BUSINESS
April-September fiscal deficit at Rs 7 lakh crore, tax collections remain robust
The government's fiscal deficit for only September was Rs 59,035 crore, down 25 percent from the same month of the previous year
BUSINESS
India's fiscal situation unlikely to improve much in next 2-3 years: S&P
According to Kim Eng Tan, S&P Global's Senior Director for APAC sovereign ratings, the fiscal metrics on India’s ratings are "probably the weakest part of the credit story"
BUSINESS
Show-cause notices worth Rs 1 lakh cr served to online gaming firms: Govt source
The GST Council, in August 2023, amended the law to clarify that all online games involving bets, irrespective of skill or chance, will attract a GST rate of 28 percent on the full value of the bets placed, and not on the gross gaming revenue, from October 1.
BUSINESS
All price-setting bodies should internalise 4% inflation target, says MPC's Ashima Goyal
According to Goyal, headline retail inflation could fall towards 4 percent on a sustained basis at a pace faster than what forecasts suggest
BUSINESS
Govt keeping PPF interest rate lower than what formula says due to tax benefit
The interest rate on the Public Provident Fund, one of the most popular small savings schemes of the government, has been left unchanged at 7.1 percent for more than three-and-a-half years
BUSINESS
No reason for govt to deviate from medium-term fiscal deficit path, says source
As per the current glide path, the central government is looking to lower it's fiscal deficit to under 4.5 percent of GDP by 2025-26
BUSINESS
Trade measures can ease food inflation only in short run, says MPC's Shashanka Bhide
According to Bhide, while the government's supply-side measures have been effective in bringing down food inflation, the long-term solution is to address fluctuations in output by improving the domestic supply chain
BUSINESS
We should accept 4-5% inflation for several quarters, says MPC's Jayanth Varma
According to Varma, while there are significant risks to the growth outlook, various indicators currently point to the continuation of the growth momentum
BUSINESS
Terror attacks to be a factor in firms' decisions, investments: FM Sitharaman
The finance minister, who was speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave, also said food security should not become an instrument during times of war
BUSINESS
Rate cuts not on the agenda at the moment, says RBI Governor Das
According to the Reserve Bank of India governor, "only time and the way the world is evolving will tell" how long interest rates will remain high
BUSINESS
Fin Min weighing options to reduce government's debt, says Nirmala Sitharaman
India's public debt has been cited as a key constraint to its credit rating profile by global rating agencies, who said the combined debt of the Centre and states was high even before the Covid pandemic struck in early 2020
BUSINESS
RBI bulletin suggests change in monetary policy not far away
The Monetary Policy Committee hiked the policy repo rate by 250 basis points to 6.5 percent in 2022-23 to fight inflation. Economists are now penciling in interest rate cuts somewhere in the middle of 2024, although the central bank's hawkish focus on the 4 percent inflation target has markets concerned
BUSINESS
RBI Bulletin: Credit growth related uncertainties have emerged since 2022
According to an analysis by economists from the RBI, including Deputy Governor Michael Patra, policy decisions can be "too restrictive" or "too lax" if analytical frameworks don't explicitly include some measure of uncertainty
BUSINESS
Assembly Elections 2023: Huge rise in capex, but all 5 states may not meet targets
Capital expenditure of the five poll-bound states – Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana – is up 44-443 percent year-on-year in the first five months of 2023-24. But not all five states are on track to meet their budget estimates
BUSINESS
Four years of 4%-plus inflation – how RBI lost and is regaining control
Headline retail inflation may have returned to the Reserve Bank of India's tolerance range of 2-6 percent in September, but the central bank's work is far from over – and it knows it
BUSINESS
‘Best of both worlds’ – economists give thumbs-up to CPI, IIP data
While headline retail inflation fell more than expected to 5.02 percent in September, industrial growth jumped to a 14-month high of 10.3 percent in August, data released on October 12 showed
BUSINESS
For the first time in 6 months, wholesale inflation may be above zero in September
Inflation measured by the Wholesale Price Index has been in the deflationary zone so far in 2023-24, even hitting a seven-and-a-half-year low of -4.18 percent in June
BUSINESS
Retail inflation drops to 5.02% in September, lowest in 3 months
Consumer Price Index inflation has now fallen by a massive 242 basis points from July's 15-month high of 7.44 percent
BUSINESS
World Bank says global economy getting weaker, but US and India bright spots
According to World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill, some countries should be expected to "get into trouble now" just like the last time the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates in the 1970s.
BUSINESS
World set for soft landing but growth is only limping along: IMF's top economist
In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the IMF retained its global growth forecast for 2023 at 3 percent but lowered it marginally by 10 basis points for 2024 to 2.9 percent
BUSINESS
IMF hikes India FY24 GDP growth forecast by 20 bps to 6.3% on strong Q1 data
The upward revision to India's growth forecast for this year is the second in a row, with the multilateral agency having announced a similar hike back in July
BUSINESS
CPI inflation may have hit 3-month low of 5.4% in September
The statistics ministry will release Consumer Price Index data for September and industrial production data for August later today on October 12 at 5:30 pm, with the latter expected to have surged to 9.1 percent
BUSINESS
India’s urban unemployment fell to 6.6% in April-June, but females see rise in low-quality jobs
The urban unemployment rate fell even as the Labour Force Participation Rate increased by 30 basis points to 48.8 percent, the government's latest Periodic Labour Force Survey showed
BUSINESS
Interview: Shaktikanta Das good at short-term fixes, says ex-finance secy Subhash Garg
In a wide-ranging interview with Moneycontrol following the release of his new book 'We Also Make Policy', the former finance secretary also spoke about the influence – or its lack thereof – exerted by political parties' social and economic wings over the finance ministry's policies, and the turn North Block's relationship took with the media in his final weeks in the government
