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Opinion Column

सेहत बचाने को बड़े टैक्स दर
 
 

Pritam Datta

Debt stock of low- & middle-income nations is troubling. Their debt servicing costs are soaring, too
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Utsav Saksena

Tax on Tobacco products should remain high
 
 

Pritam Datta

How Much Does India Spend on its Women? Gender Budgeting Can Provide Some Answers
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

The challenge of public debt and deficit
 
 

Manish Gupta

Balancing inflation & growth, managing rupee: New RBI governor’s docket will be full of challenges
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Do the tax devolution criteria need a revisit?
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Madhur Mehta

Do the tax devolution criteria need a revisit?
 
 

Manish Gupta

Brazil's push for 'super-rich tax' at G20 sparks inequality debate
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Financial investments by non-financial firms
 
 

R. Kavita Rao

India’s export upswing & trade outlook hinge on near-term challenges. Trump’s return to be big factor
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Maharashtra & Jharkhand’s long list of poll promises reliant on them getting their fiscal maths right
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Bibek da: An economist of towering simplicity and great learning
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Recession has been averted, inflation is down. But latest IMF reports sound alarm on global debt
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Utsav Saksena Singh

Why south India wants big families
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

AI is revolutionising banking & finance, but over-reliance, misuse may pose financial stability risks
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Abhijeet Singh

Passive incomes in corporate returns
 
 

R. Kavita Rao

Economics Nobel winners sought to answer the question why some nations lag others
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Artificial Intelligence in banking
 
 

Nikita Singh

The global sovereign ratings space needs revamp. Indian agency’s entry a welcome change
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Utsav Saksena

WazirX: Socialisation of losses and need for financial regulation
 
 

Nipuma Varman

New Haryana govt has to choose between raising taxes & cutting committed spends to fund poll promises
 
 

Radhika Pandey

RBI’s monetary policy prioritises global economic headwinds
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

With RBI’s new Monetary Policy Committee in place, a look at challenges that await its members now
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Low demand, costly logistics, China’s deflation hurting India’s goods exports. Services may give cushion
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Assessing state integration under GST
 
 

R. Kavita Rao

How the Bangladesh unrest may impact India’s trade
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

India saw slower growth in Q1, but consumption, non-govt investment, manufacturing were reassuring
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Gap between allocations for health, outcomes in States
 
 

Mita Choudhary, Rolly Kukreja and Nitya Chutani

 

R. Kavita Rao

Guaranteed pensions may cause fiscal ambiguity. Govt may have to raise pension outlay for UPS
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

A failure on two fronts
 
 

Mukesh Kumar Anand

Production, demand, non-food credit grew moderately in Q1. GDP report card likely to be a mixed bag
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

India enjoys healthy trade surplus with Bangladesh. The political crisis can hurt trade, FTA chances
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Rising interest but only medium-term targets-why central banks are going slow on digital currencies
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Madhur Mehta

Rising interest but only medium-term targets-why central banks are going slow on digital currencies
 
 

Radhika Pandey & Anandita Gupta

EXPLAINER: Shifting focus to debt-to-GDP ratio
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

The imminent transition to competitive federalism
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

After budget, the challenges
 
 

Pinaki Chakraborty

Eye on debt-to-GDP — pivot in govt’s fiscal strategy post FY26 promising, amending FRBM Act will help
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Capital gains tax reforms in context
 
 

R. Kavita Rao

 
The rationale for the tax proposals
 
 

R. Kavita Rao

A five-year roadmap
 
 

R. Kavita Rao

Budget buckles down on jobs
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Reduced fiscal deficit signals prudent spending in FY25, will boost foreign investment
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Economic Survey 2023-24—India’s path toward Viksit Bharat goes through geopolitical challenges
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Should states get special packages outside Finance Commission allocations?
 
 

Arun Kumar and Pinaki Chakraborty

With Indian bonds now on the global radar, prudent fiscal glide path & checks on volatility become key
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Utsav Saksena

Highly vulnerable to extreme climate, crucial sectors in India need well-crafted green strategies
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Anandita Gupta

Shrinking gap between average rural & urban consumption spends good news, but inequality persists
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Indian economy showing solid growth, but these must be new govt’s top 5 priorities to sustain momentum
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Revenue boost: why it's time to write a guidebook for tax reforms
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Why RBI must rethink its draft guidelines for project financing
 
 

Utsav Saksena

India’s trade deficit improved in 2023-24, but it needs to watch its FTAs to fix persistent imbalances
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Indian banking sector’s boom continues, but low deposit rates for some banks point to future risks
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Madhur Mehta

Don’t jump at 1st unemployment number you see. Different databases yield varying but valid results
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Surge in lending not alarming yet, but India needs to start watching out for excessive credit growth
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Madhur Mehta

Decentralisation India's struggle with persistent challenges
 
 

R. Kavita Rao

Climate finance needs overhaul, funds influx
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

How poll-bound states are grappling with price rise, a factor likely to impact voter sentiment
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Paying their fair share: Amendments to India-Mauritius treaty aim to plug tax loopholes
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

India set to grow faster than expected, but geopolitical tensions, inflation & global debt loom
 
 

Radhika Pandey

In India, households optimistic about state of economy despite rising debt, expect inflation to ease
 
 

Radhika Pandey

The Finance Commission and Public Finance in Kerala
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty & Balamuraly B.

How Japan's return to positive interest rates after 17 years could impact world economies
 
 

Radhika Pandey & Utsav Saksena

Budget 2024-25: A countercyclical approach to fiscal policy
 
 

Aakanksha Shrawan

Merchandise & services exports soar, trade deficit shrinks- How India's exports have rebounded
 
 

Radhika Pandey & Rachna Sharma

Lower on food, higher on conveyance & durables-how consumption patterns changed in past decade
 
 

Radhika Pandey & Rachna Sharma

RBI and the net-zero transition — A roadmap for green India
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

How India's GDP Grew by 8.4% in Q3, propelled by strong performance in industrial & services sectors
 
 

Radhika Pandey & Rachna Sharma

India’s resilient economy faces risks from Red Sea, higher US inflation & patchy recovery in China
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Uncertainty over food & oil prices- Why in countries,held its policy rates steady
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Madhur Mehta


Interim Budget 2024-25: Infrastructure push to strengthen the core infrastructure
 
 

Bhabesh Hazarika, N.R. Bhanumurthy, and Himanshu Gaydhani

Interim Budget 2024-25: Infrastructure push to strengthen the core infrastructure
 
 

Bhabesh Hazarika and Pallabi Gogoi

Budget 2024: Setting the tone for the future course of tax reforms
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Interim budget continues govt’s focus on capex, allocates more for MNREGA to ease rural distress
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Budget has stayed away from populist measures, focused on sustaining capex
 
 

Utsav Saxena

A confident and optimistic report
 
 

R. Kavita Rao

Leave No One Behind: The philosophy underpinning the Interim Budget
 
 

Lekha Chkaraborty

The uses of running a deficit
 
 

Lekha Chkaraborty

What to expect from interim budget? Big tax breaks unlikely, welfare schemes could see boost
 
 

Lekha Chkaraborty

What to expect from interim budget? Big tax breaks unlikely, welfare schemes could see boost
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachma Sharma

Union budget 2024: Amid global headwinds, there is no room for irrational expectations
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Manufacturing, investment drive India’s FY24 growth estimate, but consumption needs to rebound
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Pramod Sinha

Better asset quality & improved capital position, but India’s finance sector still needs vigil in 2024
 
 

Radhika Pandey

IMF’s assertion that RBI over-regulated rupee is weak, but advice on better fiscal targets is useful
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Utsav Saksena

Food inflation getting more persistent & widespread and, unfortunately, showing no signs of easing
 
 

Radhika Pandey

MPC Meeting: Amid too many risks, status quo in policy rates is welcome
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

After causing some worry, manufacturing brings a pleasant surprise in Q2. But consumption a concern
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Pramod Sinha

Sixteenth Finance Commission and ‘beyond the GDP’ paradigm
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

A tax treaty problem
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Uncertainty over Israel-Hamas war, rising US bond yields to hit stock markets for foreseeable future
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Price and Track the Transition
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Decoding the manufacturing slowdown: A sectoral analysis of Indian industry
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Pramod Sinha

Lower manufacturing or dubious data? Govt figures show some of India’s output below 2011-12 levels
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Pramod Sinha

Economics Nobel and Women in Labour Force: Why Policymakers Need to Consider Goldin's Work
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

How inclusion of Indian bonds in global indices could unleash potential of India’s financial market
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Share of Asian countries in India’s exports is falling, Europe’s is rising. Why this is worrying
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Pramod Sinha

Cheaper vegetables help ease food & retail inflation, but cereals & pulses continue to cause concern
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Robust services growth, revival in consumption demand & strong capex fuelled 7.8% Q1 GDP growth
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Rachna Sharma

Debt Sustainability: G20 should seek interest rates lower than growth rate
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Healthy loan growth, comfortable capital position — what’s behind banking sector’s ongoing dream run
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Why pursue a zero revenue deficit goal?
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

RBI less than worried on growth front, but spikes in food & oil prices still loom
 
 

Radhika Pandey

It’s China & upcoming RBI monetary policy that India is concerned about, not US ratings downgrade
 
 

Radhika Pandey

An optimistic IMF has upped its projection for global growth, but don’t celebrate just yet
 
 

Radhika Pandey

A hospital for the patient
 
 

Mita Choudhury, Nitya Chutani and Vismay Basu

Europe's Carbon Burden
 
India must innovate its pricing policy to counter EU's tax
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Is tax regime for online gaming fair?
 
