-Livemint.com Taking into account a likely shortfall in revenue and off-budget spending, the real fiscal deficit could be as high as 5.5% of GDP in the current fiscal Mumbai: As India’s economic slowdown has intensified, so has the debate on whether the government should stick to fiscal consolidation or run a higher deficit to push growth in the upcoming budget, Due on 1 February. However, data on revenue available so far suggests that...

-Livemint.com * The Centre has no money for a stimulus package. Only the states can find a way to get India out of the slowdown * States, taken collectively, are the only hope. Despite loan waivers, they are in a better position to boost public spending. But that would require coordinated work between the Centre?and the states NEW DELHI: On 1 February, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present an important Union budget. The...

-Hindustan Times India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5% in the second quarter of the current financial year, the lowest since March 2013. Union Budget 2020-21 is expected to focus on the transformation of rural India with a nearly 15% jump in fund allocation to boost the village economy and raise incomes, particularly of small and marginal farmers, three people aware of the development said on Tuesday. “Transformation of the rural economy is...

-Hindustan Times One of them was its large area of impact. The maximum temperature in December was 17.5 degree C over northwest India, the lowest since 1971, according to an analysis by India Meteorological Department (IMD). The severe cold spell which northwest India experienced in the latter half of December (December 15 to 30) was unprecedented Due to several reasons. One of them was its large area of impact. The maximum temperature...

-The Hindu The central bank’s shift of focus from financial stability to inflation targeting could have led to regulatory infirmity Inflation is back in the news and attention has willy-nilly turned on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This would lead us to recognise what the central bank is mandated to do and assess how much of its objective it actually achieves. The establishment of some of the world’s oldest central banks was...