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...

-Newsclick.in World capitalism is entering a new phase in which Third World economies will witness persistent outflow of finance, even if they raise interest rates in tandem with US rates. There are two defining and portentous features of the current world economic situation. One, which is well discussed, is the world-wide increase in interest rates in response to the pervasive inflationary upsurge; it would indubitably generate recession and unemployment, which, notwithstanding all...

-The Telegraph A system without any steering control An essential characteristic of modern capitalism is that the living conditions of millions of people are determined by the whims and caprices of a handful of financial speculators; indeed, that is what ‘leaving things to the market’ really entails. Consider what is happening in India today. There is a massive outflow of finance from the country because of which the rupee is depreciating  vis-à-vis...

-The Statesman The central government needs to clear pending funds, worth Rs 2,600 crore, and as per the MGNREGA Act, pay compensation of 0.05 per cent on daily wages. With the alleged lack of jobs and wages for MGNREGA workers in three districts of West Bengal, the Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity (PBKMS), based on the report of a fact-finding committee, has warned that these workers are facing an acute food security...

-Scroll.in Costlier imports and the widening of the current account deficit is likely to eat into India’s foreign currency exchange reserves. The Indian rupee touched a historical low, trading almost at Rs 80 against the US dollar on Wednesday. A knee-jerk, macro-analytical response studying India’s currency performance would mistakenly see this trend in isolation, while projecting a weakening of macro-economic fundamentals to be leading towards a depreciation. Looking closely at the numbers it...