'We are looking at the Budget with the hope that it will address all issues even at the cost of exceeding the fiscal deficit target.'
Economic Affairs secretary S C Garg said inflation has consistently come down since 2014 and will not cross 4 per cent this fiscal.
Even at early stage, start-ups are raising more money faster owing to the rise of a lot of specialised early-stage VCs and emergence of seed-stage programmes.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will have to do a tight-rope walk between staying fiscally prudent and general public expectations of lower taxes and a wider social security net, while at the same time firing the engines of the economy before general elections. Sitharaman will on Wednesday present her fifth straight Budget at a time when the economy is slowing due to global headwinds and specific sectors need attention. In the run-up to the Budget presentation, expectations are rife that she may tweak income-tax slabs to provide relief to the middle class and increase spending on the poor through programmes such as the rural job scheme while ramping up financial incentives for local manufacturing.
'Slowing down of the economy was mainly due to the demonetisation shock...' 'If you cut off the oxygen supply to a patient in the ICU and the patient dies, the patient does not come alive again when you restore the oxygen supply.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to step up efforts to boost consumption and rural economy while keeping inflation under check when she presents her sixth straight Budget on February 1. Experts said one way to boost consumption is to put more money in the hands of people, and one of the possible ways of doing it is by reducing the tax burden through tinkering with tax slabs or increasing the standard deduction. Another proposal is related to increasing the funds under the rural employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA and higher payout for farmers.
On the controversy surrounding the GDP numbers based on new calculations, he said statisticians have done as good a job as they can and economic growth is significantly high as costs have come down
In the first eight months of 2019, 70 per cent stocks in the BSE 500 universe were down. These stocks account for 94 per cent of India's total market capitalisation.
'High denomination cash notes which was 1.4 lakh crores of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in 2004 became Rs 15.5 lakh crores in 2016.' 'If it had been allowed, by 2022, it would have been Rs 34 lakh crores, and that would have been the end of the Indian economy.' 'Demonetisation was a huge hit on the head of the economy, but without the hit, you could not U-turn the economy.'
India's economy is forecast to grow at 4.8 per cent in 2013, down 1.3 per cent from its earlier projection, the UN's World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 report said.
The Modi government has handled inflation far better than any government in the past two decades. Both the stock market and currency indices have begun to show confidence in the economy, despite the mounting global headwinds of trade.
In India, economic activity slowed substantially in 2019, with the deceleration most pronounced in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, whereas government-related services sub-sectors received significant support from public spending, the Bank said.
Perhaps the finance ministry or NITI Aayog could take a detailed look at what governments actually deliver and at what cost; how their services can be improved and expanded where necessary; how much money can be saved through doing things differently; and how many things the government does which it can safely leave to the private sector, argues T N Ninan.
A pick-up in farmer income could have a cascading impact on the rural economy, though agriculture is becoming a smaller part of India's overall rural incomes.
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
Arab Gulf economies are set to benefit from large government spending programmes and high oil prices in the second half of the year, despite concerns over political turmoil in the Middle East and Europe's sovereign debt crisis, a senior bank official has said.
'The government's full five-year term is unlikely to deliver more than 7+ per cent growth.' 'That's creditable, but no different from the 7.2 per cent achieved in the previous five years (2009 to 2014).' 'Those who expected the change of government to deliver a change of tempo would be disappointed,' says T N Ninan.
Fast paced growth in computer literacy and greater use of data on mobiles will help India's Internet economy grow to $200 billion or 5 per cent of the GDP by 2020.
The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 report said a mild recovery in investment as well as stronger export growth will help in the gradual GDP pick-up.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget and said it focussed on youth, farmers, women, and has 'substantial allocations' for Maharashtra, but the opposition slammed the annual financial statement, claiming it neglected the western state and only seeks to please the saffron outfit's partners in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday decided to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent but maintained an accommodative stance, implying rate cuts in the future if need arises to support the economy hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Businesspersons who have the potential to contribute to the economy of a country are given a red carpet welcome by way of a start-up visa.
'The first year of the Modi government's second term has laid the roadmap for the future and we will embark on it with gusto,' promises Gopal Krishna Agrawal, the BJP's national spokesperson on economic affairs.
Indian economy is expected to expand at 8.5-9 per cent over 10-15 year time frame once the structural issues hampering growth are addressed by the government.
India needs to move towards full capital account convertibility to become a leading global economy.
The noted economist said some of the bad loans are due to a slowdown in the economy and asset restructuring companies are part of the solution.
Bill Gates specifically complimented India's Aadhaar identity system and the country's performance in the financial services and pharma sectors.
Among its closest neighbours, India leads in income levels or overall economic empowerment. However, it also leads in terms of income inequality, due to which the inequality-adjusted HDI suffers a bigger fall.
'There is good indication that the economy is bouncing back, but the problem is, we should look at the eight quarters preceding March 2020.' 'The growth had fallen below 3.1% before March 2020.' 'So, the governments must realise that even if you transform the best of green shoots into banyan trees, you see only 3.1% growth.'
Piyush Goyal, who held the post of finance minister when Arun Jaitley was undergoing treatment, told the Confederation of Indian Industry's annual session: "All stakeholders, including the RBI, should introspect on their respective roles (on low economic growth)."
India, he said, has opened up its markets and stepped up public investment including in the infrastructure space and is concentrating a lot on boosting expenditure to improve the quality of rural life
In her first address to a joint sitting of the two Houses in the new Parliament building in which she touched on varied issues ranging from insurgency to inflation, Murmu said a country can progress at a fast pace only when it defeats the challenges of the past and puts maximum energy into building the future.
India is set for decent growth in 2015.
India's macroeconomic situation is certainly better than what it was a year ago, eminent economist Pinaki Chakraborty said on Monday, while expressing hope that the country will be back on the path of economic growth if there is no major third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with PTI, Chakraborty, who is the director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), said that inflation may remain at an elevated level as there was a significant fiscal and monetary expansion in the last 18 months. "The current macroeconomic situation is certainly much better than what it was one year back. We are seeing recovery in most sectors," he said. Chakraborty noted that COVID-19 vaccination has been going on at a very fast rate in India.
The Minister of State for Commerce and Industry said there was a need of for promoting trade and investment as it is necessary for economic growth and sustainable development.
In all, 37 central banks around the world have eased monetary policy so far this year to boost growth, fight deflation or both
'Even for operational buildings, we are looking to smarten them in various ways.'
A smartly executed reform-recap will be the best booster for the economy, says Ajay Chhibber.
Gen Z, don't shy away from expressing your ideas, and millennials, be receptive to new perspectives, suggests Sonica Aron, founder of the HR consultancy firm, Marching Sheep.
