Saturday, March 19, 2011

Britain hopes for EU-India free trade accord this year

Chennai, Mar. 18: British Trade and Investment Minister Stephen Green said he hoped the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) would be concluded by the end of this year. Speaking to reporters here Friday, Green said: "We hope the European Union-India Free Trade Agreement may be there by the end of this year. I had discussed this issue with Indian government officials." Queried about his meeting with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao during his current visit, he said: "We discussed about monetary policy. The UK welcomes the RBI's idea of having foreign bank branches as Indian subsidiaries rather than being a branch." While stating that foreign banks in India should also play their part in financial inclusion, he also said Indian banks like State Bank of India (SBI) were doing good business in the UK.

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