In the Monetary Policy Review, the RBI clearly stated it is concerned about the Twin Deficit-s Current Account as well as Fiscal. The RBI expected the overall current account deficit for 2010-2011 to be about 3.5% of GDP. It noted ‘A CAD of this magnitude is not sustainable.’ The RBI was also concerned about the financing of the current account deficit since the faster-than-expected global recovery may enhance the attractiveness of investment opportunities in
Editor's Desk
NREGA – The Indirect Minimum Wage Rule Book for India
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 – NREGA Scheme which is now pegged to the Indian Inflation has become a benchmark for daily labour / other Wages across India. Under NREGA, implemented in bits and pieces across India, unemployed youth were provided Rs 100 / day for 100 days thus indirectly telling them not to work for ~4 months and claim this wage.
However, the ambitious demographics tell a different story. An estimated 2 million unemployed males indicated their willingness to
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Onion prices Make Institutional Investors Cry & Sell India
The decelerating trend in headline inflation was rudely reversed in December due to rising food prices both on the domestic and global front. Consequently, headline inflation rose 8.43%YoY in Dec, in line with expectations of 8.4% but higher than 7.5% levels seen in Nov.
While the base effect was expected to kick in, the rise in the Dec numbers was primarily due to primary articles which rose 16.5% YoY, 3.5%MoM) Primary food inflation jumped to 13.6% y-o-y
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Indians Pay Taxes Silently – What about High Corruption in Government ?
Direct tax collections in the first nine months (April-December) of the current financial year increased 19.47 % to touch INR2990bn, compared with INR2502bn in the corresponding period of 2009-10. Growth in collections for December this year over the same month last year was 20 %, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said. Tax collections at INR2990bn are 69.53 % of the Budgeted target of INR4.3trn this year.
The growth in the April-December period was largely contributed by corporation income-tax collections. During these months,
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India’s Food Inflation 18.32% – Manmohan Should Go
According to the data released by the ministry of commerce and industry, India’s food price index rose 18.32% on annual basis during week-ended Dec 25, substantially faster compared with 14.14% in the week-ended Dec 11. The pace of rising food prices now is once again close to year-ago levels of around 20%. On a sequential or week-on-week basis, the index for food goods rose by whooping by 2.50 % to 192.5 from 187.8 for the previous week due to higher prices of fruits and vegetables (7%) and milk and egg (2%). This was sixth consecutive week of rise in index, suggesting prices were continuing to rise despite expected
Indians Gold Consumption in 2010
After a short weak trend in 2009 due to the global credit crisis, India’s spending on gold has bounced back sharply in 2010. India’s gold consumption (in US$ terms) has risen by almost 100% YoY during the first three quarters ending September 2010 after declining 12%YoY in 2009. Cumulatively, India now holds over 18,000 tonnes of above-ground gold stocks worth approximately US$800bn at the current gold price – nearly 50% of the country’s GDP.
Gold Vs Bank Deposits Vs Equities:
Gold holdings among Indian households at current market value are about 2.5 times