Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) with a lock-in period performed better than the ones that allow investors to withdraw capital at any time. Close-ended schemes had a median return of 5.62 per cent in December, according to data from industry tracker PMSBazaar. The median returns for open-ended schemes were 3.91 per cent
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das has pitched for policy support from all sides -- fiscal, monetary and sectoral -- to nurture recovery of the economy hit by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The dent on economic activity due to the second wave of the pandemic during April-May necessitated continuation of monetary measures to support the process of economic recovery to make it durable, Das had said while participating in the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) earlier in the month. "Overall, the second wave of COVID-19 has altered the near-term outlook, and policy support from all sides - fiscal, monetary and sectoral - is required to nurture recovery and expedite return to normalcy," Das said, as per the minutes of the meeting released on Friday.
India, the US and 12 other members of the IPEF grouping have signed a supply chain resilience agreement that would help mitigate risks of economic disruptions from supply chain shocks and improve crisis coordination. The agreement would help member countries like India to reduce their dependence on China and provide timely information to the IPEF member countries about potential supply disruptions. The COVID outbreak severely disrupted the global supply chain, as most countries were dependent on China for various products like pharma raw materials.
Fitch Ratings on Thursday said the resurgence of COVID-19 infections may delay India's economic recovery, but won't derail it, as it kept the sovereign rating unchanged at 'BBB-' with a negative outlook. It projected a 12.8 per cent recovery in GDP in the fiscal year ending March 2022 (FY22), moderating to 5.8 per cent in FY23, from an estimated contraction of 7.5 per cent in 2020-21. Fitch had in June last year revised outlook for India to 'negative' from 'stable' on grounds that the coronavirus pandemic had significantly weakened the country's growth outlook and exposed the challenges associated with a high public debt burden.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said Pradhanmantri Suryodaya Yojana will enable one crore families to get up to 300 units of free electricity monthly and help them save up to Rs 18,000 annually. "There is provision of Rs 10,000 crore for rooftop solar (scheme) in the Budget," said finance secretary T V Somanathan in press conference on Budget later in the day. Earlier in the day Sitharaman in her interim Budget speech said through rooftop solarisation, one crore households will be enabled to obtain up to 300 units of free electricity each month.
India must carry on structural reforms, the finance minister said.
'By integrating data, research, and new insights, we are designing work environments that foster innovation, collaboration, and wellbeing.'
S&P Global Ratings on Thursday affirmed India's sovereign rating at 'BBB-' with a stable outlook and said sound economic fundamentals will underpin growth over the next 2-3 years. The stable outlook on the long-term rating reflects S&P's view that India's strong economy and healthy revenue growth will support its weak fiscal settings. "S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'BBB-' long-term and 'A-3' short-term unsolicited foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on India.
Debashis Chatterjee speaks about the overall demand environment and company's strategy
The general elections in April/May 2024 are expected to add volatility to the Indian markets, keeping investors on their toes.
Noting that the assembly election results being very disappointing is an understatement, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson urged party MPs to channel their disappointment into positivity for next year's general elections.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday launched the country's first-ever national security policy, which articulates a citizen-centric framework, placing economic security at its core unlike the previous one-dimensional security policy where the focus was on the military.
The Budget oration of the finance minister and the confidence with which she delivered it, along with the measures and the recent upsurge in the economy would all contribute to unleashing the storied 'animal spirits' and help the economy run on the growth path quite smoothly. Or so the government hopes, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Digital literacy is emerging as the professional language of 2024. It is the ability to process complex data sets, deploy critical communication technologies appropriately and validate your importance at your workplace, explains Jagdeep Kochar, managing director, Baker & Taylor India.
Leading indicators suggest economic activity has been disrupted after demonetisation.
Modi attended the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta. Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn also attended the summit.
'With China falling out of favour, India is where investors see the demographic and digital dividend apart from the benefits of reforms playing out.' 'Your prime minister has also done a great job of sharing this story with the world.'
"Now is the time for countries with room in their budgets to deploy -- or get ready to deploy -- fiscal firepower. In fact, low interest rates may give some policymakers additional money to spend," new IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said.
'Auto, pharma, and industrials have delivered well in the recent quarter, while businesses like quick-service restaurants, consumer staples, and durables have underperformed in volume growth.'
Growth in India is expected to slow to 6.3 per cent in FY 2023/24 (April-March), a 0.3 percentage point downward revision from January, the World Bank said Tuesday but noted there is an unexpected resilience in private consumption and investment and robust growth in the services. The World Bank made these points in its latest edition of Global Economic Prospects according to which global growth is projected to decelerate from 3.1 per cent in 2022 to 2.1 per cent in 2023. In Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) other than China, growth is set to slow to 2.9 per cent this year from 4.1 per cent last year. These forecasts reflect broad-based downgrades.
Most Indian chief executives are optimistic about the economy and believe it would improve in the coming 12 months, said a survey by consulting and auditing firm PwC on Tuesday. The company's 27th annual global survey polled 4,702 chief executive officers (CEOs) in 105 countries and territories, including 79 in India, from October 2 to November 10, 2023. As many as 86 per cent of CEOs in India - 30 per cent higher than a year ago - are confident that the economy would improve.
