Preliminary findings of a survey among 3,994 respondents from 11 states reveal that most vulnerable households and communities, such as SCs, STs, OBCs, PVTGs, slum dwellers, daily wage labourers, farmers, single women headed households, etc. continue to witness depressed incomes during September-October in comparison to their income levels prior to the lockdown. The face-to-face survey conducted by the Right to Food Campaign and Center for Equity Studies (instead of telephonic...

-The Hindu The government’s economic recovery hype is off track and this is not a time for fiscal conservatism Preliminary evidence that India’s economy contracted by 7.5% in the second quarter of financial year 2020-21 was, as news, both good and bad. Good because that figure is far lower than the 23.9% contraction registered in the first quarter of this financial year. Bad because a 7.5% second quarter contraction is high both...

-The Hindu Slashing public expenditure amid a recession is a recipe for serious economic disaster The National Statistical Office (NSO) recently announced estimates of economic activity in the second quarter of the current financial year. As most of the first quarter coincided with the lockdown announced by the Central government, it would only have been expected that output would be depressed as production could not have taken place. And this is what...

-Livemint.com The economy is recuperating faster than anticipated, the RBI chief said The Reserve Bank expects GDP to contract 7.5% this fiscal, said central bank chief Shaktikanta Das while announcing monetary policy committee decision to keep interest rate unchanged. This is an upgrade from the central bank's earlier forecast of 9.5% contraction in its October review. The economy is recuperating faster than anticipated, the RBI chief said, adding that the recovery in...

-Livemint.com/ PTI * 'Despite being the worst affected sector in Q1(due to lockdown), it is quite puzzling how manufacturing turned itself around in Q2,' says Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser, SBI * There is evidence of inventory buildup that could act as a drag on future manufacturing growth, says Ghosh New Delhi: The surprise resilience shown by the manufacturing sector that restricted GDP contraction to only 7.5 per cent in September...