The challenge before the government now is to use the factors that are favourable to its benefit.
The Economic Survey said that a number of indicators -- GDP, IIP, credit, investment and capacity utilisation, point to a deceleration in real activity since first quarter of 2016-17 and a further deceleration since the third quarter.
'The markets have corrected almost 8-9 per cent from their highs, so one can accumulate quality stocks at reasonable prices.'
Vegetable prices which had witnessed a 21.16 per cent contraction in June, shot up by 21.95 per cent in July.
Pegging the cost of the covid-19 lockdown at USD 120 billion (approximately Rs 9 lakh crores) or 4 per cent of the GDP, analysts on Wednesday sharply cut their growth estimates and stressed on the need to announce an economic package. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is scheduled to announce its first bi-monthly policy review on April 3, is set to deliver a deep rate cuts and it should also be assumed that the fiscal deficit targets will be breached, analysts said.
'Our automakers export 50 per cent of what they manufacture and once the policy comes into play, which is in the next 2-3 years, we would become a Rs 10 trillion industry.'
The council decided not to levy any additional tax on small petrol and diesel cars of up to 1200 cc as well as on hybrid ones.
Tax administration could be improved to reduce discretion and improve accountability
A 14.2-kg subsidised LPG cylinder will cost Rs 494.99 in Delhi, while non-subsidised LPG rates have been cut by a steep Rs 120.50 per cylinder
In fact, no other recent Union Budget has held so much significance for the Indian economy as the one to be presented in about six weeks from now, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The deficit for the first five months of the year stood at 96 per cent of the full-year target of Rs 5.46 lakh crore despite cut in capital expenditure in August.
A combination of farm loan debt waivers by state governments and the implementation of the pay commission award could entail some fiscal slippages and pose a risk to inflation
Of the seven surveys presented under Modi govt, predictions of three were quite close to the actual GDP growth rate, one saw the base year change in between, but the last three were way off the mark.
'It is almost four years since we've seen strong growth in earnings.' 'The markets have rallied about 20 per cent in the past year, which is ahead of earnings.' 'So, the stress now will be on earnings to catch up.'
The Sensex closed above 28,000 and Nifty settled above 8,500.
'We are in the reverse gear and we are not there anywhere compared to the rest of the world'
'... the government provides adequate cash and kind support for the poorest of the poor for survival... ...conditional cash and skilling support for the economically poor to raise their incomes to adequate levels... ...and make functional arrangements for providing unemployment allowance to the vulnerable poor during disasters like the present one.'
The current slowdown has lasted for over 18 months and is the longest incident of sluggishness since 2006.
For the first eight months of the current financial year, the figure stood at Rs 7.17 trillion.
Optimistic buying in blue-chip stocks ahead of release of industrial production data for July and retail inflation for August drove stocks higher.
The Central government is stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea as far as the runaway fuel prices are concerned.
The immediate revenue loss could worsen the Centre's fiscal deficit, from the budgeted 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 3.7 per cent of GDP -- a massive 40-basis-point increase. It was stabilised at 3.4 per cent since 2016-17, report Abhishek Waghmare and Dilasha Seth.
'The Modi government is trying hard to see if it could be sold to a private airline.' 'But it appears there are no takers.' 'If no buyer comes forward by June, the government will close down Air India,' predicts A K Bhattacharya.
Measures that quickly boost demand and increase employment are needed to push up growth. Moreover, without announcing new planss, the government should strengthen schemes such as PM KISAN, MNREGA and programmes to build rural roads.
Watchdogs of the economy have not been barking and it is high time we noticed it, says Shreekant Sambrani.
Indications are that Modi will have words of encouragement for Stalin, and the meeting is likely to be much less acrimonious than critics of either would want it to be. notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal that the players in the sector should start lowering prices and, if the worst comes to the worst, write off investment as bad business decisions.
He is not good at thinking through laws and policies. His lockdown produced chaos and misery and didn't stop Covid. His GST finished off thousands of companies and reduced the amount of tax government collects to such an extent that he cannot pay state governments any more, observes Aakar Patel.
Amid the opposition UDF's sloganeering against him, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday delivered the customary address to the assembly with the policy document outlining the Left government's administrative achievements and criticising the Centre for allegedly pushing the state to financial constraints by reducing its resource allocations.
'The revival of household savings and investment is the litmus test of whether we are on the road to recovery,' says Nitin Desai.
Growth numbers for the large players in the sector, though, improved during the quarter.
Top laggards in the Sensex pack included HDFC, ICICI Bank, TCS, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, TechM and HUL, dropping up to 2.67 per cent.
Majority of respondents feel that the government in the forthcoming Budget will increase the standard deduction and give more incentives for housing loans.
Modi said officers must fix clear targets to improve the country's tax administration by 2022, the 75th anniversary of Independence.
Investors must be prepared to believe that things will get better eventually, no matter how bad the current situation may look. If you don't possess this optimism, you will not possess the courage to invest and if you don't invest, you don't give yourself any chance to get wealthy, says Devangshu Datta.
A combination of demonetisation, a poorly and hurriedly implemented GST, and more recently the "botched up" lockdown of the economy to control the spread of Covid has brought the economy to its knees.
Maharashtra has the opportunity to solve all these problems by voting for the Congress and NCP, he said.
Automobile dealers' body FADA said the Budget lacked immediate demand boosters for the automobile industry.
Earnings growth is expected to accelerate as lingering toxic effects of note ban ease off and GST settles down. However, stock valuations are high and that means market is also overdue for correction, says Devangshu Datta.
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