PANDEMIC COULD MAKE ANOTHER 25 MILLION JOBLESS
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Science and Technology, Prelims Why in news? The COVID-19 pandemic will significantly increase global unemployment, leaving up to 25 million more people out of work, and will dramatically slash workers’ incomes, the United Nations said on 18th March 2020. Views of The International Labour Organization The economic and labour crisis sparked […]
RBI TO REGULATE PAYMENT AGGREGATORS
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Economic Development Why in news? The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 17th March 2020, said it will regulate in entirety the activities of payment aggregators (PAs) and provide baseline technology-related recommendations to payment gateways (PGs) in view of the important functions of these intermediaries in the online payments space as […]
COVID-19 WILL IMPACT GDP GROWTH BY 90 BPS: SBI REPORT
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy Why in news? The spread of COVID-19, the deadly pandemic, which has impacted several sectors especially transport, tourism and hotel industries, could impact the economic growth of the country by 90 basis points. Highlights On the demand side, inoperability analysis for three sectors, namely transport, tourism and hotels, shows significant impact […]
FPI SALES AT A RECORD HIGH AS VIRUS SPOOKS MARKETS
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Economic Development Why in news? Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who have been the prime drivers of every bull run that the Indian capital market has seen till date, have been record sellers during the March 2020 month. Till 17th of March, FPIs equity sold and debt cumulatively is the highest ever […]
RBI’S FOCUS ON LIQUIDITY IS CORRECT
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy Why in news? The central bank has an armoury of weapons and it will not hesitate to deploy them to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. The two steps that RBI Governor has outlined now: forex swap and a second long-term repo operation (LTRO) of ₹1 lakh crore – […]
GST ON MOBILE PHONES INCREASED TO 18%
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy Why in news? Mobile phones are likely to get costlier, with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on 14th March 2020 deciding to increase the rate on mobile phones and specific parts to 18% from the current 12%, from April 1. The decision was taken not to increase the prices […]
INDIA’S CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT EASES TO 0.2% OF GDP
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Economic Development, Prelims Why in news? India’s current account deficit almost got wiped out in the December quarter standing at just $1.4 billion due to lower trade deficit and a rise in net services receipts, according to data released by Reserve Bank of India on 12th March 2020. Details Private transfer […]
WORLD STOCKS PLUNGE INTO BEAR MARKET, OIL SLUMPS – CONSUMERS TO GAIN FROM CHEAP OIL?
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Industry and Infrastructure, Prelims Why in news? Global stocks plunged into a bear market and oil slumped further on 12th March 2020, after stimulus efforts from the European Central Bank failed to calm investors alarmed by U.S. moves overnight to restrict travel from Europe over the spread of COVID-19. The price […]
RBI OPENS DOLLAR-SWAP WINDOW
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy Why in news? The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opened a six-month dollar sell-buy swap window to pump liquidity in the foreign exchange market — the first move following financial markets in India and across the globe experiencing turbulence over the spread of COVID-19, which could lead to a slowdown […]
RETAIL INFLATION EASES TO, INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION QUICKENS
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Prelims Why in news? Retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index slowed to 6.58% in February, while the industrial production growth as measured in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) quickened to 2% in January amid subdued performance by the manufacturing sector, official data released on 12th March 2020 showed. […]