Diagnosing India s Inflationary Signals Right
The pandemic complications will require a strong response that will necessarily involve a multi-faceted approach.
FILE PHOTO: A healthcare worker checks the temperature of a rice mill worker during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination drive at Bavla village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, April 13, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Amit Dave/File Photo
Economy2 hours ago
Recent numbers on inflation â as part of a global trend in rise in prices of commodities, food and fuel â paint a nuanced picture for the Indian economy as a whole.Â
At a time of deep crisis fuelled by âuncertainâ economic expectations and a surging pandemic wave in rural India, 97% households recently reported no rise in their real incomes from last year. Consumption demand has already been low along with domestic private investment demand and unemployment levels are increasing with a steeping curve of inflation, as reported from the Wholesal
Hotel occupancy and other local economic yardsticks continue to improve, but nearly 27 of every 100 jobs that existed in April 2019 in the hospitality industry have not yet come
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The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic which struck India between the end of February and beginning of March continues unabated. The alarming rate at which it has spiraled out of control especially in the last four weeks has left citizens helpless, and also exposed the under-preparedness of authorities to deal with this unprecedented health crisis. While daily COVID-19 cases started to rise steadily since end of February, it was in the first week of April that India surpassed the first wave peak of 97,654 daily cases (on September 16 last year). Since then, the country has witnessed a huge surge in daily cases with the country hitting grim milestones each day (consistently over 300,000 cases since April 20). The country now accounts for almost half of daily COVID-19 cases and almost 30 percent of daily deaths due to the disease globally. Many experts believe that the actual numbers of cases and fatalities are much higher than those being reported.