Here is the S&P announcement on downgrading the outlook on India’s lowest investment grade credit rating. By and large, I think it is a reasonable decision. I am not ‘shocked‘. It is interesting that the linked BS article talks of Indian FinMin officials expecting an upgrade. That shows how far they are out of touch […]
Ignorance, they say, is bliss. But not for a country when the government ignores the ground realities while devising plans and policies. The recent union budget of India is a veritable test case of the above. Previously I have talked about how the budget over-estimated the revenue numbers and under estimated the expenditure numbers by […]
As the Indian economy shows distinct signs of slowdown and with the politically and financially challenged government clearly on the back foot, 2012 has witnessed a series of announcements and actions that shows that financial repression is alive and kicking in India. Although the last quarter of the current financial year (FY2012) is yet to […]
The month of March has been very eventful for India. Results of the elections of the five Indian states were declared on March 6. These were then followed by two national level budgets – the railway budget (a British legacy) on March 14 and the union budget on March 16. Then came the leaked report […]
Some friends alerted me to this important comment in the MINT on how India’s farmers are rationally expecting another loan waiver and refusing to pay off their loans. Before the last general elections, they got a loan waiver. You can’t blame them for hoping to get another now. Their expectations have been set by the […]
This article first appeared in The Hindu on February 9, 2012. Since 2007, India and the European Union have been negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement — officially known as Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) — covering trade in goods and services besides rules pertaining to cross-border investments, competition policy, government procurement and state […]
The price that India is beginning to pay for the entitlement politics practiced, with very few interruptions, since Independence is high and is climbing. Industrialists from the prosperous industrial town of Coimbatore protested against the prolonged interruptions to the power supply: Members of 31 industrial associations and their workforce staged a demonstration at Gandhipuram in Coimbatore on […]
Below is the weekly guest column by Taylan Bilgic, which was published on Friday at Hurriyet Daily News. Taylan briefly summarizes world politics in 2011 and outlines where he sees the biggest risks in 2012, with historical context and all in the confines of 3200 characters. My comments are, as always, right below the column. […]
After 10 years of China’s entry to WTO, rising trade protectionism may spell trouble. Trade globalization is at risk. As WTO meets, world trade growth is halved In 2010, world trade recorded its largest annual increase as merchandise exports surged 14.5 percent, supported by a 3.6 percent recovery in global output as measured by GDP. […]
New Delhi will soon take a final call on the issue of setting up of a sovereign wealth fund (SWF). The idea of setting up an Indian SWF has been going around since 2007 when China established its major sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation (CIC), with an initial capital fund of $200 billion. However, […]