WORLD ECONOMY TO CONTRACT BY 3% IMF
Why in news? The COVID-19 pandemic is having a “severe” effect on the world economy and is expected to cause a -3% change (i.e., a contraction) in global output in 2020, “much worse” than the 2008-09 financial crises, as per the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) World Economic Outlook (WEO). India’s growth is expected to dip […]
RETAIL INFLATION EASES TO 5.91%
Why in news? Retail inflation dropped to 5.91% in March from the 6.58% in February, mostly on a drop in food prices, according to the Consumer Price Index data released by the National Statistical Office on 13th April 2020. Details Food inflation fell to 8.76% in March, in comparison with the 10.81% in February. Vegetable […]
RBI ANNOUNCES MEASURES TO DEAL WITH COVID-19 CRISIS-UPSC
RBI’s measures to tackle COVID-19 The measures taken by RBI have four objectives in mind. These are aimed to maintain adequate liquidity in the system and its constituents, to facilitate and incentivize bank credit flows, to de-stress and enable performance of markets. Important graphs to correlate with RBI Measures for UPSC exam Targeted Long-Term Repo […]
MGNREGA JOBS CRASH TO 1% OF NORMAL
Why in news? Employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has collapsed to just over 1% of the usual rate in April, due to the COVID-19 lockdown. How many are affected? Data from the MGNREGA website show that less than 1.9 lakh families have been provided work under the scheme so […]
CENTRE MAY RAISE LOAN TO PAY GST DUES TO STATES
Why in news? The Union government is exploring raising a loan to pay the shortfall of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation amount to States as the latter have had to ramp up spending to combat the outbreak of COVID-19. Details The idea has been circulated and since the GST Act prohibits withdrawal of […]
STIMULUS MUST PRECEDE LIFTING OF LOCKDOWN
Why in news? The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has said that before the lockdown is lifted, adequate notice should be given and an economic package announced. Views of the CII The principle should be that we look at opening up in concentric circles around the red zones. The radiating heat map should turn from […]
RESUME INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY IN 15 SECTORS: DPIIT
Why in news? The Commerce and Industries Ministry has called for far-reaching measures to be taken to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown, urging the Home Ministry to allow relaxations of the restrictions on a number of industry sectors. Recommendations Industrial activity be restarted in at least 15 sectors, including heavy electricals, electronics and […]
INDIA’S FOREIGN TRADE: MARCH 2020
Why in news? India’s overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in April-March2019-20* are estimated to be USD 528.45billion, exhibiting a negative growth of (-) 1.36per cent over the same period last year. Overall imports in April-March 2019-20* are estimated to be USD 598.61billion, exhibiting a negative growth of (-)6.33per cent over the same period last […]
NATIONAL AGRICULTURE MARKET PORTAL E-NAM TO COMPLETE FOUR YEARS
Why in news? The pan-India Agriculture trading portal e-NAM will be completing four years of implementation on 14th April 2020. e-NAM e-NAM was an innovative initiative in agricultural marketing to enhance farmers accessibility digitally to multiple number of markets & buyers and to bring transparency in trade transactions with the intent to improve price discovery […]
FUEL SALES, CRISIL FY21 GDP GROWTH FORECAST, RETAILERS, REAL ESTATE SECTOR TO SUFFER AMID COVID19 ALERT
Why in news? Sales of sensitive petroleum products such as petrol and diesel have dropped in March compared with February as more people stay back at home to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. Crisil has cut India’s GDP growth rate forecast for FY21 citing financial sector stress and COVID-19 impact. Organised retailers, dealing with non-essential daily […]