China hikes defence budget by 10 per cent to USD 275 billion
Beijing (PTI): China on Thursday hiked its defence budget by a little over 10 per cent to USD 275 billion, about USD 25 billion more than last year as it ramped the modernisation of armed forces to catch up with the US military.
Roughly 1.9 trillion yuan (about USD 275 billion) will be allocated to national defence, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced in his work report presented to the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Thursday.
The report said China's defence spending remains comparatively modest across key relative indicators, including its share of GDP, per capita defence expenditure, and defence expenditure per military personnel.
Last year China announced a 7.2 per cent increase for its national defence budget to USD 249 billion for 2025 which is a USD 17 billion rise compared to 2024.
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China’s defence spending, only second to that of the US, has been growing over the years putting enormous pressure on India and other neighbouring countries to scale up their defence budgets in the face of economic challenges.
In 2024, China increased its defence budget by 7.2 per cent to about USD 232 billion (1.67 trillion yuan) -- over three times that of India -- as it continues with the massive modernisation of all its armed forces.
China's defence budget figures are viewed with scepticism in the light of massive military modernisation, including building aircraft carriers, rapid construction of advanced naval ships and modern stealth aircraft being carried out at a feverish pitch by the Chinese military.
Meanwhile, China on Thursday lowered its GDP target to 4.5 to 5 per cent for this year in the face of Trump's trade tariff war, the worsening global crisis following the US-Iran war and headwinds in the domestic economy, owing to property market slump and unemployment crisis.
China has been setting a five per cent target for the GDP for the last three years amid growing domestic economic challenges. This year, the target is lowered to 4.5 per cent to 5 for the first time.
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Rupee settles 1 paisa higher to close at 94.15 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee settled with gains of just one paisa to close at 94.15 against the US dollar on Monday, as rising global uncertainty, escalating tensions in West Asia and soaring crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments.
Forex traders said the INR/USD pair pared its initial losses, but the overall bias remains negative as FII sell-off and elevated crude oil prices restricted the gains for the local unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 94.25 against the US dollar, and touched an intraday high of 94.11 and a low of 94.28 against the greenback during the day.
At the end of Monday's trading session, the rupee was quoted at 94.15, registering a gain of just 1 paisa over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee extended its losing streak for the fifth day in a row, depreciating 15 paise to close at 94.16 against the US dollar.
"The rupee snapped a five-session losing streak, rebounding in tandem with a rally across regional currencies. However, the mood remains apprehensive as the market braces for a potential RBI intervention around 94.30 and higher crude oil prices," said Dilip Parmar – Senior Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
On the charts, the USDINR pair has reclaimed its upward momentum, carving out a classic bullish structure of higher highs and lows on the daily time frame, he said, adding that for the coming sessions, 93.80 serves as a support, with 94.40 acting as the primary hurdle.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.21 per cent at 98.32.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 2.36 per cent at USD 107.82 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 639.42 points to settle at 77,303.63, while the Nifty surged 194.75 points to 24,092.70.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,151.48 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped by USD 2.362 billion to USD 703.308 billion during the week ended April 17, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.
In the previous reporting week, the forex kitty had increased by USD 3.825 billion to USD 700.946 billion.