 

R. Kavita Rao

India wants rupee to go global, but low appetite for the currency & rise of Chinese Yuan obstacles
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Not just tomatoes. Pulses, cereals & spices behind India’s food inflation — 3.35% in May to 4.7% in June
 
 

Radhika Pandey

With banking sector upbeat & fresh pvt investments emerging, India’s economy is getting back on track
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Heatwave & heavy rainfall or typical annual spike? What’s causing tomato prices to skyrocket
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Pramod Sinha

Inclusive climate funding: Recasting multilateral lending framework will help
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Rethinking fiscal rules: Need for a consultative process
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Inflation eased, but here's why RBI's unchanged policy repo rate is likely to stay for some time
 
 

Radhika Pandey

The net zero challenge: RBI report provides a framework to discuss trade-offs during the transition
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Rs. 2000 ban: Transitional disruptions in ease of doing business likely
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Measuring India's manufacturing sector remains a data challenge
 
 

Bibek Debroy, Amey Sapre and Aditya Sinha

 
How hyperinflation, economic turmoil is pushing people to adopt crypto in several emerging economies
 
 

Radhika Pandey

 
What central banks need to consider when making monetary policy in times of war and crisis
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

 
Unravelling the complexities of India's 2011-12 GDP series is key
 
 

Bibek Debroy, Amey Sapre and Aditya Sinha

Why we need to debate the Old Pension Scheme
 
OPS  raises concerns about fiscal sustainability and intergenerational inequities
 
 

Jitesh Yadav, Balamuraly B. and Lekha Chakraborty  

How India can reverse investment slowdown and save the 2020s from being a 'lost' decade
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Why India need not worry about Silicon Valley bank's collapse, but must learn from it
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Real estate over banks - where the average Indian household is putting its savings
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Pramod Sinha

OPS, NPS, GPS: The real pension reform is missing
 
 

Mukesh Kumar Anand

Women's Day: Is India doing enough to boost Nari Shakti?
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

How did Indian economy perform during pandemic and after? turns out, not as badly as was estimated
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Pramod Sinha

Will FM's Budget 2023 enable 'Nari Shakti'?
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty and  Balamuraly B.

Budget 2023-24: Even post-covid, India needed health budget hike
 
 

Pritam Datta and Chetana Chaudhuri

Different baskets, weights, items measured - why 2 inflation indexes are saying different things
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Rising wheat and milk prices, high core inflation: Why RBI's rate hike cycle is unlikely to pause
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Budget: Going beyond the GDP
 
 

Lekha S. Chakraborty and Balamuraly B.

How green bonds can take India closer to meeting its climate goals and deepan investor interest
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Right message, wrong fix
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Will the Budget be populist or fiscally responsible?
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

What do the latest GDP estimates for 2022-23 tell us about the health of the Indian economy?
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Budget 2023: Expect the Centre to address fiscal stress faced by state
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

India’s service exports hit all-time high of $273.6 bn in 2022. Outlook is rosy too
 
 

Nikhil Rampal

Budget must keep fiscal policy accommodative; consolidate without affecting recovery: NIPFP’s Chakraborty
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

How India's economy fared in a year of shocks, aftershocks & slowing global growth
 
 

Radhika Pandey and Pramod Sinha

November saw a drop in inflation but some major states missed out. Here's why
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Funding the transition
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

The New Money Challenge
 
 

V Ramaya Rajasri & Kriti Wattal

Persisting inflation worries, bright growth prospects give RBI room for more future rate hikes 
 
 

Radhika Pandey

India’s public sector banks are laughing all the way to profits. But new stress can interrupt
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Why FPIs are fleeing Indian debt and how bond markets have become volatile
 
 

Radhika Pandey

 
How RBI's inflation targeting regime has had a stabilising influence on price rise in India 
 

Radhika Pandey

It’s Happy Diwali for economy despite inflation, recession fears. But seasonal joy must sustain 
 
 

Radhika Pandey

RBI's digital rupee concept has many pros, but also some risk to India's financial stability
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Let's Build on Revdi Debate 
 
 

Nitya Chutani

Employment in India rose from 394.6 million in August to 404.2 million in September, and while the numbers are still below pre-Covid levels, the increase is encouraging 
 
 

Radhika Pandey

How much should India prop up the rupee? 
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

India’s falling forex reserve isn’t a worry for now, but RBI has a tightrope walk  ahead
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Bank credit has bounced back, but rising interest rates &  inflation can be new hurdles
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Why volatile food prices will keep the heat on India's consumer inflation level this year
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Falling exports, rising imports show why India has to look within to push growth for now
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Don't sneer at 13.5% GDP growth. but Consumption investment critical in future quarters
 
 

Radhika Pandey

Address proof' demands go against PM's push for work from home
 
 

Renuka Sane

RBI's Green Challenge
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Chinese economy has been hit by a perfect storm: Property shock, Zero Covid, climate, Taiwan
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

Why are Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan fiscally stressed? Every state has its own root cause
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

Why Modi govt is on strong ground on fiscal deficit but some states are struggling
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

India’s financial sector sees no point in addressing consumer grievances. Here’s how to fix it
 
 

         Renuka Sane

Global slowdown could hurt India but don't worry too much about recession in 2023
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

Rupee’s fall to 80/dollar will impact twin deficits. But here’s why you shouldn’t panic
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

Insolvency code is one of India’s success stories. But it now needs a new life
 
 

         Renuka Sane

10% in Telangana, 5.4% in Kerala — why some states are feeling inflation heat more than others
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

RBI's forex focus is a good start. It must be followed by more fundamental reforms
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

Giving up on NPS a tragedy for state govts. DB pensions are ad-hoc, delay fiscal stress 
 
 

         Renuka Sane

Freebies, bailouts, revival of pension scheme — why many states are at risk of fiscal stress 
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

Indian economy has a twin deficit problem. To counter it, govt needs to juggle growth and stability
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

New market, new problems—unfair trade practices rising with ‘Digital India’. CCI, take note
 
 

         Renuka Sane

What the RBI’s sharp interest rate hike portends for the Indian economy
 
 

         Radhika Pandey

Why India needs a Fiscal Council
 
 

          Lekha Chakraborty

The world faces a stagflation risk but India might just escape it
 
 

          Radhika Pandey

On inflation, the government and the RBi are walking a tight rope
 
 

          Lekha Chakraborty and Emmanuel Thomas

The party is over
 
To stall price spiral, RBI is likely to respond with aggressive hikes
 
 

          Radhika Pandey

The digital tax challenge
 
 

          Suranjali Tandon

RBI's hawkish stance on liquidity
 
 

           Lekha Chakraborty

Is the Reserve Bank doing enough to rein in inflation?
 
 

           Lekha Chakraborty

Shifting to neutral
 
 

            Radhika Pandey

India's social security problem needs more than patchwork
 
 

            Mukesh Anand and Rahul Chakraborty

Pension Tension
 
 

            Rajiv Mehrishi and Renuka Sane

Rajasthan govt rewinds to guaranteed pension scheme in poll season
 
 

             Asit Ranjan Mishra

Now, work the Net-Zero plan
 
 

             Suranjali Tandon

Eye on public finances
 
 

             Suranjali Tandon

Getting the fiscal story right
 
 

             Pinaki Chakraborty

High Fiscal Deficit Can Be Growth Mantra
 
 

             Lekha Chakraborty

Dealing with the macroeconomic uncertainties
 
 

             Lekha Chakraborty

Helping Indian economy down the road to recovery
 
 

         Lekha Chakraborty and Harikrishnan S.

Public debt versus environmental debt: Is there any similarity?
 
 

             Sacchidananda Mukherjee

Will the gains of tax reform outweigh the plan's administrative complexity?
 
 

             Suranjali Tandon

Moving to clean energy: Public finance not just private capital, must help fund the transition
 
 

             Suranjali Tandon

Restructuring GST rates: Available options for the GST Council
 
 
 

             Sacchidananda Mukherjee

Modi govt’s pandemic strategy focused on revival has worked. Economic indicators prove it
 
 
 

              Ila Patnaik and Radhika Pandey

Through the glass clearly
 
 
 

                Bhupender Yadav and Ila Patnaik

Greening monetary policy
 
 
Economic recovery has finally begun, but India needs to watch out for global headwinds
 
 
 

Ila Patnaik and Radhika Pandey

Coal supply will improve but it’s time India transitions to options like natural gas for power
 
As the monsoon recedes, the supply of coal is likely to improve. Better planning and improvement in supply will help improve logistics in future.
 
 

Ila Patnaik and Radhika Pandey

Growth First
 
RBI is grapping with multiple challenges. For now, it has made its priority clear
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Fixing the tax leak
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Show the Climate Change Money
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Central banks must stop pussyfooting on climate
 
 

Urjit R Patel

Why Indian States Need to Incorporate Gender Budgeting in Their Fiscal Planning
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

G20 net zero target: Level Green playing field 
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Breach of a sovereign right 
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Illusion of redistributive justice
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Challenges to Universal Vaccination in India
 
 

Pritam Dutta and Chetna Chaudhuri

Vaccines: Prepare for the worst case
 

A pandemic is not the time to worry about fiscal deficit
 
 

Abhishek Anand and Lekha Chakraborty

An Uneven Recovery
 
 

Abhishek Anand and Lekha Chakraborty

A gender lens on recovery packages
 

Funding clean Energy Shift 
 
 

Kavita Rao

 

The government must loosen its purse strings

(pub. 10/03/2021 Indian Express)

 

Lekha Chakraborty and Emmanuel Thomas

Getting health spending right 
 

Is India's digital services tax discriminatory?
 
