The year 2022 was supposed to mark the recovery of the Indian economy from the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns of the preceding two years. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February pushed up prices of food, fuel and fertilizer worldwide. In India consumer price inflation, which had declined to under 5 percent in the September-November period of 2021, has steadily increased, staying above 6 percent throughout 2022.    What happened to rural incomes in 2022? An...

In the recent week, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has dealt three major, concerted blows to the National Rural employment Guarantee Act (NREGA):   (1) The Budget allocation for NREGA was reduced to just Rs 60,000 crore in 2023-24 (less than Rs 50,000 crore if we deduct wage arrears from 2022-23). This makes this year’s allocation the lowest as a proportion of GDP (0.2%) in the history of the programme. (2) The...

Reuters Indian household's inflation expectations for the current period moderated by 20 basis points to 9.6%, while consumer confidence improved further, the results of the Reserve Bank of India's latest round of internal surveys conducted in January showed. As per the survey, respondents expect higher price pressures for household durables and cost of housing over the next three months as compared to the previous survey round, the release showed. Among consumption categories,...

Mint India’s rural borrowers and small businesses owners may have easier access to credit with public sector banks (PSBs) planning to increase financing to these segments, after the Union finance ministry urged lenders to improve their credit-deposit ratio. The C-D ration indicates how much of a banks' deposit base is being utilized for extending loans. The development may help expedite the revival of the rural economy, which is struggling to reach pre-covid...

Livemint.com The automobile industry witnessed a strong start to 2023 with retail sales across segments, including passenger and commercial vehicles, and three-wheelers, surpassing the 2020 pre-pandemic levels in January. However, declining income of rural households continued to impact sentiments of two-wheeler buyers, resulting in 13% lower sales during January from a year ago, vehicle registration data compiled by Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (Fada) showed. Vehicle registration was up 14% in the...