding who does what and how much in dealing with climate change was a founding principle of the UN convention for climate change but over the years there has been unwillingness on the part of rich nations to adopt it into actions. The larger developing countries like India and China who are among todays major polluters but have minimal historical role in taking the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to its present level are coming under increasing pressure to share the burden of emission reduction.

India and China have minimal historical role in taking the concentration of greenhouse gases to its present level
While they have stated clearly that the principles of equity and historic responsibility are non-negotiable for them, it is to be seen how they continue to resist the mounting pressure as stances change and new axes emerge in the polarised world of climate change talks. When the framework of the UN convention on climate change was developed, equity was estab-

lished as a principle but unfortunately we see today an unwillingness to accept this principle as a basis for actions, said joint secretary of environment affairs and Indian negotiator R R Rashmi. When an agreement was arrived at last year in Durban that envisaged a post 2020 climate deal, the principle of equity was not mentioned clearly in the ambivalent text, a point that many observers called a big loss for India. And India is trying to fend off the consequences of that cave in that came under immense pressure of not being seen as a deal breaker. I have heard (from negotiators) that equity is not relevant as it does not figure in the Durban platform, but we have been trying to draw peoples attention to the fact that the Durban platform makes it clear that anything under it automatically comes under the convention, Rashmi said while stating Indias stance on the issue.

Telecom tussle
Putin is likely to take up

LONDON: Standard Chartered expects to pay $330 million to settle a case with US regulators for breaking sanctions on Iran, the Asianfocused bank said on Thursday, a second such penalty which could almost wipe out its profit growth this year. Standard Chartered already paid $340 million to New Yorks department of financial services (DFS) in the third quarter, and the London-based bank said the settlement with federal and other state regulators was expected very shortly. The original DFS fine will cut pretax profit growth this year to around 5 per cent, from an underlying profit rise of more than 10 per cent, the bank said in a trading update - so the additional payment could leave profits near flat on the year. The DFS, New Yorks banking regulator, said Standard Chartered had hidden financial transactions with Iran.

WITH only 45 days left for Russian operator Sistema to lose its telecom licenses, it is heavily banking on some intervention by Russian president Vladimir Putin during his state visit later this month. Putin is likely to take up the issue of Sistemas cancelled licenses with prime minister Manmohan Singh. This issue (SSTL cans celled licenses) is on the agenda of all senior visiting Russian officials, said Vsevolod Rozanov, president and CEO of SSTL. SSTL curative petition s seeking restoration of its cancelled licenses, filed in the Supreme Court and pending since May this year has left the company operating on an every day, every week basis. There are 16 million customers (including 1.8 million data customers), 7,000 employees and three lakh retailers. It is a humble appeal to the government and the court that there is

the issue of Sistemas cancelled licenses with Manmohan Singh

SSTLs petition seeking

restoration of its licenses has been pending since May this year
SSTL did not

participate in the recently concluded 2G auctions citing its curative petition need for speedy resolution to the matter because we are coming close to January 18, 2013 and no one knows what to do, Rozanov said. Though SSTL had declined to participate in the recently concluded 2G auctions citing high reserve prices that made no business sense and its curative petition, Rozanov indicated that SSTL would seriously consider participating in the auctions if the reserve price was brought down to the 2008 levels. His comments assume significance ahead of the

Chidambaram-led empowered group of ministers (eGoM) meeting on Friday. The panel is expected to discuss issues relating to recently concluded 2G auctions, such as lowering of the reserve price. A pan-India license in 2008 cost Rs 1,658 crore. Telecom minister Kapil Sibal has said that the government will auction all spectrum unsold in the 2G auctions before the end of this financial year. Union cabinet had fixed the reserve price for 5 mhz pan-India CDMA airwaves in 800 mhz band at Rs 18,200 crore. SSTL did not participate in the recently concluded 2G auctions citing its curative petition. The firm can operate its cancelled licenses until January 18, 2013. Rozanov also took the opportunity to quash rumours about SSTL acquiring a brown field telecom operator. The denials notwithstanding, persistent rumours of a potential acquisition of Aircel refuse to die.
sriramshankar @mydigitalfc.com