 

Suranjali Tanodon

A 137% Hike in Health Budget? Here Are the Correct Numbers
 
 

Pritam Datta and Chetana Chaudhuri

Does Budget 2021 Rest On Robust Macroeconomic Pillars?
 
 

Sabyasachi Kar and Rudrani Bhattacharya

Understanding the Anatomy of India's High Fiscal Deficit
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Keep the wheels of economic recovery turning
 

Emmanuel Thomas and Lekha Chakraborty

The flypaper effect
 

Lekha Chakraborty, Amandeep Kaur and Divy Rangan

The cyber tax conundrum
 

Suranjali Tandon

A way out for the bank
 

Radhika Pandey and D. Priyadarshini

Tightening revenue deficit doesn't seem the right course
 

Pinaki Chakraborty

Why Is  “output gap” controversial
 

Lekha  Chakraborty and Amandeep Kaur 

Agriculture as a shock-absorber
 

Sabyasachi Kar

Central coordinating system vital to handle paddy stubble
 

Sanjeev Verma

Nudge towards formalisation

 

Radhika Pandey and Amrita Pillai

Getting gender budgeting right

 

Lekha Chakraborty, Veena Nayyar and Komal Jain

Land pooling can ease doing of business

 

Vasuki Nandan Mannem and Maulshree Singh

Rural India revival difficult to sustain, say economists
 
 

Subhayan Chakraborty, Arup Roychoudhury and Indivjal Dhasmana

Carrying the ideas of NEP to execution
 
 

Ajay Shah

It is not too late, but is soon will be
 
 

Rathin Roy

The myth of India’s import dependence
 
 

Rathin Roy

Challenges of levying taxes on digital services
 
 

Ajay Shah

Challenges of levying taxes on digital services
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Does India’s current system of fiscal transfers undermine the spirit of co-operative federalism?
 
 

Manish Gupta and Atul Sharma

Are social media platforms the arbiters of truth?
 
 

Rishab Bailey and Mishi Chaudhary

Intuition, not prediction
 
 

Rathin Roy

Regulating cryptocurrency exchanges
 
 

Radhika Pandey and D Priyadarshinii

Health policy for the coming year
 
 

Ajay Shah

Shape of out future
 
 

Swoosh,Pipe, Z, L & W

Govt could have put to better use DBT architecture to transfer money to migrants
 
 

Rathin Roy

Too late, too little
 
 

Ramji S Krishnan, Lekha Chakraborty & Vidya B Ramji

Former EAC-PM member Rathin Roy at E-XPLAINED session today
 
 

Rathin Roy

Economic Freedom in Agriculture
 
 

Ajay Shah

A lot more neds to be done
 
 

N. R. Bhanumurthy

Articulate an Economic Strategy
 
 

Rathin Roy

 

Lekha Chakraborty abd Vidya B Ramji

Establish fiscal council to scale up spending
 
 

Rathin Roy

Coronavirus crisis: Little relief for the Indian Economy
 
 

Emmanuel Thomas and Lekha Chakraborty

We are now repurposing from a business as usual economy to a warlike economy: NIPFP's Roy
 
 

Rathin Roy

Economic Lessons of Coronavirus
 
 

Rathin Roy

Time to step up on trade, investment
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty and Emmanuel Thomas

No Gains for Taxpayers
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

The issues around data localisation
 
 

Rishab Bailey

The rise of data self-censorship thresholds
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Happy Birthday, Inflation Targeting
 
 

Ajay Shah

What distinguishes welfare measures from freebies?
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty and Reetika Khera

Dodging a bullet?
 
2019-nCoV is a reminder that we must build the foundations of public health
 
 

Ajay Shah

Gender budgeting takes a giant leap in India with 15th FS's report
 
Finance Commission’s decision to incorporate “demographic performance” in fiscal transfers is laudable
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Can the budget revive growth
 
 

N.R. Bhanumurthy

Social sector allocation inadequate
 
 

N.R. Bhanumurthy and Bhabesh Hazarika

Union budget 2020: Miles to go on the rural road
 
 

Ranjan K. Mohanty and N. R. Bhanumurthy

Consistent Policy path needed for $5 trillion economy goal
 
 

N. R. Bhanumurthy

More strategic thinking needed
 
 

Ajay Shah

Budget again reveals structural fiscal constraint
 
 

Rathin Roy

Has the government got the fiscal numbers right?
 
 

N. R. Bhanumurthy

LIC to tax charter: Budget 2020 wants India in the big league, but offers mere quick fixes
 
 

Renuka Sane

 

N. R. Bhanumurthy

The straight and narrow
 
 

Rathin Roy

Budget FY21: Avoid creative accounting
 
 

Atul Sarma and Manish Gupta

Sitharaman misses the chance to exploit the full potential of a higher fiscal deficit
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Why India is attracting FDI
 
 

Divy Rangan and Lekha Chakraborty

India Deserves a More Comprehensive Budget Process
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

What can macro policy do?
 
Long-term structural reforms are required, such as a uniform GST and direct tax rates.
 
 

Ajay Shah

Will the budget suspend the FRBM's fiscal deficit goals?
 
 

N.R. Bhanumurthy and Ajit Ranade

How can Union Budget 2020 be made gender sensitive
 
The government will have to be more innovative, inclusive and responsible with fiscal allocations for women.
 
 

Divya J. Shekhar and Lekha Chakraborty

Tax buoyancy is key to fiscal prudence
 
 

Emmanuel Thomas and Lekha Chakraborty

Worry about the trend, not the cycle
 
Our institutional capacity to support trend growth has not stayed the pace
 
 

Ajay Shah

Back to the Public Sector?
 
 
 

Rathin Roy

Households after a natural disaster
 
The CMIE’s CPHS data breaks the preconception of devastation and impoverished households being pushed to spending less
 
 

Ajay Shah

India's eroding cooperative federalism
 
 

Atul Sarma and Manish Gupta

Demand, supply and growth slowdowns
 
 

Rathin Roy

Why India is staring at a middle-income trap
 
India needs to urgently address its underperformance after 2011. This needs more than ‘single-window’ approvals
 
 

Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah

Indebted to growth
 
When elogation of debt maturity structure is crucial for economic growth.
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty, Anindita Ghosh and MD Azharuddin Khan

Monetary policy that stabilises
 
When expected inflation drops, the policy rate should drop even more

What should monetary policy do?
 
The recent inflation data is not a serious problem for the Monetary Policy Committee

Why is Kerala different?
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty

Minimum wage macroeconomics

Problems of gold deposit schemes
 
Banks, ETFs, and jewellers can get into some arrangement, but regulation can hobble the process
 
 

Ajay Shah

Taxing new spaces
 
 
 

Suranjali Tandon

Common goods for heath
 
Doing better on CGH is the essence of the Indian health policy challenge today
 
 

Ajay Shah

Fiscal policy and the growth slowdown

What impact will the tax rate cut have?
 
 

 

Lekha Chakraborty

Paying attention to tax buoyancy?
 
The packages announced by the finance minister so far mostly target the supply side. It will take a while to yield results by way of turning around growth.
 
 

 

- Emmanuel Thomas and Lekha Chakraborty

A step for the high growth strategy
 
Watch for the reward-to-risk ratio faced by private persons.
 
 

 

- Ajay Shah

Buy, not build, spacecraft
 
Isro needs to turn itself into a planning, contracting and contract - monitoring organisation - like NASA has done.
 
 

 

- Ajay Shah

Measure what you need to manage
 
Improved measurement for macroeconomic policy: Three problems and three solutions.
 
 

 

- Ajay Shah

Coherent set of immediate actions
 
The government must announce a calendar for implementation of Friday’s measures
 
 

 

- Rathin Roy 

How to manage the offshore rupee market

 

 

- Suranjali Tandon 

Fiscal space before the new Govt in Karnataka
 
 

 

- Lekha Chakraborty, Jannet Farida Jacob and MD Azharuddin Khan

Why lower fiscal deficit isn't always good news
 
 

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

Prioritise GDP, not tax revenues
 
The present tax policy is focused on increasing tax revenues, whereas it should try to obtain the same number of rupees of taxation, while enabling a higher GDP.
 
 

 

- Ajay Shah

Structural slowdown and home market demand
 
 

 

- Rathin Roy

Odisha shows the way
 
By making public in its Budget how much and where it spends on Child and women welfare, the state has set a benchmark for other states on accountable and transparent management of public finances.
 

(pub. 07/08/2019 Financial Express)

 

- Amandeep Kaur and Lekha Chakraborty

Is China's loss India's gain?
 
To assess developments associated with the trade war, the data to focus on is the US import of goods from both the countries.

(pub. 29/07/2019 Business Standard)

 

- Ajay Shah

India needs a 'care economy' policy
 
A comprehensive care economy infrastructure can support women to participate in economic activity.
 

(pub. 25/07/2019 Financial Express)

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

Dissent on sovereign bonds
 
 

(pub. 24/07/2019 The Telegraph)

 

- Rathin Roy

Sovereign bonds aren't a great funding option
 
Factoring in exchange rate fluctuations will push up the cost of funds. And transmission of risk to the G-Sec market is likely.
 

