Page 94 - Indian Economy

Job creation single most important pressure point: Raghuram Rajan

Indian economy, dubbed the fastest growing major economy in the world, is faced with the single most important pressure point of job creation, says former RBI Governor Raghuram G Ranjan as he makes a strong case for improvement of human capital through skill development. Talking about the book 'Breaking the mould: Reimagining India's economic future', written jointly by him and Rohit Lamba, assistant professor of economics at Pennsylvania State University, Rajan said one of the greatest strength of India is its human capital of 1.4 billion and the question is "how do you make it strong?" The nation needs to create jobs at every level going along the path of development, said Rajan, presently Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth, USA. "Jobs is the single most important pressure point... If we had many more private sector jobs showing up, would there be so much pressure on reservations? Perhaps there'll be less so to some extent," he said,

Nine states record a higher rate of inflation in November, shows data

India's overall inflation rate is higher than all the advanced economies

Fiscal prudence is govt's top priority, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The Lok Sabha approved the additional gross spending of Rs 1.29 trillion, which includes net cash outgo of Rs 58,378 crore

CPI inflation rises to 5.55% in November: IIP growth rate at 11.7% in Oct

Retail inflation: In the recent MPC announcement, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said that the inflation figures may show an uptick in November and December owing to food output pressures

The tradeoffs of waste taxation

Policymakers have been grappling to understand the implicit micro-foundations along with behavioral idiosyncrasies of waste regulation and designing the appropriate fiscal instruments for the same

States' gross fiscal deficit below Budget Estimate for a 2nd yr: RBI report

The implementation of goods and services tax (GST) has led to increased tax buoyancy for the states," the report said

Inflation now stable, temporary rises due to demand-supply mismatches: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said retail inflation is now "stable" and temporary increases in inflation on a few occasions are caused by demand-supply mismatches arising out of global shocks and adverse weather conditions. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said India's retail inflation has declined from an average of 7.1 per cent in April-October 2022 to 5.4 per cent in the corresponding period of 2023. "The retail inflation is now stable and within the notified tolerance band of 2 per cent to 6 per cent. A steady decline in core inflation, estimated after removing volatile food and fuel items from retail inflation, has been critical in weakening the inflationary pressure in the Indian economy," she said. The core inflation rate has declined from 5.1 per cent in April 2023 to 4.3 per cent in October 2023. The minister said retail inflation in India has been mostly within acceptable limits after the notification of the inflation tolerance band in ...

Economics before politics good for the industry, says Ficci president

Shah explains his key focus areas and views on the economy as well as the industry

India's potential economic growth rate likely now at 7%, estimates Axis

An economy that's growing faster than its potential would generally result in bottlenecks in supply, causing inflation to accelerate and putting pressure on the central bank to hike interest rates

Ficci expects economy to grow at 7.5-8% this fiscal, 8% in 2024-25

Industry expects the economy to grow at 7.5 to 8 per cent in the current fiscal and 8 per cent in 2024-25 on the back of strong growth momentum, positive sentiments and rising private investments, Anish Shah, newly-elected president of the Federation Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), said on Monday. There will, however, be geopolitical pressure points that may have a bearing on India's growth prospects, he added. "We have seen great growth numbers so far at 7.8 per cent, 7.6 per cent. I expect that to continue because we have got strong momentum. We are seeing multiple companies investing, adding capacities, something that Mahindra group has done as well. "We expect that growth momentum to continue at 7.5 per cent to 8 per cent in the current financial year and for next year, I would expect 8 per cent or higher," said Shah, who is also Group CEO and Managing Director of Mahindra and Mahindra, in an interview to PTI. Indian economy recorded a growth of 7.8 per cent i

Vision @2047 nearly ready, PM Modi to launch in January: NITI Aayog CEO

PM to launch campaign on Monday to seek ideas from school students

Statsguru: Six charts show the hiring season is looking grey yet again

The job market remained skewed against women. For every one woman employed, 10 men got a job

EFTA deal with India could be signed before 2024 elections: Swiss envoy

Switzerland's Ambassador to India, Ralf Heckner, has expressed optimism that the crucial European Free Trade Association (EFTA) deal with the country would be wrapped up before the 2024 general elections. Heckner stressed on the importance of the proposed trade deal for unlocking innovation and investment opportunities. "Both sides have been negotiating very closely and seriously over the last more than 12 months. I remain positive that the deal would be wrapped up before the (2024) elections," he told PTI. The envoy was recently in the city to unveil the Kolkata chapter of the Swiss-India Chamber of Commerce. Parliamentary elections in India are due in early 2024. "If India wants innovation, it needs to work with about 12 to 15 countries, and one of those countries is Switzerland for a world of investments and innovation," We will have a more strategic innovation relationship with India, Heckner stated. India and the EFTA states Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland

India becoming middle income country within realms of possibility: NK Singh

Talking about the challenges that India needs to address, he stressed the need for ensuring the sanctity of contracts across governance

Forex reserves surpass $600-billion mark after nearly four months

India's foreign exchange reserves increased to USD 604 billion as on December 1, surpassing the USD 600 billion mark after a gap of about four months. The forex reserves were last above the USD 600 billion mark on August 11 this year. "India's foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 604 billion as on December 1, 2023. We remain confident of meeting our external financing requirements comfortably," Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said, while unveiling the December bi-monthly monetary policy on Friday. The reserves were USD 597.935 billion in the preceding week ended November 24. In October 2021, the country's foreign exchange kitty had reached an all-time high of USD 642 billion. The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the reserves to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments since last year. The governor further said the Indian rupee has exhibited low volatility compared to emerging market economy (EME) peers in the calendar year 2023,

RBI monetary policy: 5 key announcements from the governor's speech today

RBI monetary policy: Central bank raised the UPI payment limits for hospitals and educational institutions to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh per transaction

RBI set to retain hawkish pause on interest rates; keep liquidity tight

The swap markets are signalling that the Indian central bank will begin cutting rates in the middle of 2024, at least a quarter after the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to start loosening policy

No 'spectacular announcement' likely in Feb 1 Budget, says finance minister

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the budget to be presented on February 1, 2024 would not have any "spectacular announcement" as it would be a vote on account in run up to the general elections. "It is a matter of truth that February 1, 2024 budget that will be announced will just be a vote on account because we will be in an election mode. So the budget that the government presents will just be to meet the expenditure of the government till a new government comes to play," she said. Speaking at the CII Global Economic Policy Forum, Sitharaman said the country would be preparing for the Lok Sabha elections which are due in the summer of 2024. Hence the February 1 budget, following the British tradition, is called vote on account. "No spectacular announcements come in that time (in vote on account). So you will have to wait till after new government comes in and presents next full Budget in July 2024," Sitharaman said. On February 1, 2024, Sitharaman will presen

LIVE: 50,000 to stage protest in Delhi to demand hike in minimum pension

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Finance Commission confronts fiscal prudence challenges with minimal ToR

Experts say minimum ToR issued to avoid controversies and simplify state memoranda