India Inc resorted to salary cuts to protect their profits in the June quarter, as revenues came under pressure due to the second pandemic wave that affected nearly the entire country, a report said on Wednesday. The "weak" wage growth will prove to be a drag on the overall economic recovery in the medium term as it will affect household consumption, the report by India Ratings and Research said. An environment of pandemic-led uncertainty and elevated inflation could impact the level of spending and hence the overall demand, it said.
India appears poised to sustain its growth in a more durable way than before with the economy carrying the momentum from FY23 into the current fiscal year, the Annual Economic Review for 2022-23 released by the finance ministry on Thursday said. However, the report cautioned that escalation of geopolitical stress, enhanced volatility in global financial systems, sharp price correction in global stock markets, a high magnitude of El-Nino impact, and modest trade activity and FDI inflows, are factors that could constrain the pace of growth. "Should these developments deepen and dampen growth in the subsequent quarters, the external sector may challenge India's growth outlook for FY24," the finance ministry said.
India on Monday joined a US-led initiative to set up an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to bind partner countries to achieve common goals, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that New Delhi will work with the stakeholders to make it an "inclusive and flexible" structure to pave the way for development, peace and prosperity in the region.
The IMF on Tuesday projected a growth rate of 6.1 per cent for India in 2023, which is a 0.2 percentage point upward revision compared with the April projection. This is reflective of the "momentum" from stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 as a result of stronger domestic investment, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. "Growth in India is projected at 6.1 per cent in 2023, a 0.2 percentage point upward revision compared with the April projection," it said in its latest update of the World Economic Outlook.
Macroeconomic data announcements, global factors and trading activity of foreign investors would be the key triggers for the domestic stock markets this week, analysts said. Last week, the benchmark indices joined the broader market's party despite a host of negative global cues. In the broader market, the BSE midcap and smallcap gauges hit their all-time highs on Friday.
In addition to Pichai and Nadella, IBM's Arvind Krishna, Micron's Sanjay Mehrotra, Ajay Banga from Mastercard and Ann Mukherjee from Pernod are among the six Indian-Americans among over 200 corporate honchos who will advise the President and offer recommendations on how to revive the American economy.
Manufacturing activities in India advanced further and touched a 31-month high in May supported by stronger increase in new orders and favourable market conditions, which in turn generated more employment opportunities, a monthly survey said on Thursday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 57.2 in April to 58.7 in May, indicating the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since October 2020. The May PMI data pointed to an improvement in overall operating conditions for the 23rd straight month.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the country is at the doorstep of economic revival on the back of accommodative monetary and fiscal policies being pursued by the central bank and the government.
Diesel sales in India fell 3 per cent in September as a receding monsoon continued to dampen demand and slowed industrial activity in some parts of the country, preliminary data of state-owned firms showed. While diesel sales by three state-owned fuel retailers fell year-on-year, petrol sales rose in September. Consumption of diesel, the most consumed fuel in the country -- accounting for about two-fifths of the demand, fell to 5.81 million tonnes in September from 5.99 million tonnes demand in the same period a year ago.
India has the capacity and the resilience to overcome economic crisis, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha.
England pace legend Stuart Broad lauded former teammate James Anderson for becoming the first-ever pacer to complete 700 Test wickets, saying that one should "marvel at his skill" besides talking about his dedication and mental resilience.
The WEF said its annual meeting is taking place at a time when multiple crises have deepened divisions and fragmented the geopolitical landscape.
Moody's has a 'Baa3' rating for India, with a positive outlook.
Tokyo -- the songs Japan, Love In Tokyo and Sayonara from the 1966 Hindi film automatically pop up in the mind -- is buzzing and crowded like any other metropolis, discovers Deepa Gahlot. The modern apartment blocks are built cheek by jowl, so close together that one can open the window and borrow sugar from the neighbour in the next building. One of the fears of the Indian traveller is the unavailability of vegetarian food. Every city and town in Japan has an array of Indian restaurants that serve every variety of cuisine, right from Gujarati to Punjabi to Andhra and Kerala meals.
Modi said New Delhi has emphasised on dialogue and diplomacy along with restraint to deal with the situation arising out of the Hamas-Israel conflict.
India's manufacturing sector activity rose to a 13-month high in December, supported by healthy inflows of new business and strong demand conditions, according to a monthly survey. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 57.8 in December, up from 55.7 in November, as business conditions improved to the greatest extent in over two years. The December PMI data pointed to an improvement in overall operating conditions for the 18th straight month.
Make financial planning a part of your education and definitely a part of your marriage, says financial planner Sheetal Jhaveri.
The Indian economy is projected to grow at 6.3 per cent in current financial year aided by investment and domestic demand. According to a World Bank report released on Tuesday, India continues to show resilience against the backdrop of a challenging global environment. In India, which accounts for the bulk of South Asia region, growth is expected to remain robust at 6.3 per cent in 2023-24, India Development Update of the World Bank said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and held a productive conversation with him on deepening bilateral defence cooperation, including in the co-production of defence articles, and exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues.