Prices of various car models -- ranging from entry-level hatchbacks to high-end luxury offerings -- are set to rise as automakers have announced price hikes with effect from January. Carmakers cite an increase in input costs and operational expenses as the main reason to implement price increases from the next month. Industry experts, however, note that the exercise is also undertaken by automakers every year in December to shore up sales volume in the last month of the year, as customers postpone buyouts to later months to get the new year manufactured units. "We have seen a few cycles of price increase in India. It happens at the beginning of the calendar year and financial year, but few OEMs pick the timing based on their planned launches as well," Deloitte India Partner Rajat Mahajan said. While there could be multiple factors for the price increase, the key one is due to a decline in profitability of a few large auto OEMs in the second quarter, he added. "Due to the festive .
Maintains neutral stance; sets stage for Feb rate action
Since higher customs duties will result in the US suffering inflation, it's also possible the US Federal Reserve will review its stated policy of policy rate cuts
Consumer confidence dips marginally
The Reserve Bank on Friday raised the inflation projection for current fiscal year to 4.8 per cent from 4.5 per cent with Governor Shaktikanta Das saying lingering food price pressures are likely to keep headline inflation elevated in the December quarter. Consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation increased sharply in September and October 2024 led by an unanticipated increase in food prices. Core inflation, though at subdued levels, also registered a pick-up in October. Fuel group remained in deflation for the 14th consecutive month in October. "In the near term, despite some softening, lingering food price pressures are likely to keep headline inflation elevated in Q3," Das said while unveiling the December 2024 monetary policy. RBI said CPI inflation for 2024-25 is projected at 4.8 per cent, with Q3 at 5.7 per cent; and Q4 at 4.5 per cent. CPI or retail inflation for Q1:2025-26 is projected at 4.6 per cent, and Q2 at 4 per cent. In the October policy, the central bank had ...
Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy Committee: Food prices likely to keep headline inflation up in the near future
"It is also necessary to curb inflation, which is currently at a fairly high level," Putin told an international investment conference organised by Russia's second-largest lender VTB in Moscow
May cut cash reserve ratio, lower growth and inflation projections
Icelanders will elect a new parliament Saturday after disagreements over immigration, energy policy and the economy forced Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to pull the plug on his coalition government and call early elections. This is Iceland's sixth general election since the 2008 financial crisis devastated the economy of the North Atlantic island nation and ushered in a new era of political instability. Opinion polls suggest the country may be in for another upheaval, with support for the three governing parties plunging. Benediktsson, who was named prime minister in April following the resignation of his predecessor, struggled to hold together the unlikely coalition of his conservative Independence Party with the centrist Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement. Iceland, a nation of about 400,000 people, is proud of its democratic traditions, describing itself as arguably the world's oldest parliamentary democracy. The island's parliament, the Althingi, was founded in 93
Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency rose in November but that likely won't stop the European Central Bank from cutting interest rates as the prospect of new US tariffs from the incoming Trump administration adds to the gloom over weak growth. The European Union's harmonised index of consumer prices stood up 2.3 per cent in the year to November, up from 2.0 per cent in October, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Friday. Energy prices fell 1.9 per cent from a year ago, but that was offset by price increases of 3.9 per cent in the services sector, a broad category including haircuts, medical treatment, hotels and restaurants, and sports and entertainment. Inflation has come down a long way from the peak of 10.6 per cent in October 2022 as the ECB quickly raised rates to cool off price rises. It then started cutting them in June as worries about growth came into sharper focus. High central bank benchmark rates combat inflation by influencing borrowing cost
Thursday's session proved challenging for domestic markets, with benchmarks plunging sharply on the monthly F&O expiry. Sensex crashed 1,190 pts to 79,043.74, while Nifty slid 360.75 pts to 23,914.15
Raises inflation projection for FY25 to 4.6%
Agricultural output and food prices in India were significantly affected in 2022-23 and 2023-24, mainly due to unpredictable monsoons and the effects of climate change
A favorable monsoon, adequate reservoir levels and higher minimum support prices are likely to boost winter crop sowing and production
Donald Trump has big plans for the economy and a big debt problem that will be a hurdle to delivering on them. Trump has bold ideas on tax cuts, tariffs and other programs, but high interest rates and the price of repaying the federal government's existing debt could limit what he's able to do. Not only is the federal debt at roughly USD 36 trillion, but the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government's borrowing costs such that debt service next year will easily exceed spending on national security. The higher cost of servicing the debt gives Trump less room to maneuver with the federal budget as he seeks income tax cuts. It's also a political challenge because higher interest rates have made it costlier for many Americans to buy a home or new automobile. And the issue of high costs helped Trump reclaim the presidency in November's election. It's clear the current amount of debt is putting upward pressure on interest rates, including mortgage ra
HSBC Flash November PMI: Composite output index rises to 59.5, up from October's final reading of 59.1. Manufacturing PMI dips to 60.2, services PMI rises to 59.2
'In the long run, price stability supports sustained high growth. Price stability is also important because high inflation is disproportionately burdensome on the poor'
It is worth highlighting that even if the headline or food inflation rate comes down, it will only reduce the pace of price increase and consumers will continue to pay comparatively high prices
Inflation pressure, if unchecked, could undermine prospects of real economy
Economic affairs secy refuses to comment on rate cut, saying 'that's a monetary policy action'