(pub. 23/07/2019 Business Line)

 

- N.R. Bhanumurthy and Kanika Gupta


Budget 2019: Focus is on structural issues that economy is facing
 
 

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

Modi wants to bring household savings into financial markets but Budget roadmap isn’t clear
 
Incentivising informal sector workers to save is good, but creating separate schemes for di􀃠erent groups divides an already fragmented pensions market.
 

(pub. 08/07/2019 The Print)

 

- Renuka Sane

Government's focus on growth is strong, but the fiscal arithmeticis weak
 
Budget proposes to achieve fiscal deficit target of 3.3% in 2019-20 while reaching 3% by 2021-22.
 

(pub. 08/07/2019 Live Mint)

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

A silent fiscal crisis?
 
The ability of government to shrink the expenditures in 2019-20 would severely strain attempts to maintain fiscal discipline.
 

(pub. 06/07/2019 Business Standard)

 

- Rathin Roy

Continuity and follow-through
 
The main emphasis of the speech is on the expansion of existing programmes and the initiation ofnew programmes.
 

(pub. 06/07/2019 Business Standard)

 

- Ajay Shah

There is a clear investment push in the budget
 
 
A Key feature of the budget speech was a big emphasis on foreign investment. But by increasing, protectionism, the government took a step back. 
 

(pub. 06/07/2019 Hindustan Times)

 

- Ila Patnaik

Economic revival could take longer than expected
 

(pub. 06/07/2019 Times of India)

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

Budget boost for rural economy
 
On the back of huge success interms of implementation of rural development schemes in the last five years, the new government renewed its focus on ‘ease of living’ of the rural people.

 

(pub. 06/07/2019 The New Indian Express)

 

- Bhavesh Hazarika and N. R. Bhanumurthy

 
Welfare spending cut belies hopes
 

(pub. 06/07/2019 Telegraph)

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy and Dinesh Kumar Nayak

Key Issues that Budget must tackle
 

The Budget announcements are awaited, also, to explore the nature of Sitharaman's new economic policies for the country.

 

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

Measuring GDP: Confusion worse confounded
 

A closer analysis of the MCA-21 data will give us a better picture of manufacturing and GDP growth.

 

 

- C. Rangarajan and N. R. Bhanumurthy

Lower the corporate tax rate
 

Small changes in taxation can kick off disproportionate responses by way of shifts in capital.

 

 

- Ajay Shah

Taxing the digitalised economy
 

Discussion on economic digitalisation must precede changes in law to ensure a level playing field and protect tax base of digital companies

 

 

- Suranjali Tandon

Hunting the Heffalump
 

The analytics used by Arvind Subramaniam to argue over-estimation of GDP is flawed on a number of counts.

 

 

- Rathin Roy and Amey Sapre

Stabilising stressed firms
 

A formal bankruptcy process stabilises the stressed firm, and directs the energy of lenders into the right channel

 

 

- Ajay Shah

  
 
Some medium-term fiscal arithmetic
 

A medium-term macro-fiscal exercise will make clear the analytical choices and trade-offs that the government faces.

 

 

- Rathin Roy

 

The strategy and the tactics
 

We need a conceptual framework for economic strategy, alongside the practical problems of building government organisations.

 

 

 

- Ajay Shah

Major short-term and medium-term structural challenges for Modi 2.0
 

On the fiscal side, there is a need for improving the quality of public expenditure

 

 

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

Idea Exchange
 

Can't run world's fastest growing economy on employment support.... Must create employment.

 

 

 

- Rathin Roy

View: The economic battle, now that the political one’s won

 

We have a new government and renewed political space to address urgent short and medium-term economic challenges. I offer an aide-memoire specifying these.

 

(pub. 24/05/2019 Economic Times)

 

 

- Rathin Roy

Elections and stock prices

 

Macro-forecasting is the area where more effort is required.

 

(pub. 20/05/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Ajay Shah

India: Agricultural trade powerhouse

 

What many of us have not noticed is that agriculture now yields greater exports than automobiles or garments plus textiles

 

(pub. 06/05/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Ajay Shah

A common economic programme for India

 

(pub. 03/05/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Rathin Roy

Fiscal equilibrium

 

Complex economic rules between state & Centre explained in simple terms.

 

(pub. 28/04/2019 Financial Express)

 

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

The bird's eye view in finance

 

Micro prudential regulation of finance is essential.

 

(pub. 22/04/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Ajay Shah

RBI inflation goals need to be reviewed: PM's advisor

 

Will have to decide whether the inflation target band of 2-6% is too wide, says Rathin Roy.

 

(pub. 19/04/2019 Financial Express and Business Line)

 

 

- Rathin Roy

The political economy of justice

 

(pub. 02/04/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Rathin Roy

Making sense of airline troubles

 

Interfering with firm entry or exit, price fluctuations, or products and processes: These are the pathways to stagnation.

 

(pub. 25/03/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Ajay Shah

A tale of two disenchantments

 

(pub. 05/03/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Rathin Roy

Challenges of taxing digital companies

 

Making users a significant basis for taxing digital companies may be met with resistance from developed countries.

 

(pub. 25/02/2019 Business Standard)

 

- Suranjali Tandon

The joy of exit

 

Why are downturns in India so long? One factor is the slow exit of firms.

 

(pub. 25/02/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Ajay Shah

A country is not a company

 

Expertise in managing government cannot easily be transferred to a firm.

 

(pub. 11/02/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Ajay Shah

A re-look into monetary policy structure needed

 

MPC also appears to be too lenient towards the government's fiscal slippage.

 

(pub. 08/02/2019 Mint)

 

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

Dynamics of the Indian growth story

 

Despite an IMF report emphasising that India will remain the fastest-growing emerging economy in the world, its sustainability is questionable.

 

(pub. 08/02/2019 Financial Express)

 

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

Govt's shrinking fiscal space

 

(pub. 05/02/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Rathin Roy

Looking at budget through a 'gender lens'

 

(pub. 02/02/2019 Hindustan Times)

 

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

Concerns for fiscal policy

 

Proper institutional apparatus can bring rationality in our budgetary process.

 

 

 

- Ajay Shah

Populist but fiscally imprudent budget

 

 

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

Outlook for the next six months

 

Three difficulties — global/local macro conditions, credit stress, and uncertainty — will weigh upon the January-June period, and result in relatively sombre outcomes.
 

(pub. 28/01/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Ajay Shah

A new foreign commercial debt policy

 

It is a sincere effort to simplify the governing regulation. But an explanation about the economic rationale underlying the restrictions is overdue.
 

(pub. 25/01/2019 Business Standard)

 

 

- Radhika Pandey and Bhargavi Zaveri

Analysing budget forecasting errors

 

An analysis of the sources of errors in fiscal forecasts of the centre showed that the sources are not due to potential biasis, but rather due to random factors.

 

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

Missing the wood for the trees

 

 

- Rathin Roy

Bringing back the local in the national tax regime

 

A single GST rate of 12% would work if the centre and the states share 1/6th of this with local bodies, leading to an urban revolution.
 

 

- Vijay Kelkar

Foundations for health policy

 

A key input is networks of health care providers that offer comprehensive care to individuals.
 

 

- Ajay Shah

Kelkar for 12% GST, sharing one-sixth tax with 'third tier

 

 

- Vijay Kelkar

How IBC changes the game

 
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is beneficial to the extent it generates modified behaviour on the part of managers and lenders.  

(pub. 31/12/2018 Business Standard)

 

- Ajay Shah

Fiscal arithmetic remains a major concern

 
The challenges before the government.      

(pub. 26/12/2018 Business Line)

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

Strategy? What Strategy?

 
The NITI Aayog has unveiled its 41-chapter “Strategy for New India @ 75.”      

(pub. 26/12/2018 Business Standard)

 

- Rathin Roy

Shaktikanta Das’ RBI has a delicate task – balance govt’s fiscal targets & its autonomy

 
The RBI governor is likely to find a way to transfer the right amount of money to help the government meet its fiscal targets..      

(pub. 19/12/2018 The Print)

 

- Ila Patnaik

Narendra Modi government now has a great opportunity to reform RBI

 
Long-term reform requires a vision and the willingness of the government and the new RBI Governor to risk political capital.      

(pub. 13/12/2018 The Print)

 

- Ila Patnaik

Ensuring Budget Transparency & Accountability

 
When the estimate itself is questionable, should we be unduly concerned about slippages of one or two decimal points?      

(pub. 04/12/2018 Financial Express)

 

- M. Govinda Rao

Making fiscal transfers gender-sensitive

 
The Terms of Reference of Finance Commissions have expanded over the years, but concerns arising out of gender inequality have never been a part ofToR. This has happened in spite of the growing realisation that it is necessary to deal with gender inequality issues with respect to fiscal decentralisation.      

(pub. 26/11/2018 Financial Express)

 

 

- Abhishek Anand and Lekha Chakraborty

India’s state-owned banks need privatisation

 
The gross non-performing asset ratio of Indian banks has risen sharply since 2015, reaching 11.6 per cent in March 2018.      

(pub. 22/11/2018 East Asia Forum)

 

 

- Ila Patnaik and Radhika Pandey

#MeToo: Why are economic policymakers silent?

 
Its time policymakers view gender justice as a budgetary priority, in order to create a safe work environment for women.      

(pub. 15/11/2018 Business Line and Scroll.in)

 

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

UDAY isn't working, the old problems persist

 
The UDAY portal data shows that the average AT&C losses, that should be 15% for all the participating states by 2018-19, presently, on average, stand at 25.41%.      

