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India s Economy Likely Returned To Growth Last Quarter: Reuters Poll
The economic recovery has been aided by the government s spending plan and its commitment to not bring its fiscal deficit down to pre-pandemic levels for at least five years, and by the Reserve Bank of India s pledge to keep monetary policy accommodative.
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India s economy is likely to have returned to growth in the December quarter due to the easing of restrictions on movement after the first wave of the coronavirus epidemic peaked, a Reuters poll predicted.
The median forecast from a survey of 58 economists, conducted between Feb. 18-24, put year-on-year growth at 0.5% in the December quarter, as the economy stabilised after contracting 23.9% and 7.5% in April-June and July-Sept quarters respectively.
“We’re not going anywhere. We are ready to sit here for years if needed. The government has to listen,” said Balwinder Singh, 50, who normally grows rice and wheat on 3 acres of land in Punjab. He has been protesting since Nov. 26 on the Singhu border, the epicentre of the demonstrations outside Delhi. “We can survive the coronavirus but not these laws.”
Behind the protesters’ fears and the government rhetoric is a reality that the country somehow needs to reshape its agricultural system or face the environmental consequences of overproduction and a fiscal calamity from ballooning farm subsidies. Get the reform right and it could raise millions of agriculture-dependent families out of poverty and propel India to the forefront of global food exports. Get it wrong and it could force tens of millions of people off their land and degrade up to 90% of the nation’s water supply.
Modi’s fight with farmers is a pivotal moment in India’s growth
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Modi’s fight with farmers is a pivotal moment in India’s growthBy Pratik Parija, Bloomberg
Last Updated: Feb 13, 2021, 10:45 PM IST
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Behind the protesters’ fears and the government rhetoric is a reality that the country somehow needs to reshape its agricultural system or face the environmental consequences of overproduction and a fiscal calamity from ballooning farm subsidies.
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Hundreds of thousands of farmers are swelling protests along arterial roads into the capital and other cities across India. The police and paramilitary forces have deployed up to 50,000 personnel, as well as barricades, barbed wire and riot-control vehicles. The United Nations is urging restraint. And each day, more farmers and tractors arrive to join the disgruntled ranks.
PH economy to continue decline in Q4, but milder than previous quarter poll
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 22) The economy is expected to shrink again in the last three months of 2020, but the plunge seen is still tamer than the quarter prior.
A CNN Philippines poll among 10 economists yielded a wide forecast range of 5-12.2% for the forecasted decline for the fourth quarter. This led to an average of -8.31%, milder than the 11.5% contraction logged in the quarter prior as the country continues to reel from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, the forecast average is a distant cry from the 6.4% expansion logged in the last quarter of 2019, driven by a surge in government and infrastructure spending.
RBI squeezes money markets to spur selloff in shorter bonds
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Subhadip Sircar
, Bloomberg
India’s key money-market rates and yields on short-term debt rose after the central bank took its first small step toward unwinding emergency pandemic measures.
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India’s key money-market rates and yields on short-term debt rose after the central bank took its first small step toward unwinding emergency pandemic measures.
The interbank call rate rose to as much as 3.50% as against Friday’s weighted average of 3.18% while the yield on a five-year bond was up 10 basis points after the Reserve Bank of India said late Friday it plans to drain liquidity via a reverse repo operation.