-The Indian Express Return of food inflation may not allow RBI to further slash interest rates but opens up room for delayed reform Retail food inflation crossing 10 per cent, the first time in nearly six years, isn’t good news for an economy already mired in a deep slowdown. The suddenness of the increase (from under 3 per cent in August to 10 per cent-plus in November) and the fact that the...

-The Indian Express The daily wage rate in rural India for male workers across 25 occupations (12 agricultural and 13 non-agricultural) averaged Rs 331.29 during September, as per field data compiled by the Labour Bureau. Real rural wages growth has fallen to an all-time-low of minus 3.8% in September, further confirming the deep structural slowdown in ‘Bharat’ that is also evidenced in sluggish fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and two-wheeler sales. The daily wage...

-PTI On a supplementary question on when outstanding dues to Andhra Pradesh will be released, Tomar gave an assurance that no pendency of dues relating to Andhra Pradesh would remain with his ministry. The government is awaiting the Labour ministry's decision on modifying consumer price indices before linking MGNREGA wages to inflation, Rajya Sabha was informed on Friday. Replying to supplementary questions during Question Hour in the Upper House on linking of wages...

-Livemint.com Why is retail inflation then touching new heights? It is mainly because CPI and WPI are two different sets of indicators with varied compositions While the retail inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) touched a 16 month high at 4.62% in October, the wholesale price inflation measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is at the verge of entering the negative territory. The gap between the two is...

-The Hindu While indexation of the NREGA wages is critical, lifting them to the minimum wage would help workers and the economy The government made two recent announcements at two ends of the spectrum to mitigate the economic crisis. One concerns a new indexation of NREGA wages meant to increase rural incomes. The second is a reduction in corporate tax rate. Prices of commodities increase each year, so it’s important to accurately estimate...