Indian consumers confidence level rose in November owing to increase in spending due to festive season as well on expectations of improved job security, says a study by financial services provider BluFin. The BluFins Consumer Confidence Index grew by 3.4 points from the previous month to 41.6 points in November despite inflationary concerns. This was the highest increase since October 2011. The index is a key aggregate indicator that assesses the pulse of urban Indian consumers with regard to the economy, spending behaviour and employment. The index reflects pessimism at below 50 score and optimism above that. Increase in the CCI is noteworthy as it indicates Indian consumers upbeat response to the ongoing festive season. The rising score since past two months and the slight uptick compared with the previous year could be an early sign of the consumer sector eventually bottoming out and making way for a recovery, BluFin CEO Rashid Bilimoria said. However, the current positive trend will be validated provided this upward pattern persists in the coming months. Moreover, its important to note that the inflation sentiment index continues to trickle reaching to the lowest level in the last two quarters, slowing the overall progress of the CCI, he added. A sub index, which rates spending sentiment, improved by 1.8 points to 26.9 in the month of November. The uptick in the index is primarily due to the festive season that generally encourages consumer spending. Nevertheless, the level still indicates that consumers are quite pessimistic. Another sub-index, which measures employment sentiments, grew by 1.2 points to 43.4 owing to an improvement in job security outlook and household income. However, the index still suggests pessimism, which can be improved only by new job creation. The future expectations index was at 38.7 points indicating consumers were still pessimistic about the economys prospects. Source- PTI
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Republicans, Democrats Egypt military orders crowds to quit palace dig in on fiscal cliff talks
MARWA AWAD & EDMUND BLAIR
Reuters

Bloomberg

THOMAS FERRARO & MARK FELSENTHAL

Reuters

WASHINGTON: Republicans and Democrats dug in on fiscal cliff talks on Wednesday, with both sides urging quick action but offering no compromises in a political stare-down that shows no signs of breaking. Less than a month from the onset of spending cuts and tax increases that start to take effect in January unless Congress acts, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives called on president Barack Obama to initiate face-to-face talks and blamed him for a lack of action. Where are the discus-

sions? Nothing is going on, Republican majority leader Eric Cantor told reporters. We ask the president to sit down with us and be serious. Meeting with a business group on Wednesday, Obama renewed his call to include tax hikes on the wealthiest 2 per cent of Americans as part of the final resolution, and to call for including an increase in the nations borrowing limit. No direct talks were scheduled in a confrontation that has become an endless loop of familiar talking points and well-worn positions. Republican leaders have balked at raising any tax rates, and Democrats have resisted Republican

calls for cuts in the federal Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs. The two sides have submitted proposals to cut budget deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next 10 years, but differ on how to get there. Republicans propose $1 trillion more in spending cuts than Obama, while the president wants $800 billion more in tax increases and $200 billion to boost the sluggish economy. Republicans have shown cracks in their solidarity on taxes, however, with some saying they would be willing to let tax rates rise on the wealthiest 2 per cent in exchange for extending low rates for the other 98 per cent of taxpayers.

CAIRO: Egypts Republican Guard ordered rival demonstrators to leave the area around the presidential palace in Cairo on Thursday after fierce overnight clashes that killed seven people. Islamist supporters of president Mohamed Mursi withdrew, but the opposition promised more protests there. The presidency announced that the Republican Guard, whose duties include protecting the palace, had set a 3 pm (1300 GMT) deadline for supporters and opponents of Mursi to quit an area they had turned into a battleground. The military played a big

BARBED EXISTENCE: An Egyptian army soldier stands guard next to a tank behind barbed wire securing the perimeter of the presidential palace

role in removing president Hosni Mubarak during last years popular revolt, taking over to manage a transitional period, but had stayed out of the latest crisis. Mursis Islamist parti-

sans had fought opposition protesters well into the early hours during duelling demonstrations over the presidents decision last month to expand his powers to help him push

through a mostly Islamistdrafted constitution. A Reuters witness said the hundreds of Mursi supporters who had camped overnight near the palace perimeter left before the military deadline passed. Dozens of Mursis foes remained, but were kept away by a barbed wire barricade guarded by tanks. An official of the opposition National Salvation Front, who asked not to be named, said more protests would take place. We are planning marches later today, most probably taking off from Tahrir Square, disregarding the Republican Guards decision. We had many injuries last night, and we are not going to have their blood wasted. The commander of the

Guard, which has deployed tanks and armoured troop carriers to help police pacify the area, said the intention was to separate the adversaries, not to repress them. The armed forces, and at the forefront of them the Republican Guard, will not be used as a tool to oppress the demonstrators, General Mohamed Zaki told the state news agency. Mursi himself, silent in the turbulence of the last few days, will address the nation later in the day, state television quoted a presidential adviser as saying. The president discussed how to stabilise Egypt with the army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is also defence minister, and cabinet ministers, the presidency said.

AP