Budget 2012 will probably carry some regional sops in the form of continuation of exemptions on excise given in the North East states plus some existing subsidies on transportation.

As Parliament debates this month it will, hopefully, move beyond issues of corruption in high places to important economic legislation.

THE recent world recession put WTO activities on hold. Many would say that trade agreements under the WTO are now in suspended animation. Despite many attempts, closure of the Doha round of trade negotiations (begun in 2001) has still not been achieved. But work on free-trade or preferential-trade agreements (FTAs and PTAs) seems to be in full swing.

THE doomsdayers and the anti-trade people will disagree. However, it is clear that trade negotiations under the WTO over the last decade and a half have been fairly successful. The success lies in four principles. One, acceptance by countries that multilateralism is important so that member countries by and large accept their bound tariffs as their minimum commitments.

IF Arandom perusal of various commentaries on the forthcoming climate change negotiations at Copenhagen next month are a guide, it is clear that not much is likely to be achieved there. It is unlikely that a mandatory framework of carbon reductions will emerge to guide countries in domestic legislation.