Anti-money laundering efforts will not succeed unless banking secrecy laws are repealed.
There is little evidence that investments are picking up in the private sector or in infrastructure, says Abheek Barua
The entire concept of PLRs ought to be recast to make them more representative.
The financial and economic meltdown in G7 nations has had a negative impact on growth in India and other developing countries. Could anyone seriously believe that there is some form of financial alchemy which consistently provides returns on capital well in excess of national GDP growth rates and the major equity and bond indices over decades?
Those of us who predicted a bottom for the financial markets earlier this year have reason to be contrite, says Abheek Barua.
Those of us who predicted a bottom for the financial markets earlier this year have reason to be contrite, says Abheek Barua.
This does not necessarily mean that macroeconomic data will improve dramatically. Growth and employment could depress for a while. The markets are, however, unlikely to bother with absolute levels. They will cheer a situation in which the numbers don't get any worse and show the mildest promise of improvement.
Abheek Barua on buzzwords and catch phrases that hogged the headlines in 2008 but are now passe.
We should be less doctrinaire about monetary and exchange rate policies and stimulation packages.
Sticking to fiscal targets in the middle of a global slowdown could be dangerous.
We seem to have a chicken and egg problem here. The liquidity shortage is being blamed for the dire situation that Indian industry finds itself in.
Global liquidity has gone down a little. What seems to have tipped the balance is a sudden realisation in the markets that the rising cost of cash would hurt global growth. That, in turn, would impinge on the demand for commodities and high-yielding currencies, says Abheek Barua.
Some more write-downs in US banks could push oil prices back to over $140 in no time.
For some time, the rate of inflation measured week to week has been falling.
More importantly, this period has seen a fairly major shift in market perceptions -- traders are reconciling to the prospect of medium-term decline in the exchange rate instead of dismissing any episode of rupee depreciation as a transient deviation from a path of continuous appreciation. A combination of local price impulses and these global pressures has pushed up domestic inflation. Wholesale price inflation for the week ended February 23 printed at 5.02 per cent.
Penetrating under-banked segments may have a fallout like the US sub-prime crisis.
Problems could linger both in the financial markets and the real sector but one could just see the mix of data and news emerging from the US turning favourable. This could be the turning point for Indian equity markets.
Our stock markets will remain volatile for a while and upswings could be followed by a downturn.
Asian economies, including India, are likely to be hit hard in the event of a slowdown in the US.
If there is indeed a slowdown, it is unlikely to be confined to the export sectors.
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