'They have started becoming an important player, but not at the same level as they were in the earlier part of the decade.'
What might be useful is targeted assistance to those sectors and individuals that are disproportionately affected, suggests Mihir S Sharma.
Moody's Investors Service, while silent on the sovereign rating on the higher-than-expected fiscal deficit numbers, expressed doubts over attaining the higher revenue targets and divestment realisation as assumed in the Budget. The Union Budget 2021-22 has pegged a fiscal deficit of 9.5 per cent for the current financial year as against the consensus 7 per cent, and 6.8 per cent for 2021-22 with a market borrowing of around Rs 12 lakh crore. It also assumes Rs 1.75 lakh crore to be scooped up from divestment.
The RBI said that strong signs of fiscal consolidation are necessary to create a space for lowering policy rate without the risk of resurgent inflation.
India's inclusion in JP Morgan's bond index can channel billions of dollars into India. How will the government securities market handle it?
'She delivers on promises, especially on security issues which is a core concern for India.'
Amid a debate on the freebies, the Election Commission on Tuesday proposed amending the model code to ask political parties to provide authentic information to voters on the financial viability of their poll promises.
Inflation data, both at domestic and global level, interest rate scenario in the US, geopolitical situation and general elections in 2024 are some of the major factors that would influence trading in the equity market this financial year, analysts said. Besides, foreign fund trading activity and global trends will also dictate terms in the equity market going ahead. Equity markets across the globe faced major challenges in FY23 due to concerns over high inflation, which resulted in increase in interest rates around the world, lowering investor sentiment, experts added.
Stronger fiscal surveillance should be accompanied with broader macroeconomic surveillance, to go to the roots of sustainable growth.
The Centre could further moderate its divestment target for 2024-25 (FY25), as it does not expect large receipts from asset sales - except some ongoing strategic ones, including IDBI Bank, which could spill over into next financial year. Also, it may drastically reduce its FY24 divestment target of Rs 51,000 crore. "We are still evaluating the Budget estimates for FY25. "New big-ticket asset sales are unlikely.
Per capita income in the state has consistently been below the national average for at least 24 years. However, it has narrowed the gap with the all-India level in recent years.
Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar feels that the economy today is bankrupt due to big spending towards social welfare programmes such as NREGA.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who presented the budget in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, said the government will target a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in the coming fiscal year.
Three policymakers aware of the central bank's deliberations on the Budget said they are combing through the numbers to test how Jaitley struck a balance, and question some of the assumptions.
Diesel price should be freed, open market grain purchases should be ended.
Chidambaram's comments come in the backdrop of lukewarm response to the 2G spectrum auction which could fetch the government only Rs 9,407 crore (Rs 94.07 billion) as against the target of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion).
The ministry sought to allay the rating agency's concerns and said economic growth was on an upward swing.
They pointed out that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman relies a lot on divestments, where the government under-performed in FY2019-20, to achieve the 3.8 per cent fiscal deficit target.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lowered its policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent on Wednesday.
The extra 1.3 billion pounds comes from the Reserve, funds the UK government said it has set aside for the most pressing emergencies.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said it is expecting some slowdown in the Indian economy next fiscal year and projected the growth to 6.1 per cent from 6.8 per cent during the current fiscal ending March 31. The IMF on Tuesday released the January update of its World Economic Outlook, according to which the global growth is projected to fall from an estimated 3.4 per cent in 2022 to 2.9 per cent in 2023, then rise to 3.1 per cent in 2024. "Our growth projections actually for India are unchanged from our October Outlook.
Pakistan-India bilateral relations remained frozen for the fourth year over the vexed Kashmir issue but analysts hope the strained ties could be repaired if Nawaz Sharif becomes the prime minister for a record fourth time in the general elections in February in the absence of his main challenger Imran Khan who is in jail in multiple cases.
Blame the voter, who invariably chooses the promise of hand-outs today in preference to a vague promise of, say, better schools tomorrow. Getting the Supreme Court to issue an edict, or Parliament to pass a law, is no solution, observes T N Ninan.
The Finance Commission, which makes recommendations on sharing of tax revenues by the Centre and States, has suggested a new path for fiscal prudence in its report submitted to President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday.
The government on Friday sought Parliament's nod for an additional Rs 54,000-crore spending mainly to meet its obligation towards GST compensation to states and defence-related expenditure. Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur presented the second and final batch of supplementary demands for grants in the Lok Sabha.
The fiscal deficit was 4.9 per cent of GDP in 2012-13.
It is nearly impossible to effectively control inflation when it is not properly measured.
Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian on Monday said India is likely to post current account surplus in the current financial year as there is moderation in import due to under heating of the economy triggered by the COVID-19 crisis. This crisis is different from what the world witnessed during the taper tantrum, he said while addressing a virtual conference organised by industry body CII. Taper tantrum phenomenon refers to the 2013 collective reactionary response that triggered a spike in US treasury yields, after investors learned that the US Fed was slowly putting brakes on its quantitative easing (QE) program.
The finance minister could well be on her way to setting a record of achieving the biggest single-year reduction in the government's fiscal deficit, explains A K Bhattacharya.
The Budget will be keenly watched (to see) whether there is a credible plan for reducing the fiscal deficit and whether populist measures can be avoided before the 2014 general elections," the Wall Street firm said in a note.
"The need is to strengthen the judiciary as a consequence of which the justice delivery system becomes fast, qualitatively responsive and serve the purpose of justice," he said.
State-run telecom operator BSNL on Tuesday said it expects to close the fiscal with 10 lakh 3G users from seven lakh at present.
Sitharaman does away with loans from National Small Savings Fund to Food Corporation of India.
Officials in the finance ministry are not happy with credit rating agency Fitch's revision of India's local currency outlook to negative from stable. Officials say Fitch's conclusion that the central government's fiscal deficit will rise to 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product in 2008-09, as against 2.8 per cent in the previous fiscal, is wrong.
'Aggressively stepping up vaccinations will constitute the most enduring stimulus of all in the coming quarters,' observes Sajjid Z Chinoy, Chief India Economist at J P Morgan.
Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said China imports a lot of components, parts, assembles and integrates and then exports them.
Amid demands for snapping trade ties with China for its transgressions on the border, former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya has opined that cutting trade with Beijing at this juncture would amount to sacrificing India's potential economic growth. Instead, Panagariya suggested that India should try to enter into free trade agreements (FTA) with countries such as the UK and the European Union to expand its trade. "Engaging China in a trade war at this juncture will mean sacrificing a considerable part of our potential growth... purely on economic grounds, it will be unwise to take any action in response to it (transgressions on the border)," the eminent economist told PTI.
Former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has opined that cutting trade with Beijing at this juncture would amount to sacrificing India's potential economic growth.
Budget has several small steps which will boost growth
As the duration of the FRBM Act, enacted in 2003, has come to an end, the government would be required to replace it with another law on fiscal consolidation.
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