Search Result for : Us Economy

Trump urges India to reduce obstacles to trade

The Dollar Business Bureau The US President urged the Indian Prime Minister to relax the trade barriers in order to reduce their trade deficit. Speaking to the media at the historic Rose Gardens in the White House both the leaders appeared to be at ease with one another and read out statements that portrayed the importance of a  strong US-India relationship. Watched by the world media, both the leaders stressed the strong commitment being made towards bilateral relations.  Prime Minister Modi said, “I deeply appreciate your strong commitment to the enhancement of our bilateral relations. I am sure that under your leadership a mutually beneficial strategic partnership will gain new strength, new positivity, and will reach new heights."  President Trump during his address made it ...

Trump softens stand on NAFTA, agrees to renegotiate

The Dollar Business Bureau In a recent telephonic conversation with the Canadian Prime Minister and Mexican President, Trump agreed to renegotiate NAFTA instead of scrapping the trilateral trade deal. On his twitter account, he stated, “I received calls from the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada asking to renegotiate NAFTA rather than terminate. I agreed – subject to the fact that if we do not reach a fair deal for all, we will then terminate NAFTA. Relationships are good-deal very possible!” Many on either side of the border are breathing a sigh of relief as Trump softens his stance on termination of the deal which is more than two decades old. However, Trump continues to stress that the deal was ...

US economy posts 3-year low growth of 0.7% in the first quarter of 2017

The Dollar Business Bureau Contrary to Trump's promises of ushering an era of 3% annual economic growth, the first quarter of his Presidency saw US growth rate decline to the lowest in three years. Sluggish consumer demand and a fall in government expenditure caused GDP growth in the first quarter of 2017 to slump to 0.7%, as against 2.1% in the previous quarter (December 2016).  Unable to meet the predictions of 1.1% made by analysts, growth in this quarter was marginally lower than that of the first quarter of 2016, which stood at 0.8%. This has been the worst quarterly economic performance since the first quarter of 2014 when growth experienced a 1.2% drop.  While a contraction of 4% in defence expenditure caused government spending to fall to a ...

American firms are earning their profits in India too: Sitharaman

The Dollar Business Bureau  Concerned over the Indian firms impacted by tightening visa norms by the US, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that the entire debate also has to be extended to include several American companies that are reaping profits on the Indian soil. “Let us also understand that not just Indian companies in the US, several big US companies are in India too. They are also here, they are earning their margins, they are earning their profits which go to the US economy,” she said. The comments from the Minister assume significance when Indian firms, specifically IT services providers, are getting worried over the protectionist measures undertaken by US, Australia and recently Singapore. “So, it is a situation where ...

Yellen hints at fed rate hike in March

The Dollar Business Bureau Keeping in view the US’ recovering economy and the investors’ positive sentiments around it, the US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday said the fed will adopt a more aggressive rate path ahead, first by raising interest rates at its next meeting on March 14-15, and possibly make further adjustments after the meeting.   "At our meeting later this month, the committee will evaluate whether employment and inflation are continuing to evolve in line with our expectations, in which case a further adjustment of the federal fund rates would likely be appropriate," Yellen said. “We realise that waiting too long to scale back some of our support could potentially require us to raise rates rapidly sometime down the road, ...

H-1B visas will increase when US economy grows at 4-5%: RHC

The Dollar Business Bureau US-based Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) believes that H-1B visas will increase as the US economy will witness a high growth rate of 4-5%, which will increase the need for additional IT professionals in the country. Also it will not affect the visa holders from India. “RHC is not aware of nor expects any Executive Order on H-1B visa holders except to the extent that there might be an order to tighten up procedures to minimise abuse and fraud. RHC also believes that the need for additional IT professionals and hence H-1B visas will increase as the US economy gets into high gear for a robust growth of 4-5%,” said Shalabh Kumar, Chairman, RHC, while addressing a press conference. “Whereas American jobs ...

US economic growth slows to 1.9% in fourth quarter

The Dollar Business Bureau The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.9% in the last three months of 2016, slowing down considerably from 3.5% growth in the third quarter of last year, and dragged down by a significant increase in the country’s trade deficit. The Commerce Department said Friday the 2016 gross domestic product (GDP) growth overturned in the last quarter to register its weakest performance in five years. Overall, US economy grew 1.6% in 2016, worst since 2011 and down from 2.6% in 2015. For the fourth quarter, exports, which were earlier temporarily strengthened by a surge in sales of soybeans to Latin America, came down. Meanwhile, imports escalated to 8.3%, the biggest gain in the last two years. Inflation rose to a ...

US economy appears fundamentally solid: Yellen

The Dollar Business Bureau Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Monday stressed that despite a relatively weak GDP growth rate early this year, the US economy looks fundamentally solid.“The economy has registered considerable progress over the past several years toward the Federal Reserve's goals of maximum employment and price stability, and there are good reasons to expect that we will advance further toward those goals,” Yellen said at the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia.Listing out some of the positive facets of the current US economic scenarios, Yellen said the US’s overall labour market seems to be good, with rising household income, increasing customer spending, low energy prices, controlled inflation and signs of faster wage growth.She underscored that the domestic demand continues ...