There is some respite expected for India in terms of prices of imported commodities. This may ease the depletion of its foreign exchange reserves. The country has faced a widening of its merchandise trade deficit from US$ -17.91 billion to US$ -26.91 billion between October 2021 and October 2022. The commodity price data provided by the World Bank in December 2022 (termed as The Pink Sheet) shows that energy prices plummeted by...

-The Telegraph This is the first upgrade of India’s growth forecast by any international agency amid global turmoil India’s economy is expected to grow 6.9 per cent in the current fiscal year, the World Bank said in a report on Tuesday, citing tightening monetary policy and high commodity prices as factors impacting the country’s growth. The Bank had trimmed its growth forecast for India to 6.5 per cent in early October from a...

-Moneycontrol.com The fertiliser subsidy stood at Rs 1.62 lakh crore in the previous financial year. The government's fertiliser subsidy will rise to Rs 2.3-2.5 lakh crore in this fiscal but the bill may fall by 25 per cent in the 2023-24 financial year with moderation in global prices, according to industry body FAI. Fertilisers Association of India (FAI) expressed concern that the fixed cost of urea has not been increased affecting the viability...

-The Hindu Policymakers can ill-afford to drop their guard in the fight against inflation October’s inflation data point to a welcome softening in price gains that should offer some succour to monetary policy authorities, who have been battling to rein in runaway inflation since the beginning of this year. Retail inflation, or price gains based on the Consumer Price Index, slowed to 6.77% last month, from September’s 7.41%, aided by an appreciable...

-Frontline.in FAO’s latest report found world hunger rising. However, India’s data on food insecurity is missing. The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2022” report begins with a dismal piece of data: the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet has increased by 112 million to touch 3.2 billion, a reflection of rising food prices during the pandemic. The report, a joint effort...