'We have relatively strong growth and a healthy corporate earnings cycle as positives, but a worrisome current account deficit and high inflation as challenges.'
As per a data released on Monday by the government, gold and silver imports during April jumped by 138 per cent to $7.5 billion against $3.1 billion in the year-ago period.
The recent fall in commodity prices might not be sufficient to bring down the country's widening current account deficit
Rate-sensitive sectors gained amid hopes that the central bank would ease monetary policy more aggressively next month.
'Why do we make finance ministers go into contortions, to tell us that near 6% is 3.5%?' 'Why not encourage more open and full accounting so that the country knows the real picture,' asks T N Ninan.
Unsustainable CAD, sticky inflation & impact on pace of rate cuts all worries for FY14.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to clamp down on gold coin sales by banks, amid rising bullion imports adding pressure to the current account deficit and weakening the rupee.
Says govt's focus is to re-assure foreign investors that India is wide open for business.
If you take a 15-year period, the tax rates have increased at a higher rate than inflation.
Exporters sold dollars amid RBI's concerns on current account deficit.
The broad sense which prevails today is that India's macro-economic numbers are in good shape. But are they?
IThe fiscal deficit target for 2020-2021 was originally set at 3.5 per cent of GDP. But the government's revenues have collapsed and its expenditure burden will only increase over the Budget estimates.' With the government having already planned for an additional borrowing of over Rs 4 trillion, the fiscal deficit for the current year would be much higher than the Budget estimate, notes A K Bhattacharya.
Exports dropped 5.7 per cent to $28.6 billion from the same period a year earlier.
It will help to stop widening of Current Account Deficit.
Market breadth on the BSE was rather unhealthy with 1,436 stocks having declined against 973 advancing ones, on the BSE.
While the regulators -- Sebi and RBI -- are yet to issue guidelines, gold ETFs certainly look more promising.
Gold is said to be the most-favored investment instrument in India.
.jpg)
The interest on foreign currency non-resident accounts has been liberalised to attract more deposits.
Every 10 per cent rise in crude oil price will shave off around 0.2 percentage point (pp) from India's GDP growth and widen the current account by 0.3 per cent, says Nomura.
Bold reform measures to sustain high growth trajectory figure high.
Despite several constraints, the policy has tried to support growth through more liquidity infusion.
In 2011, the rupee emerged as the most vulnerable Asian currency on the block. It depreciated by almost 19 per cent in 2011, while for the others depreciation was mostly in single digits. The Chinese Yuan actually appreciated in this period.
A K Bhattacharya wonders if Kisan Baburao Hazare get his timing wrong, or is Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee trying hard to get his timing right?
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
In a recent note, the global brokerage firm said India now commands a weight of 19 per cent in the above-mentioned portfolio as compared to 18.2 per cent in September 2023. India, it said, is a large liquid market and remains a counter-weight to North Asia if a slowdown in the West occurs and China's recovery disappoints.
He stressed that reform for him was just a way station on the long journey to the destination and the destination is the transformation of India.
Any attempt to push growth beyond 9.5 per cent in the 12th Plan period that begins next year may lead to higher inflationary pressures and current account deficit woes, says Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, C Rangarajan.
RBI Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath said India has been able to absorb capital inflows because it has a current account deficit.
However, copious oil supplies amid growing global output and slowing Chinese oil consumption will put India in a better bargaining position with Gulf suppliers.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjeet presenting the 2012 Budget said the GDP to grow by 6.9 per cent in 2011-12.
Inflation stood at at a high of 8.23 per cent in January. After touching a high of 18.23 per cent in December, food inflation came down to 11.49 per cent in mid-February.
Endorsing the Economic Survey's emphasis on the farm and the infrastructure sectors for achieving higher economic growth, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said inflation and widening current account deficit remain major areas of concern.
The continuing debt turmoil in the euro zone area could have an adverse fallout on the Indian economy, hurting its capital flows as well as exports, the Economic Survey said on Friday. Further, it noted that rising international oil prices could aggravate the current account deficit, which is already at high levels.
Sensex and Nifty lost about 3.0 per cent to end the day at nearly 2-week lows.
Fall of rupee is not necessarily a bad thing as it will support exports which will help bridge the gap in current account deficit, Chief Executive Officer of Nordea Asset Management Company Allan Polack said.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the domestic unit resumed lower at 54.42 a dollar from overnight close of 54.26 and moved in a narrow range of 54.34 and 54.46.
Fiscal pressure for the Indian economy is gradually rising, suggested analysts at Jefferies in a recent note, as oil prices (Brent) - which are close to the $100 a barrel mark - continue to climb ahead of a busy election calendar. They added that the sharp rally in the equity markets during the last few months has made valuations costly. As a result, Jefferies expects the Indian markets to remain choppy in the near term.
As the Pakistan government is struggling to fix the country's crumbling economy, a drop in it's demand for export and uncertainty about remittances pose a risk to its external outlook, the IMF said.
Modi said that for nearly one and a half years he has been putting in place details of new schemes to give new pace to the country's development and curb poverty.
.jpg)
Attributing the high Current Account Deficit to mainly gold import, Chidambaram said the inward shipments of the precious metal resulted in outgo of $50 billion.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances