Overall Impact
The Union Budget 2009-10, as Pranab Mukherjee mentioned, is one of continuity. No major new schemes. No major tax changes. No change in the thinking of the government with respect to the fiscal deficit. No major reforms announced in the Budget, either. The initial impression one gets is that the government is hoping that the external environment will improve, domestic demand will pick up and lift the economy out the trough.
India
Recent Posts
A new government: business as usual?
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Business as a rule loves stability. They could not have asked for a better verdict from the 2009 elections. The UPA government has come back to power, much stronger with about 260 seats in a 543-seat parliament. In the previous election, it was much dependent on a number of smaller allies, hampering effective functioning especially on the economic front.
A tough economic situation…
Filed under: Economy+Policy, News Analysis, Elections, Government, India
Ouch! India’s Inflation index at 11.42%
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India’s wholesale price index (WPI), the widely watched inflation number, moved up a notch to 11.42%. This is a provisional number and it would be safe to assume that the actual figure would be closer to 12% (WPI for week ended April 19 was revised to 8.23% from 7.57%).
Filed under: Economy+Policy, Top News, India, Industries Number Speak, Inflation, WPI
India’s inflation: reining in the government
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Already, inflation is resulting in the government taking steps that don’t seem logical. The Finance Minister has for long been cheering the growth story and cautioning the central bank taking any monetary steps, which might hit growth. And, he has helpfully been ‘requesting’ public sector banks not to increase interest rates, for good measure. Though the RBI is an autonomous body, the pressure on it to ignore the warning signals of rising inflation was evident.