-Business Standard/ NIPFP Strap: It recognises that the medium-term fiscal arithmetic does not afford space for expansionary Fiscal policy In my column on the FY20 Budget (A silent fiscal crisis, July 5, 2019), I had warned that the government faced a structural fiscal constraint that was concealed by using incorrectly optimistic numbers for revenue receipts. This year’s Budget is transparent. But the government continues to be heavily fiscally constrained due to inadequate...
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Dig holes and fill them up -Surajit Das
-TelanganaToday.in Follow the Keynesian policy and go for larger fiscal deficit that puts more purchasing power in people’s hands Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Budget on February 1 amid a slowdown in GDP growth and an increase in the rate of unemployment. Even supply-side economists are acknowledging that the current situation is because of the problem of aggregate demand. The demand-side economists, anyway, have been arguing for expansionary...
More »With a huge informal economy, government should increase spending, not worry about deficit -Maitreesh Ghatak
-The Indian Express To get the engine of the economy revving, an expansionary Fiscal policy that harnesses the energy of the informal sector to boost aggregate demand is the order of the day. That India is in the midst of a serious economic slowdown is no longer in question. The debates are now mostly about what to do about it: Whether to opt for a fiscal expansion to boost demand or to...
More »Vegetable prices push wholesale inflation to 7-month high in December
-The Indian Express Vegetable inflation jumping to an over six-year high and pulses inflation rising to a more than 3-year high were the key reasons driving retail inflation. Wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation surged to a seven-month high of 2.59 per cent in December 2019, as against 0.58 per cent in November, due to a sharp rise in prices of food articles like onions and potatoes, according to the data released by...
More »A rough patch
-The Indian Express High inflation reduces room for rate cuts. With limited fiscal space, FM must spell out plans to revive growth. Latest inflation data seems to corroborate fears articulated by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in its December meeting when it refrained from cutting the benchmark repo rate. Retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), has surged to 7.35 per cent in December 2019, up from 5.54 per...
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