-The Hindu Reviving the consumption demand and private investment has assumed the highest priority in 2019-20, notes central bank report. Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its annual report for 2018-19, has said the lack of Domestic demand is holding back the animal spirits in the economy and emphasised the need to revive consumption demand and private investment during 2019-20. “What ails the animal spirits? At the core is the...

In the financial year 2017-18 when tractor sales touched new heights, it was said by many of the NDA (viz. National Democratic Alliance) government supporters that rural demand has revived on account of adequate monsoon rainfall and higher minimum support prices for crops. Many economists and newspaper columnists also denied the existence of any rural distress. An alternative perspective, however, was also presented by rural economists like Dr. Himanshu who teaches...

-Hindustan Times Unfortunately, there is no high frequency income or consumption data for the Indian economy. What we do have is monthly data for rural wages, which is available until June 2019. On Wednesday, media reports said that India’s leading biscuit-maker Parle Products Private Limited could cut up to 10,000 jobs as “slowing economic growth and falling demand in the rural heartland could cause production cuts”. The company’s flagship brand Parle-G...

-The New Indian Express The industry has warned that this trend may continue if no stimulus is given to boost rural demand. Delayed monsoon, weak rural economy, tightened liquidity scenario, and the vicious cycle of droughts and floods have dragged down the demand for tractors, which is already witnessing slowdown since the start of this fiscal. The industry has warned that this trend may continue if no stimulus is given to boost...

-The Indian Express The certainty that producers once enjoyed — of finding buyers for their wares without doing much beyond minor price adjustments to bring supply and demand into equilibrium — has ceased to exist. India traditionally never had a demand problem. On the contrary, its economy was always supply-constrained. Proof of no demand paucity is that between 2000-01 and 2015-16, domestic consumption of both finished steel and cement roughly trebled, from...