(pub. 16/11/2018 Financial Express)

 

 

- Lekha Chakraborty and Amandeep Kaur

Has direct tax compliance risen sharply?

 
DeMo may not have sharply raised the number of taxpayers even as more people are filing returns.      

(pub. 12/11/2018 Business Line)

 

 

- R. Kavita Rao

Kalecki insights on fiscal, monetary plans

 
The coordination of fiscal and monetary policy is a difficult challenge for all economies.      

(pub. 06/11/2018 Business Standard)

 

 

- Rathin Roy

Is the government right to question RBI?

 
What action has been taken against govt-nominated board members for allowing banks to lend to univiable projects?      

(pub. 06/11/2018 Financial Express)

 

- M. Govinda Rao

The task of the board

 
What is the role of the board?      

(pub. 05/11/2018 Business Standard)

 

 

- Ajay Shah

Why #RBIvsGovt is a viral storm in a tea cup

 
RBI remains one of the most unreformed central banks in the world.  The present rift could be a turning point.       

(pub. 01/11/2018 Mint)

 

 

- Ila Patnaik

Reversing the spread of lawlessness in India

 
If not somehow reversed through collective action, the atmosphere of disorder can lead to a complete breakdown of the rule of law.       

(pub. 23/10/2018 Mint)

 

 

- Sudipto Mundle

Climate change in economics

 
Instead of ex-post planning processes on natural disasters in various parts of our country, integration of climate sensitive budgeting within public financial management is needed.       

(pub. 23/10/2018 Financial Express)

 

- Lekha Chakraborty and Emmanuel Thomas

In the mind of a stressed borrower

 
A game of signals and asymmetric information.       

(pub. 22/10/2018 Business Standard)

 

- Ajay Shah

The democratic deficit in regulation making

 
We require special care when giving unelected officials the power to write law.       

(pub. 19/10/2018 Business Standard)

 

- Ajay Shah

India needs climate-sensitive budgeting

 
Statistics show that 65% of the net sown area constitutes rain-fed crops, demonstrating the over-reliance on monsoons for crop growth.       

(pub. 17/10/2018 Financial Express)

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

The exchange rate is the shock absorber

 
We should liberalise debt flows so that a larger change in capital flows is obtained by a small exchange rate change.            

(pub. 08/10/2018 Business Standard)

 

- Ajay Shah

Economic policy making: Moving on
 
The language and grammar of most macroeconomic research in India is based on business cycle theory. Simply put, there is a trend growth rate with ups and downs - variations around the trend.            

(pub. 05/10/2018 Business Standard)

 

- Rathin Roy

Need cautious monetary & fiscal policies 
 
The deterioration of GNPA and CRAR in PSBs under the baseline scenario is from 15.6% to 17.3% and 12% to 11.7% respectively.             

(pub. 02/10/2018 Financial Express)

 

- M. Govinda Rao

Policy solutions to India's BoP crisis 
 
Despite the interest rate hike, the interventions could lead to capital flight, tiggering a panic reation among foreign investors.             

(pub. 18/09/2018 Financial Express)

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

Growing out of this banking crisis is harder
 
Banks are no longer able to benefit from the combination of high inflation and low interest rates in the way they did earlier.             

(pub. 17/09/2018 Financial Express)

 

 - Ajay Shah

Structural reforms need to fix CAD Challenges
 
India’s CAD is structural. Growth is not driven by exports.             

(pub. 14/09/2018 Business Standard)

 

 

 - Rathin Roy

Many anomalies in the GDP back series estimates
 
The splicing methodology adopted is such that it rewards the growth rate post mid-point of the sample, whereas pre-midpoint, it penalises the growth rate.             

(pub. 13/09/2018 Financial Express)

 

 - Sudhanshu Kumar

Learning from Lehman Reimagining Regulation
 
Ten years after the great financial crisis, more, not less, financial sector reform is urgently needed in India.             

(pub. 12/09/2018 Mint)

 

 - Ila Patnaik

The Rupee Is Falling and India Should Let It
 
The Indian rupee has been sliding against the U.S. dollar in recent days as emerging markets come under pressure.             

(pub. 10/09/2018 Bloomberg)

 

 - Ila Patnaik

The fuzzy impact of demonetisation
 
             Demo does not seem to have impacted black money hoards. It may however, lead to imporved tax compliance in the long run.
 

(pub. 07/09/2018 Business Line)

 

 - R. Kavita Rao

Not very Optimistic, on the fiscal front
 
             Karnataka's loan waver proposal is expected to cost an additional of Rs.40,000 crore. Kerala will need substantial spending for addressing flood damage.
 

(pub. 04/09/2018 Financial Express)

 

 - M. Govinda Rao

Don’t just do something, sit there
 
              Defending the currency would require increasing interest rates, which might harm growth.
 

(pub. 03/09/2018 Business Standard)

 - Ajay Shah

Misreading the GDP report
 
              Comparison of growth rates during different political regimes was never a consideration for committee.
 

(pub. 31/08/2018 Indian Express)

 

 - N. R. Bhanumurthy

RBI intervention won't help rupee in long run
 
              

(pub. 30/08/2018 Mint)

 

 - Latha Venkatesh

Differences between two GDP series minimal
 
              Under the new GDP series, there has been reallocation of a few items from one sector to another, from services to manufacturing sectors. Hence, there could be an increase in the volatility in the growth at the sub-sector and aggregate levels, such volatility would not show up.
 

(pub. 21/08/2018 Business Standard)

 - N. R. Bhanumurthy

Stock futures in price discovery
 
A bit more than half the work of price discovery is done by stock futures in India.
 

(pub. 20/08/2018 Business Standard)

 

 - Ajay Shah

The growth outlook and the investment potential of States
 
Macroeconomic factors like the aggregate fiscal and monetary policy stance are clearly critical for revival of the private investment cycle.
 

(pub. 17/08/2018 Mint)

 

 - Sudipto Mundle

The Subramanian formula is flawed
 
Dividing the transfer system into four 'POTS'- "Return", "Redistribution", "Risk Sharing", and "Reward", - Violates the objective of offsetting revenue disabilities
 

(pub. 14/08/2018 Financial Express)

 

 - Pinaki Chakraborty

Piketty and the middle income trap
 

(pub. 10/08/2018 Business Standard)

 

 

 - Rathin Roy

A year from roll out, GST's roots get firmer

 

GSTN promised much but delivered little. Unless the system of matching invoices to confirm input tax credit is in place, the system will remain prone to abuse. 

 

(pub. 07/08/2018 Financial Express)

 

 - M. Govinda Rao

Prioritise pushing large firms via IBC

 

The need of the hour is to focus on the IBC pipeline, increase the quantity of assets flowing through it, and reduce the time taken. 

 

(pub. 06/08/2018 Business Standard)

 

 - Ajay Shah

Too many Hats for UIDAI

 

(pub. 30/07/2018 Economic Times)

 

 - Vrinda Bhandari and Renuka Sane

Amending the GST law: Let the numbers speak

The GST council could consider publishing aggregates of GSTN data so researchers could examine GST policy-related questions.

(pub. 30/07/2018 Mint)

 

 - V. Bhaskar and Vijay Kelkar

India Shortchanges Its Banks

Politics and fear-mongering have doomed a key reform.

(pub. 23/07/2018 Bloomberg)

 

 - Ila Patnaik

How should firms hedge currency risk?

Currency hedging, at its best, gives a company the time to adjust its business.

(pub. 23/07/2018 Business Standard)

 - Ajay Shah

Reform agricultural marketing systems to address farm distress

Reform of agricultural marketing systems to squeeze traders' markup could provide far more remunerative prices for farmers.

(pub. 20/07/2018 Mint)

 - Sudipto Mundle

Prices, fast and slow

The job of the government in finance is not to influence the price but to create open access systems through which everyone can express views on the market

(pub. 09/07/2018 Business Standard)

 

 - Ajay Shah

Fragile financial sector needs credible corrective action

One interesting fact that keeps emerging in these episodes is the lack of accountability of the government and RBI nominees in the PSBs; paving the way for an urgent governance based reform

(pub. 03/07/2018 Financial Express)

 

 - M Govinda Rao

AI revolution and jobs in India

(pub. 25/06/2018 Business Standard)

 - Ajay Shah

 

Economy: Between a rock and a hard place

(pub. 21/06/2018 Business Standard)

 - Ajay Chhibber

 

Swachh Bharat Mission: a remarkable transformation

Apart from the intrinsic value of enhancing the dignity of daily life, elimination of open defecation also has great value in enhancing economic well-being.

(pub. 15/06/2018 Mint)

 

 - Sudipto Mundle

Going on a hike

Rate increase by RBI highlights conflict between its role as banking regulator and government's debt manager .

(pub. 13/06/2018 Indian Express)

 - Ila Patnaik

RBI's puzzle

The central bank has to perform the difficult task of keeping a balance among inflation, exchange rate and public debt .

(pub. 11/06/2018 Business Standard)

 

 - Ajay Shah

Oil Price Volatility: Policy Options

(pub. 08/06/2018 Business Standard)

 

 - Rathin Roy

Four Years of Modinomics Good in Parts?

Social welfare schemes must be defined in terms of the minimum service levels they are required to ensure, and not on the money spent.

(pub. 05/06/2018 Financial Express)

 

 - M. Govinda Rao

Consequences of GDP overestimation

We must diagnose what is wrong with GDP measurement, and build a capable statistical system.

(pub. 28/05/2018 Business Standard)

 

 - Ajay Shah

Is India Creating Jobs or Not? 

