Page 17 - Inflation

Iceland heads for Parliamentary polls; immigration, inflation key issues

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 Europe rises to 2.3%, growth concerns dominate ECB discussions

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

Markets Today: GDP; Sensex, Bankex new expiry day; Enviro Infra IPO listing

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

S&P Global cuts India's FY26 GDP growth forecast to 6.7% from 6.9%

Raises inflation projection for FY25 to 4.6%

Statsguru: Can pricier loans tame food prices in India? Debate heats up

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

Govt expects food inflation to slow in coming months on bumper crop harvest

A favorable monsoon, adequate reservoir levels and higher minimum support prices are likely to boost winter crop sowing and production

Trump's promises on growth, inflation might derail due to $36 trn debt

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

Nov Flash PMI: Charge inflation hits 12-year high, but biz confidence rises

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

Macroeconomic stability a joint effort, says RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das

'In the long run, price stability supports sustained high growth. Price stability is also important because high inflation is disproportionately burdensome on the poor'

Early signs of second-order effects: RBI cannot ignore price pressures

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

Unchecked inflation can hurt real economy prospects, says RBI report

Inflation pressure, if unchecked, could undermine prospects of real economy

Inflation other than in food sector is not a challenge: Ajay Seth

Economic affairs secy refuses to comment on rate cut, saying 'that's a monetary policy action'

No evidence of exchange rate policy hurting exports: RBI report

Rupee depreciated by 7.8 per cent during FY23 and by 1.4 per cent in FY24. And so far in FY25, it has depreciated by 1.5 per cent

UK inflation rises by 2.3% in October, again more than BOE's expectation

The increase was the biggest month-to-month rise in the annual CPI rate since October 2022

HUL, Asian Paints: Consumption-related stocks take a hit as inflation bites

Higher inflation and lower purchasing by consumers, it seems, has taken a bite out of consumption-related stocks at the bourses, with most counters losing ground in the last few months

ECB members divided on risk of excessively weak inflation, show accounts

The ECB cut rates for the third time this year in October and made clear that further easing is coming given a weak economy and diminishing price pressures

Economists say MPC's rate cut in February may not be a done deal

Inflation hit a 14-mth high of 6.2% in Oct, breaching MPC's upper tolerance band

US Oct retail inflation modestly up, may result in fewer interest rate cuts

The consumer price index rose 0.2% for the fourth straight month, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. In the 12 months through October

RBI inflation target credible as expanding supply will curb pressure: S&P

S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday said supply capacity in India is continuing to expand pretty quickly which will help contain inflationary pressure. S&P Senior Economist Asia Pacific Vishrut Rana said the central bank's monetary policy and inflation target remains credible and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should be able to anchor inflationary expectations. "That remains a manageable challenge," he said. India's retail inflation soared to a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October --above the RBI's tolerance band, mainly on account of rising food prices. It was 5.49 per cent in September. "... As long as economies' supplies capacity continues to expand pretty quickly which is happening in India at the moment with emphasis on manufacturing infrastructure, etc, we expect inflationary pressure should be contained," Rana said at the Asia-Pacific Credit Outlook 2025 conference. The RBI, which is mandated by the government to contain inflation at 4 per cent (+/- 2 per cent) has ...

Oct retail inflation rises to 14-month high of 6.2%; IIP picked up in Sep

Retail inflation breaches RBI's 6% threshold