-The Hindu Why did the Union Finance Minister urge industry giants to invest in manufacturing? Is private sector financing at an all-time low? Has government intervention to boost and spend aggressively on infrastructure come at an opportune time? The story so far: Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked captains of industry what was holding them back from investing in manufacturing. She likened industry to Lord Hanuman from the Ramayana by stating...

-The India Forum There has been an increase in economic inequality in India over the past few decades, with the rich-poor gaps among the largest of several peer economies. Household surveys show that alongside the slowdown of growth in recent years, there appears to have been some decrease in inequality. 1. Introduction Popular discussions on inequality in India receive periodic attention with the annual publication of reports by the World Inequalities Database (WID),...

There is euphoria abound about India's growth performance during the first quarter of the current fiscal. As compared to the corresponding period last year, the year-on-year (y-o-y) GDP growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022-23 is down. However, one should take into account the fact that the high growth performance of the real GDP in Q1 of 2021-22 was due to the low base in the corresponding period of...

-The Hindu Business Line Inflation has been moderating off late but RBI is unlikely to let its guard down * Has inflation peaked in India? It’s too early to conclude that inflation has peaked in India. While CPI inflation has been drifting lower since the April 2022 peak of 7.79 per cent, the decline is very gradual. The July reading of 6.71 per cent is also well above the upper limit of RBI’s...

-The Telegraph Food prices, which account for nearly half of the consumer price index basket, softened last month The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are in discussions on the inflation trajectory amid the easing of global commodity and crude oil prices. A Reuters poll of economists forecast retail inflation at a five-month low in July at 6.78 per cent. But it is still above the RBI’s upper threshold...