In recent months, a sharp debate has broken out over whether India is or isn’t creating new jobs.

(pub. 19/05/2018 Bloomberg Quint)

 

 - Ila Patnaik

Building a reliable database of the Indian economy 

Urban employment surveys are now being conducted every quarter to give us estimates of urban employment covering most of the non-agricultural sector.

(pub. 18/05/2018 Mint)

 

 - Sudipto Mundle

Concerns about high-tech companies 

The story of high-technology companies in India will now turn on the interfaces between them and the regulators

(pub. 14/05/2018 Business Standard)

 

 - Ajay Shah

Fraternity and economic transformation 

 

(pub. 11/05/2018 Business Standard)

 

 - Rathin Roy

Adb’s “Strategy 2030” In Asia Pacific 

AIR Broadcast

(pub. 07/05/2018 ESD: AIR: ALL UNITS)

 - Lekha Chakraborty

Reform, do not rationalise

It is time we shed India's complex foreign debt policy framework in favour of a coherent one that addresses the potential market failures arising from unhedged foreign currency debts.

(pub. 07/05/2018 Business Standard)

 - Radhika Pandey and Bhargavi Zaveri

Redefining the federal fiscal landscape

The Finance Commission will have to walk the fiscal tightrope between allaying the fears of the states and protecting federal values.

(pub. 01/05/2018 The Financial Express)

 - M. Govinda Rao

The way forward for state-run banks

A more formulaic approach will work better for them and this has been part of the organisational DNA of the best PSBs in the past.

(pub. 30/04/2018 Business Standard)

 - Ajay Shah

The Finance Commission and the Thiruvananthapuram conclave

For a comparable level of basic services across states, the population size of each state is clearly an important determinant of its need.

(pub. 20/04/2018 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

India's Banks Need a Stronger Watchdog

Simply privatizing state banks won't prevent another crisis.

(pub. 19/04/2018 Bloomberg)

- Ila Patnaik

15th Finance Commission: Moving on

Since the 10th FC, the most important parameter in the horizontal devolution formula has been the income distance criterion

(pub. 18/04/2018 Business Standard)

 

- Rathin Roy

Mandate and allocations

The terms and reference of the 15th Finance Commission raise questions about constitutional propriety.

(pub. 16/04/2018 Hindu)

 

- M. Govinda Rao

Indian currency manipulation

The wise approach is to obtain economic and financial stability by having an exchange rate that fluctuates.

(pub. 16/04/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Technology issues behind cryptocurrencies

The issue of a parallel economy on cryptocurrency networks has caused governments to take a stern view on cryptocurrencies.

(pub. 12/04/2018 Live Mint)

 

- Radhika Pandey and Bhavyaa Sharma

Fifteenth Finance Commission: Is it Just a South Versus North Debate?

The Policy on resource sharing needs to make a distinction between tax sharing and grants.

(pub. 10/04/2018 Live Mint)

 

- Pinaki Chakraborty

When the supervisor slept

PNB, ICICI could have averted malpractices if banking system had a mechanism that sounded timely red alerts.

(pub. 09/04/2018 Indian Express)

 

- Ila Patnaik

Need to revisit the complex system

The GST Council should move expeditiously to simplify the GST structure as well as its administrative details before it is too late.

(pub. 03/04/2018 Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

Cultural Mismatch

Public sector-style anti-corruption is not appropriate for private firms

(pub. 02/04/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

COMMENTARY RE-INVIGORATING THE WTO 

Script on 'WTO'

(pub. 21/03/2018 ESD: AIR: ALL UNITS)

 - Lekha Chakraborty

India's development transformation: From rationed to aspirational economy

The economy has changed considerably since 1988, especially for the professional classes and the rich

(pub. 16/03/2018 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

The Paradox weakness and strength in Chinese education

One consequence of such streaming of civil society is the bureaucratic discreation implicit in it, and the consequent rise in corruption.

(pub. 16/03/2018 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

Bifurcation and Blame

It’s misleading to blame the 14th Finance Commission for not according special category status to States.

(pub. 12/03/2018 The Hindu)

- M. Govinda Rao

Dealing with this air pocket

Private persons, domestic and foreign, need to see a capable Indian policy establishment that is able to work with clarity and cohesion.

(pub. 09/03/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Need to go beyond OECD solutions

The way forward to minimise BEPS is not to treat multinational enterprises and their affiliates as entities, but to deal with them as unitary entities and consolidate their profits to determine the tax base.

(pub. 06/03/2018 The Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

How to build capacity at RBI

To achieve it, we need good governance procedures.

(pub. 05/03/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

 

The government's role in contract farming

The bureaucratic hurdles instituted in the form of a new regulator to oversee contract enforcement will be counterproductive.

(pub. 05/03/2018 Mint)

- Smriti Sharma

 

 

The Economic Survey 2017-18

AIR Commentary: Economic Survey

(pub. 20/02/2018 ESD: AIR: ALL UNITS)

 - Lekha Chakraborty

The Recent Policy Rate Announcement by RBI

Script on The RBI decision: 7 December 2017

(pub. 20/02/2018 ESD: AIR: ALL UNITS)

 - Lekha Chakraborty

On Unanticipated “Recapitalization” Announcement

Script on "recapitalisation" move: 26.Oct 2017

(pub. 20/02/2018 ESD: AIR: ALL UNITS)

 - Lekha Chakraborty

The Finance Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia for Joint Commission Meeting (JCM)

 

(pub. 20/02/2018 ESD: AIR: ALL UNITS)

 - Lekha Chakraborty

First, build a capable RBI

We should block the nominal growth of banking until we get to a minimum level of capabilities at the regulator.

(pub. 19/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

The costs of not sharing data

The Fixing the policy issues that have eroded Indian financial markets’ competitive edge will be postponed if the three exchanges unilaterally terminate their data-sharing and licence arrangements with offshore platforms.

(pub. 19/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Bhargavi Zaveri and Radhika Pandey

Budget 2018: the reality behind the rhetoric

The shocking return to protectionism after decades of trade liberalising reform is the most disappointing aspect of the present budget.

 

(pub. 16/02/2018 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

Don't ignore revenue balance

 

(pub. 16/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

Towards fiscal convergence?

One aspect that never received adequate recognition in the context of what holds India together is the strengt h of Indian "cooperative federalism" and the role of Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers.

(pub. 12/02/2018 Financial Express)

- Lekha Chakraborty

Behind the plunge

High volatility of stock markets is a response to global movements, domestic concerns over disruptions.

(pub. 08/02/2018 Indian Express)

- Ila Patnaik

Union Budget: not as expansionary as it seems

Big announcements not withstanding, the fine print suggests that fiscal deficit targets are likely to be met.

(pub. 06/02/2018 Mint)

- Ila Patnaik

Once again a missed opportunity

While it proposes a number of interventions, a closer look at the allocations does not convince anyone that there are qualitative difference from the past.

(pub. 06/02/2018 Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

Reviewing the passage of the Aadhaar bill

Barring review would imply the the Speaker can bypass constitutional procedures.

(pub. 05/02/2018 Mint)

- Shefali Malhotra

How best to play finance SEZs

What is needed is not mere deregulation but the construction of institutions that will permit private firms to compete in exporting and inspire confidence in global customers

(pub. 05/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

COMMENTARY: FISCALLY PRUDENT AND PRAGMATIC BUDGET

(pub. 02/02/2018 ESD: AIR: ALL UNITS)

 

 

 - Lekha Chakraborty

Slippage is structural, not populist

Important measures are required to get back on the path of fiscal reforms.

(pub. 02/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

Fiscal Slippage a Concern 

Despite the focus on health insurance for the vulnerable, health expenditure will grow by less than 6 per cent.

(pub. 02/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Sudipto Mundle

Reading between the lines 

We hope there will be a gap between the populist rhetoric and reality.

(pub. 02/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

The question of credibility 

The entire fiscal adjustment path has been reworked in this budget.

(pub. 02/02/2018 Hindu)

- M. Govinda Rao

A realistic budget with some compromise on growth 

(pub. 02/02/2018 Financial Express)

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

 

Battling a retreat from globalisation 

 What we need is a social equivalent of quantitative easing- a qualitative easing towards the Leave No One Behind 2030 agenda-by focusing on the 'quality' of economic growth. 

(pub. 29/01/2018 Financial Express)

- Lekha Chakraborty

Mutual Funds with feet of clay 

The magic of mutual funds lies in their having transparent and liquid assets. However, this edifice stands on top of secondary market trading. 

(pub. 22/01/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Data says India’s industrial production is surging, but some decoding is needed

If taken seriously, India’s Index of Industrial Production could give an incorrect impression about the state of affairs across industries to policy makers. 

(pub. 20/01/2018 The Print)

- Radhika Pandey, Amey Sapre and Pramod Sinha

Current Challenges to Growth, and long-term constraints 

Many distortions remain in the regulatory and institutional environment that are inimical for high growth over the long term. 

(pub. 19/01/2018 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

Challenges in regulating cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency transactions have let to concerns regarding consumer protection, money laundring, and financing of criminal activities. 

(pub. 15/01/2018 Mint)

- Radhika Pandey and Bhavyaa Sharma

The curious case of FIR by the UIDAI

Apart from a financial audit, the Aadhar Act fails to prescribe any ex-ante or ex-post accountability mechanism

(pub. 11/01/2018 Mint)

- Vrinda Bhandari and Renuka Sane

The 6.5% warning

Almost all steps in the strategy to revive investment are likely to be slow and painful. There are no shortcuts.

