Indian Economy

And bigger problems await from policy bottlenecks that the Budget has left untouched

Markets disappointed as Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline but offers no big ideas to revive investor confidence or attract fresh foreign capital

Budget 2026-27 Highlights: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth straight Union Budget in the Lok Sabha on Sunday. Catch updates here

Nobel laureate economist Abhijit Banerjee has warned that political polarisation in India is eroding transparency and making the country a "mystery" for global investors, even as the growth numbers remained robust. In an interview with PTI, Banerjee said from an economic standpoint, the most critical issues confronting the country today were media freedom and transparency, arguing that investors ultimately cared about data credibility rather than political rhetoric. "I think India is going through a politically polarised phase in the sense that there are many conflicts that have existed for a long time, and we have to decide, as a nation, to what extent we want to be seen as open and reliable. I think the real issues have to do with media freedom," he said. "The most important issues are media freedom and transparency. Do we really know what the numbers are? That's what investors care about," Banerjee said. While India has continued to attract foreign investment, he described the .

India contained its FY26 fiscal deficit at 54.5% of Budget Estimates for April-December, aided by higher non-tax revenues and controlled spending despite a December capex dip

Behind dense language, the Economic Survey 2025-26 lays out five clear arguments on growth, risk, manufacturing, governance and why stability now matters as much as speed

Economic Survey 2025-26 underscores India's macro stability, reform-led growth, and fiscal discipline, while warning that weak state finances pose emerging risks

CEA V Anantha Nageswaran says India can grow 6.8-7.2% in FY27 despite global uncertainty, citing domestic reforms, resilient consumption and strong fundamentals

Economic Survey 2025-26 signals an adjustment phase ahead, with moderate growth, stable inflation, fiscal consolidation and policy shifts shaping India's macro outlook

Budget 2026-27 breaks new ground, but delayed GDP rebasing and continued fiscal secrecy risk undermining its numbers within weeks

India's growth is powered by hard-working people and a rising 'Middle India';. This aspirational group needs financial enablement and infrastructure support to accelerate mobility and sustain growth

Republic Day, observed annually on January 26, marks the day India adopted its Constitution in 1950, officially becoming a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic

The document will be pivotal in outlining agenda that sustains growth and capex, enhances manufacturing and technological capabilities, creates jobs, and makes our economy more dynamic and competitive

Nobel economics insights show how innovation, institutions and creative destruction drive long-run growth, offering key lessons for India's development goals by 2047

Japan's 40-year bond yield rocketed past 4 per cent to a fresh high since its debut in 2007 and a first for any maturity of the nation's sovereign debt in more than three decades

The IMF has reaffirmed India's position as the fastest-growing major economy, with its 2025-26 forecast revised to 7.3 per cent

On being asked if India will be having a meeting with the US delegation, Ashwini Vaishnaw said, "The format of Davos is a format where we generally do panels and bilaterals

The forthcoming Budget could think of maintaining public capital expenditure at 3% so that domestic resources are available for private investments

Strong headline numbers, low inflation and a modest current account deficit have fostered the belief that little needs fixing

The IMF on Monday raised India's growth projection to 7.3 per cent for fiscal 2025-26, up 0.7 percentage point from its October forecast, on the back of better-than-expected performance of the economy. The Washington-headquartered multilateral lending agency has also revised India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast to 6.4 per cent for fiscal year 2026-27 beginning April 1, 2026, from its earlier estimate of 6.2 per cent. "In India, growth is revised upward by 0.7 percentage point to 7.3 per cent for 2025 (fiscal FY26), reflecting the better-than-expected outturn in the third quarter of the year and strong momentum in the fourth quarter," it said in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) update. Growth is projected to moderate to 6.4 per cent in 2026-27 and 2027-28 as cyclical and temporary factors wane, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. According to India's statistics ministry, GDP during April-September of 2025-26 registered a growth rate of 8 per cent, on the back