BUSINESS
Policy Pulse | MSMEs need to scale up and be more productive
India needs to ensure that incentives for MSMEs are not skewed towards their remaining small forever. MSME policy should go beyond access to credit and address ease of doing business in a more effective manner.
BUSINESS
US billionaires are saying, “levy a tax on our wealth.” Should India follow suit?
A high wealth-to-income ratio is not a good thing from a financial stability point of view. Concentration of wealth in the hands of a few is a recipe for increasing social unrest especially when India is facing a crunch in even basic resources like clean drinking water.
BUSINESS
HDFC-Apollo Munich pact underlines deals trend in health insurance, but risks abound
Continuing losses, and regulatory risks abound in health insurance. Investors will have to be patient.
BUSINESS
Trump withdrawing trade benefits for India is just the starting point
Retaliatory tariffs are no solution. India needs to continue globalising to meet strategic, economic and development goals.
BUSINESS
Markets | Buying the myth of a magic wand
With more earnings downgrades likely and the economy in a jam, all hopes are resting on the slender assumption that a decisive second mandate for Modi will strengthen his confidence and political will to take tough steps – such as privatisation of public sector enterprises, or land reforms.
INDIA
Corporate Corridor | If IndiGo's chief pilots are busy squabbling, who's at the controls?
These differences could not have cropped up at a worse time. As Jet Airways’ fate rests on a wing and a prayer, and opens up space and infrastructure in the Indian aviation market, Indigo has to decide where it wants to go.
MARKETS
Policy Pulse | How EPFO continues to pay returns higher than market rates
EPFO has to be transparent and make more disclosures about its investments. That will settle rumours on the actual available surplus and link returns to the market.
BUSINESS
Policy Pulse | Government takeover of Unitech will set bad precedent
Asking PSUs to finish construction of flats for a private developer is akin to privatising profits and socialising losses
BUSINESS
Corporate Matters | Is Yes Bank the canary in the coal mine for the Indian banking system?
Yes Bank watchlist also highlights the failure of credit rating agencies and analysts to spot anomalies and catch red flags on defaults and stress early on.
BUSINESS
Policy | SC ruling on RBI disclosures a victory for shareholders
Making inspection reports public will keep both lenders and the firms that borrow from them on their toes and will go a long way in cleaning up governance and perhaps, even preventing bad loans from piling up.
BUSINESS
Regulation | RBI move to seek IL&FS exposure disclosure a welcome step
It was also important for RBI to ask banks to make this disclosure as it bids to regain the higher ground after recent setbacks
BUSINESS
Policy Primer | Could insolvency pre-packs have saved Jet Airways?
In a pre-pack, a stressed company can find a buyer before actually declaring insolvency and also get the benefits of bankruptcy such as exemption from SEBI norms.
BUSINESS
Macro Meter | Why is investment growth so tepid?
The tailwind to increasing investment rates from declining capital goods prices has petered out
MARKETS
Corporate Corridor | Kotak Mahindra Bank needs to be held to higher governance standards
By proposing the use of perpetual non-cumulative preference shares to cut promoter holding, Kotak, the promoter, is guilty of not complying with the spirit of the law. So too, Kotak Mahindra Bank and its independent directors.
BUSINESS
Comment | The curious case of sticky bond yields
As long as the public sector continues to soak up 8-9 percent of GDP as funding, bond yields will continue to remain elevated.
POLITICS
Opinion | BJP manifesto promises a sop for every constituency
All manifestos tend to make a lot of promises, but the key failing with this one is the lack of a central idea beyond saying “Vote for us. Else, India has no hope.”
MARKETS
Comment | The lingering effects of the IL&FS crisis
Small businesses got hurt for the third straight year after demonetisation in 2016-17 and GST in 2017-18.
BUSINESS
Comment | Supreme Court judgement a setback to the bankruptcy code
The circular was important to break the cycle of extend and pretend that has been the hallmark of the Indian banking system for quite some time. Bankers were content to kick the can down the road and delay the recognition of bad loans and show rosy bottom line numbers.
INDIA
Chart of the day | What’s happening with stalled projects?
There is a distinct lack of interest in new investments and the private sector isn’t even enthusiastic in reviving stalled projects
BUSINESS
Opinion | Electoral bonds perpetuate culture of dirty money entering politics
Why make it easier for foreign entities to fund Indian elections?
BUSINESS
Comment | Swap-induced bond rally will run out of legs
Don’t expect a runaway rally in bond prices even if the central bank’s rate setting committee cuts the policy rate next week as is widely expected.
BUSINESS
Comment | The many sides to L&T’s acquisition of Mindtree
The hostile takeover brings into sharp focus a key lesson for founders that look to retain control with small shareholdings: have a backstop or a white knight to bail you out.
POLITICS
Comment | It’s not the economy, stupid!
A recent paper goes through surveys, election results and social spending data from 1962 to 2014 and arrives at a simple conclusion: Voter choices in Indian are driven more by caste and identity politics rather than economic interests.
POLITICS
Opinion | Want to understand GDP data manipulation? Watch The Matrix
In a democracy, manipulating and suppressing data is akin to shooting yourself in the foot.