(pub. 11/01/2018 Indian Express)

- Ila Patnaik

Robust, pragmatic fiscal policy targets the need of the hour

(pub. 10/01/2018 The Hindu BusinessLine)

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

 

The next level of credit analysis

There should be estimates for the resolvability of companies. Cheapest debt financing should go to firms that have higher chances of success.

(pub. 08/01/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Balancing act on fiscal deficit

(pub. 05/01/2018 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

 

How to make in India

India’s success in assembled automobile exports came through a strategic 10-year plan and made it a preferred destination for this segment

(pub. 04/01/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Chhibber

The long winter in banking

The silver lining lies in the fact that India is a market-dominated financial system with a fairly small role for banking.

(pub. 25/12/2017 Mint)

- Ajay Shah

GST, a work in progress

We need to immediately move towards three tax slabs, and evenutally two.

(pub. 22/12/2017 Hindu)

- C. Rangarajan and M. Govinda Rao

The economic outlook in a period of political uncertainty

We are in a period of high political uncertainty both at home and abroad.

(pub. 15/12/2017 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

The third element of the exit framework

The system envisaged under the FRDI Bill, if implemented properly, would help improve the efficiency of capital allocation without harming consumers, and without risking the stability of financial reforms.

(pub. 11/12/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Redefining the commission's mandate?

The Centre would do well to remember that offsetting the fiscal disabilities of the state is critical to achieving and realising the goals under new India 2022.

(pub. 05/12/2017 Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

Measuring the drama in the economy

Seasonal adjustment is a powerful tool to obtain better and faster insights into the macroeconomy.

(pub. 27/11/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

An Indian spot currency trading platform

The RBI proposal is both noble and overdue, but it must avoid the creation of early monopolies or slicing and dicing the platform.

(pub. 27/11/2017 Business Standard)

- Radhika Pandey & Bhargavi Zaveri

Reflections from inside a toxic city

A programme to reduce stubble burning would have far greater positive externalities than many schemes ongoing today.

(pub. 17/11/2017 Livemint)

- Sudipto Mundle

How can we deter crime?

Increasing the headcount in the police and the judiciary is an answer, but its opportunity cost needs to be worked out.

(pub. 13/11/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

India's economy on the mend?

The economy seems to have bottomed out, and barring further disruptions, it should show a gradual acceleration.

(pub. 07/11/2017 Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

Trade, investment & human development

Even if finance is forthcoming, it is important to recognise that there are domestic decisions to be taken to maximise its welfare impact.

(pub. 03/11/2017 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

Unanticipated recapitalisation announcement: A big boost to the economy

The recapitalisation aim to stem the burgeoning stressed assets and spur genuine long-term infrastructure lending for upcoming or stalled mega-infrastructure projects.

(pub. 31/10/2017 The Financial Express)

- Lekha Chakraborty

Extend and pretend

Banks can play that game no more. But recapitalisation is not the reform that is needed to prevent a recurrence.

(pub. 31/10/2017 The Indian Express)

- Ila Patnaik

Principles to guide bank bailouts

Without bringing sound governance and technical capabilities into the RBI's work, injecting new money sets the stage for a next wave of bad behaviour by banks. 

(pub. 30/10/2017 The Hindu)

- Ajay Shah

Avoid the adventurous path

  Any aggressive attempt to widen the fiscal deficit will land India's economy in problems.

(pub. 17/10/2017 The Hindu)

- C. Rangarajan and M Govinda Rao

Three-page notes considered harmful

  In each major area of public policy, we need intellectual capabilities in understanding where things are going wrong, and in building a strategy for change.

(pub. 16/10/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Financing the SDGs

  The world has not until recently intersected significantly with the world of public finance.

(pub. 06/10/2017 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

 

Need to speed up structural reforms

  All the attempts at fiscal consolidation will come to nought if any attempt to provide fiscal stimulus is made by breaching the targets. The rating agencies are not likely to take kindly to any such fiscal adventurism.

(pub. 03/10/2017 Financial Express)

- M. G. Rao

IBC: The only way out is through

  The implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is far from finished and new work is required.

(pub. 02/10/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

It's the economy, stupid

  With high interest rates, and a low risk of depreciation, portfolio inflows have risen sharply, leading to the appreciation of the rupee. This has encouraged imports, hurting domestic capacity utilisation, investment and growth.

(pub. 26/09/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Chhibber

A great churning

Reforms are needed to pave the way for the exit of weak firms so that labour and capital can move to healthy ones.

(pub. 18/09/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Sliding economic growth: what is to be done

Given this depressing picture of demand, what is suprising is not that GDP growth has declined but that it has not declined further.

(pub. 15/09/2017 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

Pension as mandatory savings

Before tinkering with the basic framework and philosophy of the NPS, it is useful to understand what low pension coverage means.

(pub. 06/09/2017 Business Standard)

- Renuka Sane

Growth number tell the truth

Even the low manufacturing imprint is an underestimate as the estimates are based on the formal sector data, and the effect of demonetisation will be clearer only when the revised estimates come in, when the informal sector's impact is captured better.

(pub. 05/09/2017 Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

What shapes investment?

Expectations of buoyant growth are related to progress on economic reforms, with strong institutional mechanisms in place.

(pub. 04/09/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Maximum pain

Objectives of demonetisation could have been served better by doing a cost benefit analysis.

(pub. 01/09/2017 Indian Express)

- Ila Patnaik

Peace Dividend still a mirage

The spurt in global arms trade may reflect an atmosphere of hightened tensions, but there is also an opportunity in this challenge.

(pub. 01/09/2017 Financial Express)

- Lekha Chakraborty and Samiksha Agarwal

It Takes Two to Untangle

One way to reduce trade imbalance would be to get more Chinese firm to invest and manufacture in India.  This would also support the 'Make in India' campaign

(pub. 28/08/2017 Economic Times)

- Ajay Chhibber

Should we recapitalise the banks?

Our priority should be to address the policy failures that gave our banking crisis, not to paper over the problem with taxpayer money.

(pub. 21/08/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

India at 70: how are we doing?

Agriculture, education and health three vital sectors affecting the bulk of India's population, have been neglected in the reform agenda.

(pub. 18/08/2017 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

Taking stock: 25 years of economic reforms

A new book offers a holistic view of the ripple effects of liberalization - and points to its unfinished business.

(pub. 11/08/2017 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

Privacy and the ‘nothing to hide’ argument

The argument wrongfully equates privacy with secrecy, even though the former is a distinct and much richer concept.

(pub. 09/08/2017 Live Mint)

- Vrinda Bhandari and Renuka Sane

Elements of the recovery

A way out of the present economic slump is to revisit the template of 15 years ago and follow its constituents.

(pub. 07/08/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Finance commission road map

This year the Fifteenth Finance Commission (FC) will be constituted.

(pub. 04/08/2017 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

Need to build state capacity

Lack of capacity of the state is not merely a matter of incompetence. It has more to do with ‘special interest group’ politics.

(pub. 02/08/2017 Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

Strategic thinking in financial markets policy

The machinery of the equity market can be used to obtain benefits for all the other parts of financial market training.

(pub. 24/07/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Agraria crisis: the challange of a small farmer economy

The highly distorted and exploitative product market is one of the most important factors responsible for the misery of the small farmer.

(pub. 21/07/2017 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

G-20 and the 'irreversible' Paris climate commitments

Given that UNFCC requirements need to be increasingly integrated into national planning and budgeting processes, the role of the finance ministry in initiating climate responsive budgeting is crucial for India.

(pub. 12/07/2017 Financial Express)

- Lekha Chakraborty

The buy side in bankruptcy process

Leadership must create a team that will work on the bankruptcy reform to get good recovery rates.

(pub. 09/07/2017 Financial Express)

- Ajay Shah

Cooking an edible Hamburger

The G-20 summit open friday to a melancholic backdrop.

(pub. 07/07/2017 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

Essar Steel insolvency issue vs RBI: What lies ahead?

In this case, RBI's low capacity in legal drafting is unlikely to lead to a serious legal problem.

(pub. 06/07/2017 Business Standard)

- Pratik Datta

Celebrate GST, but with caution

The reform remains work-in-progress; hopefully, the number of rates will be reduced and real estate and petroleum products will be brought under its ambit.

(pub. 04/07/2017 Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

Entering the age of GST

The long-term benefits of GST are clear - the challenge is too quickly address the short-term obstacles.

(pub. 01/07/2017 Hindu)

- M. Govinda Rao

Farm Prices After a Bumber Crop: Managing a Problem of Plenty

Farmers have to find avenues to sell excess production. More warehouses are the solution.

(pub. 29/06/2017 BloombergQuint)

- Amey Sapre and Smriti Sharma

Beware of premature load bearing

Our fledgling systems face a new level of stress both from big cases of insolvency and the GST.  We run the risk of an organisational rout.

(pub. 26/06/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Reversal on rupee-dominated debt

Determining the interest at which the Indian firms will be able to borrow in the foreign market is an unwarranted intervention, given that the currency risk in such borrowings is borne by the foreigners.

(pub. 20/06/2017 Business Standard)

- Bhargavi Zaveri and Radhika Pandey

Finally a goods and services tax but what lies ahead?

The potential gains in logistics efficiency from a comon market with no artificial barriers between states are enormous.

(pub. 15/06/2017 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

Firms are fearful as uncertainty goes up

We run risk of 2017-19 being consumed by GST just as 2016-17 suffered on account of demonetisation.

