Indian Economy News

The size and weight of debt burdens differ vastly by the livelihoods of debtors. These details of data offer cues for policy responses. Let’s expand the reach of formal loans, link health and credit policies, push for more productive borrowings, reform farmer supports and provide credit counselling.

An urge to show progress must neither use faulty comparisons nor gloss over realities. But a recent press release citing World Bank data overlooked the fact that Gini coefficients of consumption and income inequality can’t be compared. It forgot to mention other tweaks of calculation too.

There’s a robust link between power consumption and factory output across Indian states and industrial sectors. This means that electricity data—available almost instantaneously—can serve as a proxy tracker of India’s manufacturing sector and enable faster policy responses.

Learnings from past deals—with Asean and others—have guided New Delhi’s approach to new trade arrangements and it’s now mostly a question of the finer details. Tackling non-tariff barriers, for example, is crucial.

The government’s new low-cost credit scheme for research, development and innovation (RDI) in the private sector is unlikely to suffice in the face of a national urgency. We need R&D infrastructure and better-suited risk capital.

According to road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, good infrastructure will help the country attract capital investments and industrial development.

India’s next wave of ‘startup’ led growth could well emerge from within established companies that are fostering an entrepreneurial spirit. It’s easier said than done, though. Here’s what it takes.

A financial conditions index (FCI), as proposed by a paper in RBI’s monthly bulletin for June, could aid monetary policy. But such a tool can only be an input for human judgement—and correlation must never be confused with causation.