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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | What can be done to address the demand drought in our economy? -Suresh Seshadri

What can be done to address the demand drought in our economy? -Suresh Seshadri

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published Published on Sep 30, 2019   modified Modified on Sep 30, 2019
-The Indian Express

Why tax sops are not enough? What can policy makers do?

The story so far: A worryingly persistent slowdown dragged economic growth in India down to 5% in the fiscal first quarter, its weakest pace in more than six years. And while the recent weeks have seen the possible reasons for the slowdown, as well as the government’s policy measures to ostensibly help revive the economy being put under the spotlight, the missing demand is yet to be addressed in a direct and concerted manner. As data from the National Statistical Office show, private consumption expenditure, which contributes more than half the gross domestic product and is the mainstay of demand, has decelerated so sharply that at 3.1%, the expansion is at an 18-quarter low. Automobile sales continued to plunge in August, posting their worst drop since the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) started collating wholesale vehicle sales data in 1997-98. The absence of demand pervades almost every key sector: from consumer durables to biscuits and housing.

How did we get here?

Multiple factors have contributed to the demand drought. A lack of jobs, or even where jobs are available — like in the new or digitally enabled “gig” economy — a tenuousness about the incomes from such work, the abiding rural distress, widening inequality and, interestingly, in the opinion of some economists, even the Reserve Bank of India’s successful targeting of inflation are all cited as contributors. The view on inflation is compelling as its proponents contend that for an economy such as India’s, the central bank’s remit of containing consumer price index based inflation within a 2-6% band may be proving less than ideal, especially if monetary policy makers fix their sights on trying to peg inflation at or less than 4% — even it means retarding growth as a fallout. Low inflation extracts costs in the form of lower nominal growth (growth measured in current prices) that could crimp tax receipts and in turn lead to cuts in government spending, these economists assert. Also, with wage/salary increases most often linked to inflation, slower price gains would result in smaller annual increments that would leave the earners more wary of spending on discretionary or non-essential purchases. The crisis of demand in the rural hinterland has snowballed to the point where sellers of consumer goods including Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and ITC have seen appreciable slowing in sales growth in recent quarters. Rural growth rates — which were almost double those in urban areas earlier — have eased to the point where they are now almost at par with those in urban areas, according to HUL’s first-quarter results statement.

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The Hindu, 29 September, 2019, https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/why-demand-needs-to-be-the-focus/article29543876.ece?homepage=true&fbclid=IwAR1jJuFpmg6u8XaZxcHoba7SZczGHFFmQcR4BhEBxWprTgI


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