A sharp decline in inflation will also be welcomed by the Reserve Bank of India, which cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent late last week
Inflation expectations showed an upward trajectory for three months and one-year ahead period
Looking ahead, we believe that the growth-inflation outlook suggests that there is room for another 25 bps rate cut in either the April or the June 2025 meetings
The Economic Survey, tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, said food inflation surpassed 8 per cent at several points in FY25 (April-December) due to supply disruptions
In its Feb 1 budget, the government is not expected to increase infrastructure spending, a main driver of growth in past years, leaving the onus on the RBI to revive the $4 trillion economy
WPI December 2024: WPI Food Index slightly decreased to 8.89% in December 2024 from 8.92% the month prior
The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index will likely drop at least 5 per cent in the three-months through March
Food prices, which make up nearly half of the country's consumer price index (CPI) basket, have kept inflation elevated in recent months, largely driven by a sustained surge in vegetable prices
India will have to navigate geopolitical headwinds, tame domestic inflation and nudge the private sector to further loosen their purse strings as the world's fastest-growing major economy seeks more purple patches in 2025, leaving behind September quarter growth blues. Economists at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) say that high-frequency indicators for the third quarter of 2024-25 indicate the economy is recovering, driven by strong festival activity and a sustained upswing in rural demand. In what has been described as a "temporary blip" by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the country's economic growth slid to a seven-quarter low of 5.4 per cent in the July-September period after clipping a healthy rate of 7-8 per cent. With the growth versus inflation debate leaving the finance ministry and RBI on different pages, all eyes will also be on possible interest rate cuts in February when the central bank's monetary policy panel meets for the first time under the new Governor
The Congress on Monday took a swipe at the Modi government over "rising" prices of food items, saying the bullet train announced by it has not arrived but the inflation, which is spiralling upwards faster than the speed of a bullet train, has broken the back of the common person. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the people want answers not more "jumlabaazi (rhetoric)". He shared a media report on X which claimed that the rates of daily essential goods are increasing day by day and in the last one year, the prices of flour, oil, spices and dry fruits have increased by one and a half to two times. "The bullet train announced by the Modi government has not arrived, but the inflation, which is spiralling upwards faster than the speed of a bullet train, has broken the back of the common person," Ramesh said in his post in Hindi on X. "Inflation has doubled and tripled in the last ten and a half years. Vegetables, flour, oil, spices and everyday item
Patra highlighted that digitalisation can be regarded as a long-term technology shock impacting economic growth, productivity, labour markets, older technologies, and inflation
Flagging low wages under MGNREGS, a Parliamentary panel has questioned why the remuneration under the flagship scheme was not linked to an inflation index. It has also urged the Union rural development ministry for devising a mechanism for raising wages under the scheme. Headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, in a report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, rapped the ministry and said there had been no noticeable change in its stance. It has been sending "stereotype responses" regarding revision of wages, the report said. "Rising inflation and cost of living, be it urban or rural setting, has risen manifold and is evident to all. Even at this moment, going by the notified wage rates of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), per day wage rate of around Rs 200 in many states defies any logic when the same state has much higher labour rates," the panel said in its report.
As the markets prepare to open, the mood is upbeat. At 6:34 AM, the GIFT Nifty futures are trading 28 points higher at 24,762 levels, hinting at a positive start
Outgoing RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das hoped that there would be a nationwide roll-out of Unified Lending Interface
A fall in inflation will be welcomed by households in the world's most populous country, where food takes up a large chunk of budgets
The pace of the country's economic growth moderated sharply in the second quarter ended September 2024
RBI Monetary Policy Meeting Dec 2024 Updates: Catch all the updates here
Nomura noted that high prices were concentrated in a few items, including food, rather than being broad-based, and that inflation excluding vegetables and other volatile items was still subdued
After rising 4.3 per cent last year, home prices in India - broadly referring to housing in major cities - were expected to rise 7.0 per cent this year, 6.5 per cent in 2025 and 7.5 per cent in 2026
The Q2FY25 growth in manufacturing slowed to 2.2 per cent, significantly below the 7 per cent recorded in Q1 and 14.3 per cent a year earlier