Decoding India’s Withdrawal from the RCEP

By Biswajit Dhar | Commentary | November 8, 2019

India’s withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the 16-country mega-regional trade agreement in East Asia and also the world’s largest trading bloc, must be seen as evidence that in India, strong voices from the stakeholders can make their impact felt on the government’s decision-making. Few realised that it was the first time…

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India Exits the RCEP: What Happens Next?

By Kavaljit Singh | Briefing Paper # 30 | November 6, 2019

On November 4, India announced its decision to exit the negotiations on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – a mega-regional free trade agreement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed the decision at the third RCEP Summit that took place in Bangkok. The summit was attended by the leaders of all 16 RCEP Participating…

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India and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Key Issues and Implications

By Biswajit Dhar | Briefing Paper # 29 | October 11, 2019

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed mega-regional trade pact being negotiated between ASEAN and their six FTA partner-countries (India, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand) since 2012. It covers a wide range of issues, including trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual property rights, competition policy, dispute settlement,…

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Argentina Returns to Capital Controls

By Kavaljit Singh | Briefing Paper # 28 | September 4, 2019

On September 1, the Argentine government led by President Mauricio Macri imposed capital controls in a bid to stem the fall in the foreign exchange reserves and the peso currency. This unexpected move was initiated soon after the authorities spent nearly $3 billion of forex reserves to repay short-term debt and to protect the…

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India’s Shadow Banking Crisis is Intensifying

By Kavaljit Singh | Briefing Paper # 27 | August 28, 2019

The ongoing liquidity crisis in India’s shadow banking sector is intensifying. The troubles that started with defaults by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) last year are far from over as the sector continues to face a severe liquidity crisis. If tight liquidity conditions persist over the next three quarters, it may turn…

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