opinion

Slow pace of vaccinations pushes Europe towards second economic slump

The European economy is likely to contract over the first three months of 2021 and perhaps into the early part of the next quarter, says an Oxford Economics report

Politics over a futuristic Budget

Opposition parties in India are failing in their duty and hence not being able to engage in constructive criticism of the government

Budget 2021 | Amendments required for liberalisation of insurance sector

Since the objective of the government is to bring an impetus to FDI inflow in insurance companies, stakeholders will now be very keen to learn the fresh terms and conditions that will act as riders to their ability to own and control insurance companies

Budget 2021 | Three major omissions in the education sector

Budget 2021 fails to prioritise children’s right to education with no additional support for safe reopening of schools and re-enrolment of out-of-school children

January PMI shows sustained improvement in Indian economy

Input costs are rising and the Monetary Policy Committee will have to take that into account, together with the high fiscal deficit

Martin Wolf writes: Containing China is not a feasible option

Unlike with the Soviet Union, the US and its allies have to co-operate and compete with its rising power

Why the Budget sidelined realty with some tweaks in affordable housing and REITs

The budgetary allocation under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (rural and urban) although revised from original estimates for FY2021, showed no increase for FY2022 at Rs27500 crore 

How the post-pandemic Budget compares to the post-financial crisis one

A startling coincidence is that both the Budgets aimed for a fiscal deficit of 6.8 percent of GDP

Government’s non-strategic sector privatisation can offer good opportunity for investors

Most of these companies have a decent market share in their respective products and can benefit from aggressive and focused management.

What explains the junta’s continued hold on power in Myanmar?

The military leadership in Myanmar no longer faces the older limitations of being a pariah or facing the powerful opposition from Aung San Suu Kyi as in the early 1990s 

Paul Krugman writes: The Republican economic plan is an insult

The proposal would in important ways cut the heart out of US economic relief

The political calculus behind Budget 2021

The reason for some of the courageous announcements in the Budget are dictated less by the forthcoming assembly polls, and more by the extenuating circumstances of the last one year 

The subtle shift in India's defence budget

The total allocation for defence moderated in FY22. But the share of capex in total allocations continues to inch upwards

15th Finance Commission: Largely status quo

The finance commission report is silent on the cracks in the cooperative aspect of fiscal federalism

US shale oil: Can a leaner industry ever lure back investors?

The only feature that matched shale’s disruptive rise in the past 15 years was the industry’s knack for destroying investors’ money as billions of dollars were spent with little return

GIFT City one step closer to becoming a global finance hub

The exchange will come into the limelight if it handles a few high-profile IPOs

Startup sector expected more from Budget 2021

More could have been done for the multiple ‘home grown’ start-ups which have played a key role since March in ensuring employment was retained, essential services were delivered, securing their positions in the eyes of the global business/investor community

Budget 2021 boosts confidence in these challenging times

Given the strong intent demonstrated by policymakers of late, one remains confident of strong fiscal-monetary co-ordination in the coming months to pre-empt any undue pressure on interest rates 

Vehicle scrappage policy at last, but the devil is in the detail

A voluntary scheme is unlikely to work unless incentives are really high

Budget 2021 opts for investment, not consumption, boost

Food subsidy is projected to go down sharply from the current levels

The fine print in Budget 2021-22

Changes to digital tax and depreciation on goodwill are some of the fine print we stumbled across in our first look of the Budget documents

Budget 2021 has its head and heart in the right place

Budget 2021 has the distinction of being largely an out and out infra-focussed budget, which is quite a departure in tone as compared to the oft-cited ‘consumption’ orientation 

Budget 2021 | Tax compliance framework to help stabilise economy

Despite tight fiscal situation, Nirmala Sitharaman has been considerate enough not to come out with new measures to compensate the treasury through significant additional levies.

Budget 2021 | ‘Fiscal stimulus’ should be clearly linked to the growth trajectory

While the current deviation from the rule-based fiscal framework was necessitated by the severity of the economic shock, it is necessary to monitor and manage it in a transparent fashion.