Economy

The move also came a day after money supply data showed several of China's key credit gauges continue to languish around record lows.

Interim Budget 2019: This year, the government will present an interim budget February 1. Unlike a full-year budget, an interim budget covers a smaller period of time, usually few months. An interim budget also contains key details such as where money comes from (revenue) and where it is spent (expenditure), as well as projections of growth and fiscal position.

The government had provided for Rs 500 crore towards capital infusion in the Exim Bank in the budget for this fiscal year.

Gold imports declined by 24.33 per cent to $2.56 billion in December last year as against $3.39 billion in the same month of 2017.

Total exports fell to a $221.25 billion in December, down 1.4 per cent from November, and 4.4 per cent from the same month in 2017.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast December's annual increase in the consumer price index at 2.20%, compared with November's 2.33%.

A rise in fertiliser prices overseas and a fall in the rupee also made imported fertilisers more expensive.

Consumer inflation was at 2.19 per cent in December, the government said on Monday. That marked the lowest level of consumer inflation recorded since June 2017, when it had stood at 1.46 per cent. December's consumer inflation was in line with economists' expectations. Forty one economists had expected consumer inflation at 2.20 per cent in December, according to a January 3-9 poll by news agency Reuters.

The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which mainly monitors retail inflation data and kept interest rates unchanged last month, will have leeway to soften its monetary stance at its February 7 meeting, economists said.

Food inflation stood at - or the rate of increase in food prices - was at 0.07 per cent last month, as against a food deflation of 1.96 per cent in November 2018, theMinistry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

The upwards price revision comes on the back of a recovery in crude oil prices in anticipation of tightening supply ahead, say analysts.

Besides Sunday's hike, petrol and diesel were hiked on January 7, January 10, January 11 and January 12 this year. The hike on January 13 was the steepest so far this year.

The government's initiatives and reforms helped India achieve the 11th rank in the Global FDI confidence index 2018, Vice President's Secretariat said in a statement.

Democrats say Mr Trump shut the government in a "temper tantrum" by refusing to sign bipartisan funding legislation last year that did not include money for his wall.

In 2018, the United States hit the limit on the number of H-1Bs it could issue, 65,000, by the first week of April, according to the Department of Homeland Security.