Fitch Ratings on Friday said India's post-election budget confirms that the new administration remains committed to reducing the fiscal deficit for FY25 and FY26, despite demands of the coalition government. In the FY25 budget, the government has lowered the Centre's fiscal deficit target for the year ending March 2025 to 4.9 per cent of GDP, from 5.1 per cent in February's interim budget. The government's fiscal deficit target for FY25 is significantly below the 5.4 per cent that the ratings agency anticipated when it affirmed India's 'BBB-' rating, with a stable outlook, in January 2024. "India's post-election budget confirms that the new administration remains committed to reducing the fiscal deficit this and next year, despite the demands of the coalition government," Fitch Ratings said in a statement. The sustained focus on supporting economic growth through high public capex also points to continuity in key areas, it added. "We believe that it should be achievable as the ...
India needs medium-term targets
As for the long-term vision of the Budget, there are some reassuring messages from the finance minister
Survey says nearly 135 mn have emerged from multidimensional poverty
The biggest support these enterprises need is in their marketing, access to domestic and international markets, and handholding, wherein e-commerce steps in a big way
The European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will impose additional 25 per cent tax on energy-intensive goods exported from India to the EU, a new report said on Wednesday. This tax burden would represent 0.05 per cent of India's GDP, according to the report titled "The Global South's response to a changing trade regime in the era of climate change" by independent think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). These findings are based on data from the past three years (2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24). CBAM is the EU's proposed tax on energy-intensive products, such as iron, steel, cement, fertilizers, and aluminum, imported from countries like India and China. The tax is based on the carbon emissions generated during the production of these goods. The EU argues that this mechanism creates a level playing field for domestically manufactured goods, which must adhere to stricter environmental standards, and helps reduce emissions from imports. But other nations,
The first, second and seventh plenums typically focus on the power transition between Central Committees
The Indian economy will grow around 7 per cent in the current fiscal year and is on track to maintain a similar growth rate for several years, NITI Aayog member Arvind Virmani said on Friday. Virmani said there are new challenges facing the country and they will have to be dealt with. "Indian economy will grow at 7 per cent plus minus point 0.5 per cent... I expect that we are on track to grow at 7 per cent for several years from today," he told PTI in an interview. Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) pegged the FY25 gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate at 7.2 per cent. Responding to a question on the decline in private consumption expenditures in the last fiscal year, Virmani said it is actually recovering now. "The effect of the pandemic was to draw down savings... and very different from previous financial shocks," he said. Explaining further, Virmani said it is like what he calls a double drought situation. "We also had, of course, El Nino last year, but what the
Echoing the urgency of healthcare reforms ranging from restructuring of Ayushman Bharat Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to accelerating the digital health mission, experts and industry leaders have outlined key priorities for the Modi government in its third consecutive term. Their statements highlight the importance of prioritising preventive healthcare measures, strengthening infrastructure, and increasing healthcare spending. Healthcare experts have expressed concerns about whether the government in its new term will make any difference by increasing public expenditure on healthcare to the desired level in India. Notably, the National Health Policy (NHP) 2017, which promises to increase public health spending to 2.5 percent of the GDP, remains overdue even as Indians rely heavily on private services. Dr Girdhar Gyani, Director General, AHPI (Association of Healthcare Providers, India) said, "In the upcoming term, we urge the government to prioritise a comprehensive approach to fostering a ...
However, this path may not be as easy for the government to tread
He added that India's size gives It the resources to diversify and upgrade the economy overtime and can become a magnet for FDI
Cultural economic governance assumes great importance at the stage of policy formulation and its implementation
It needs to move beyond headline GDP to prioritise job creation and alleviating rural distress
The Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics to review data sources, align GDP with inflation and industrial indices
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has been making efforts for sustainable development of the MSME sector, which plays a key role in the economy, a senior official of the financial institution said on Thursday. Deputy Managing Director of SIDBI, Sudatta Mandal, said it has taken proactive steps to make the MSME eco-system green with several financial and non-financial engagements. Speaking at an interactive session on the occasion of International MSME Day organised by the MCCI, Mandal said SIDBI has launched various lending products on competitive terms to facilitate energy-efficient transition of the MSMEs. "In the green space, SIDBI has piloted several projects and validated models such as Partial Risk Sharing Facility for energy efficiency programme supported by the World Bank with a corpus of USD 37 million, he said. Mandal said SIDBI has made continuous efforts for holistic development of the MSME sector, which now contributes to 45 per cent of India's exports
Addressing the 188th AGM of Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das says, "India is at the threshold of a major structural shift in its growth trajectory
At end-March 2024, India's external debt was placed at $ 663.8 billion, an increase of $ 39.7 billion over its level at end-March 2023, according to RBI
For FY24, the net invisibles receipt was higher during 2023-24 than a year ago, primarily on account of services and transfers, RBI said
India remains a prized long-term bet, but investors are hesitant due to concerns over valuation
India recorded a current account surplus of USD 5.7 billion or 0.6 per cent of GDP in the March quarter, the Reserve Bank said on Monday. In the year-ago period, the current account deficit stood at USD 1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP, and the same was USD 8.7 billion or 1 per cent of GDP in the preceding quarter ending December 2023. For FY24, the current account deficit narrowed to USD 23.2 billion or 0.7 per cent of GDP against USD 67 billion or 2 per cent of GDP in FY23, the RBI said in a release on the Developments in India's Balance of Payments.