It took 21 years to state similar objectives on disinvestment. Immense political capital had to be spent by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in disinvesting 16 CPSEs before ‘alliance dharma’ got the better of the agenda. Source link
How did India handle the previous two economic crises — the Asian and the global financial crises? What can we learn from them to understand the rationale behind GoI’s policy response to the Covid crisis? Start with three key propositions. First, when only aggregate demand is raised without any change in aggregate supply, both price … Read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the government has no business to be in business and his administration is committed to privatising all PSUs barring the bare minimum in four strategic sectors. “It is government’s duty to support enterprises and businesses. But it is not essential that it should own and run enterprises,” he … Read more
A higher fiscal deficit on account of blasé accounting reforms may suggest that the Centre has pumped in an enormous stimulus even as naya paisa laid out is actually minimal. Synopsis Budget 2021 could have done more for boosting public investment in agriculture and increasing government spending beyond what is incurred on repaying FCI’s debts. … Read more
India’s budget for 2021-22 has the potential to lift growth prospects and its credit impact would depend on the growth outlook, said global rating agency Fitch, on Wednesday. “Higher expenditure will support the near-term recovery and increased infrastructure spending could boost sustainable medium-term growth rates,” Fitch said. However, the accompanying loosening of fiscal policy and … Read more
India has vowed to spend almost half-a-trillion dollars to bring the pandemic-ravaged economy back onto a growth path, but that risks leaving vulnerable sections that still need support without immediate help. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration sees a 26% jump in capital expenditure — money for creating or maintaining assets, including infrastructure — for … Read more
The government seems to have decided that India is beyond the Covid-19 crisis, evident from the planned reduction in expenditure on the rural employment guarantee scheme, said experts during a virtual discussion on the Union Budget 2021-22 on Monday. “With the push on capital expenditure and infrastructure, it seems like the government has determined for … Read more
Last week’s Union budget for 2021-22 targets a fiscal deficit of 6.8%. It might sound counterintuitive, but this target is too conservative. With GDP growth projected to be 14.4% as the economy rebounds from the Covid-19 economic shock, India has a rare opportunity to run a larger fiscal deficit without pushing the debt-to-GDP ratio higher. … Read more
New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the budget stresses on areas with high multiplier effect such as infrastructure that would facilitate the private investments with thrust being on transparency and tax stability. Healthcare and Agriculture have been the other priorities for the budget, she said. She said while the Budget provided for enhanced … Read more
The government is sticking to the target of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25 and emphasis on infrastructure sector and other initiatives taken in Budget 2021-22 are aimed at achieving the goal, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj has said. The Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday has given a big … Read more