Can India stay with GST?
July 2020 marks the completion of three years since the launch of the Good and Services Tax regime. That is long enough to allow us to take stock of how well the new tax regime is performing. If the regime…
Can the Economic Lever Nudge China?
In a surprise move, the Indian government has decided to ban the use of 59 Chinese apps, some of which like Tik-Tok and UC browser are extremely popular in India’s consumer digital space. According to The Wall Street Journal, quoting…
Developing Asia’s External Debt Concerns
There has been much discussion about how external debt concerns are likely to weigh heavily on developing countries in their attempts at economic recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of this discussion has centred on emerging markets…
FTAs and the Race to the Bottom
The competition among Asian countries to win a slice of export markets currently controlled by China is intensifying. In a recent development, Vietnam has finally ratified a free trade agreement with the EU, under which more than 70 per cent…
The Fisc and the Economy
India’s central government was faced with a fiscal crisis even prior to the Covid-induced lockdown. Provisional estimates from the Controller General of Accounts of actual revenues collected in financial year 2019-20, or the fiscal year that ended March 2020, point…
Economic Contraction and the Fiscal Stance of the Indian Government
It is generally recognised that the Indian economy was already in a steep slowdown well before the Covid-19 pandemic and badly planned lockdown further destroyed economic activity. But what is possibly not so well understood that that a major reason…
Another Financial Rescue by the US Fed
While forecasters grapple with predictions on the likely contraction in the world’s leading economies, big finance, especially in the US, seems to be prematurely preparing for its next celebration. Recall that while the post-2008 Great Recession was precipitated by the…
The Worrisome Return of Capital
In a trend which sees equity markets in the “emerging economies” imitate stock markets in the US, the MSCI Emerging Market Index that collapsed over the month ending 23 March, from more than 1,100 to just above 750 (Chart 1),…
A Fragile Federation under Strain
Among the many damages wrought by the inapposite Central government policy response to the Covid pandemic in India is that on the fragile framework of economic cooperation between the Centre and the states. It is clear that the real task…
Callousness in a Time of Crisis
On May 12, Prime Minister Modi declared that the government, in response to the Covid-19 induced crisis, is about to unveil a Rs. 20 lakh crore relief and revival package amounting to 10 per cent of GDP. This announcement came…