(pub. 12/06/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

RBI's inconsistent view

The decision by the MPC of the RBI to keep the policy rate unchanged was not a surprise. 

(pub. 09/06/2017 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

Need for an independent fiscal commission

Housing the commission under the finance ministry will undermine its independence; make it answerable to parliament only.

(pub. 06/06/2017 Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

The Aadhaar legal framework is broken

The regulations are weak on grievance redressal and completely absent when it comes to authentication and data security.

(pub. 30/05/2017 Mint)

- Vrinda Bhandari and Renuka Sane

The task of the MoF

The roots of macro instability lie in our institutional arrangements for fiscal, financial and monetary policy. 

(pub. 29/05/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

 

NPA crisis: Banking ordinance skirts real solutions to the ongoing crisis

India’s banking crisis has been on a slow burn for the last three years.

(pub. 23/05/2017 Economic Times)

- Ajay Chhibber

A celebration in Yokohama and a summit in Beijing

Led by Japan, the Asian Development Bank has helped transform this continent over the past 50 years. Now, China is taking the lead and its Belt and Road initiative is only one of three key tools.  

(pub. 19/05/2017 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

The Hits and misses

 Lack of reasonably long time series data on GDP (based on new estimation methodology), poor employment statistics, no official poverty numbers, demonetisation, etc., could only hinder evidence-based policy making in the country.

(pub. 18/05/2017 Financial Chronicle)

- N.R. Bhanumurthy

Is the fiscal prudence really fading away?

The concerns pertaining to state finances should centre around the restoration of revenue account balance not the level of fiscal deficit, which without UDAY remained well within limits.

(pub. 18/05/2017 Financial Express)

- Pinaki Chakraborty

Does the ordinance solve the banking crisis?

The biggest threat in banking regulation is the pressure within the RBI to hide bad news at banks, as faltering banks reflect poorly upon bank regulation by the regulator.

(pub. 15/05/2017 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

India needs a fiscal council

(pub. 12/05/2017 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

Capital controls undermine arbitration potential

(pub. 10/05/2017 Business Standard)

Only a total overhaul of the capital controls regime under FEMA can help improve legal certainty in enforcing international arbitration awards.  

- Pratik Datta and Deepaloke Chatterjee

A Practitioner's Guide to Policy Reforms

(pub. 02/05/2017 Financial Express)

 NITI recommends enhancing shares of development and capital expenditures by 2019-20. Revenue expenditures, more particularly, the food and fertiliser subsidies, should be reduced.  

- M. Govinda Rao

Why FRBM failed?

(pub. 01/05/2017 Business Standard)

As long as the notion of money Bill stays in the Constitution, the only effective fiscal responsibility rule is one that is in the Constitution. 

- Ajay Shah

An Italian sojourn: glimpses of a flatering recovery

  (pub. 21/04/2017 Mint)

With poor education undermining Italy's competitiveness, how long it can retain its position as the third largest economy in Europe is an open question.

- Sudipto Mundle

How can ARCs help solve the baking crisis?

  (pub. 17/04/2017 Business Standard)

For an ARC to make sense, it must be a simple private equity fund.  The notion of the RBI writing regulations governing ARCs was wrong.

- Ajay Shah

Firm believer in need for a fiscal council: Interview

  (pub. 13/04/2017 Business Standard)

The committee has recommended maintaining the fiscal deficit at 3 per cent of GDP from FY18 to FY 20. Does this give the Finance Minister the Leeway to keep the deficit at 3.2 percent in his next budget, since he has already done that much in this year's?.

- Rathin Roy

An insider's take on FRBM report

  (pub. 14/04/2017 Business Standard)

Extant FRBM legislation focusses on two operational targets, the fiscal deficit and revenue deficit.

- Rathin Roy

 The stage is set for implementation

  (pub. 04/04/2017 Financial Express)

 What is being proposed is a highly complicated structure with four tax rates, in addition to exemption, a low rate on bullion and cesses on demerit goods.

- M. Govinda Rao

  Market power in the new economy

  (pub. 03/04/2017 Business Standard)

  It is a cause for concern if sheer financial might is the tool through which market dominance is achieved.

- Ajay Shah

  Connecting the dots

  (pub. 20/03/2017 Financial Express)

  Any increase in nominal GDP that is consumption-driven, not investment-driven must be celebrated with caution.

- Pinaki Chakraborty and Shatakshi Garg

  The growth forecast

  (pub. 07/03/2017 Financial Express)

  The economy was already slowing down and demonetisation compounded the problem.

- M. Govinda Rao

  Strategy to deal with the banking crisis

  (pub. 06/03/2017 Business Standard)

  Healthy firms need more financing while RBI needs reforms.

- Ajay Shah

  Universal basic Income: a disturbing admission

  (pub. 03/03/2017 Business Standard)

  The political consensus around UBI thus reflects a disturbing admission.

- Rathin Roy

  The road ahead at Sebi

  (pub. 21//02/2017 Business Standard)

  Deep reforms necessary at the regulator to fulfil its core objectives.

- Ajay Shah

  A fiscal consolidation budget that falls short on reforms

  (pub. 17//02/2017 Mint)

  The most urgent reform unfortunately omitted is the resolution of non-performing loans and the clean-up of corporate and bank balance sheets.

- Sudipto Mundle

  Half-hearted FDI reform

  (pub. 17//02/2017 Business Standard)

 Dismantling the FIPB is the first step on the road to rationalising the FDI regime. It must be complemented with a single comprehensive law governing capital inflows in India, which includes doing away with the approval system.

- Bhargavi Zaveri and Radhika Pandey

  Reforms take a back seat

  (pub. 07//02/2017 Financial Express)

  It is in allocating resources for public investment where the finance minister has been stingy.  Increase in public spending on infrastructure would have helped to crowd in private investment.

- M. Govinda Rao

  The economy's pain points

  (pub. 06//02/2017 Business Standard)

  There is no alternative to deeper reforms in order to Kick-start investment.
- Ajay Shah

  Low-rate GST, parenting and punishment

  (pub. 04//02/2017 Mint)

  Vijay Kelkar on why India should begin with a single low-rate GST; why economic empowerment of mothers leads to children getting more rewards.

- Vijay Kelkar

  Much ado

  (pub. 04//02/2017 The Indian Express)

  The budget has failed to further the reform agenda the government promised.
 
- Ajay Chhibber

  It is a pleasant surprise

  (pub. 03//02/2017 Indian Express)

  While the headline fiscal deficit is relaxed marginally and budgeted at 3.2% for FY18 (the earlier target was to contain it at 3% in FY18), the demand seems to have shifted from revenue to capital.

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

  Inclusive without being populist

  (pub. 02//02/2017 The Telegraph)

  The union budget was presented on the back of huge expectations that it would make up for the large disturbances that the economy has faced because of demonatisation.

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

  Not with a bang

  (pub. 02//02/2017 Indian Express)

  FM springs no surprises. Nor responds adequately to slow down in private investment.

- Ila Patnaik

  The message in the median

  (pub. 02//02/2017 The Hindu)

  The fiscal prudence is timely, but the budget lacks measures to revive the economy.

- M. Govinda Rao

  Views on budget 2017-18

  (pub. 02//02/2017 Financial Express)

  Some fiscal Stimulus is desirable; even if government overshoots the fiscal deficit target, that's not a bad thing in my view.

- Sudipto Mundle

  A fine balancing act

  (pub. 02//02/2017 Business standard)

  The Budget tries to achieve the fine balance between macro-fiscal aspects by targeting higher GDP growth and marginally relaxing of the fiscal deficit target.

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

  A conservative budget

  (pub. 02//02/2017 Business standard)

  But, given the economic slump, it comes up short.
- Ajay Shah
 

  Prudent in Practice, extravagant rhetoric

  (pub. 02/02/2017 Business standard)

  Govt is aware that nominal growth is going to be much lower than projected.
 
- Rathin Roy

  Measures to change the 'colour' of money

  (pub. 02/02/2017 Finanical Express)

  The reduction in presemtive tax could serve as an incentives for taxpayers who are keen to declare their income, but may not be enough to bring more taxpayers in, since the alternatives is zero tax.
- R. Kavita Rao

  Are states really at the centre?

  (pub. 31/01/2017 Financial Express)

  It is not the finance commission, but the union government that determines the transfers to the states.

- M. Govinda Rao

  Fiscal Policy and the India Growth Story

  (pub. 24/01/2017 Business Standard)

  In recent months many have commented on fiscal policy and the Indian growth story.
 
- Rathin Roy

  RBI Independence: The middle ground

  (pub. 23/01/2017 Business Standard)

  In the principal-agent relationship of finance ministry and central bank, autonomy arguments are weak.
 
- Ajay Shah

 Growth deficit and the Fiscal deficit

  (pub. 20/01/2017 Mint)

  The budget is likely to overestimate the expected revenue and the absolute level of the permissible fiscal deficit.

- Sudipto Mundle

 Relax the 3 per cent fiscal deficit target

  (pub. 16/01/2017 Business Line)

  The forthcoming budget is to be presented at a time when there are uncertainities in both the domestic and external environment.

- N.R. Bhanumurthy

 Reserved bank of India

  (pub. 14/01/2017 Indian Express)

  Demonetisation showed India's central bank is too opaque.  It's decision-making must be open to scrutiny.
- Ila Patnaik
 

 Strategy for 2017

  (pub. 09/01/2017 Business Standard)

  Private corporate investment holds the key to business cycle conditions in India. The government, through policy, can change the incentives of private persons and encourage them to invest.

- Ajay Shah

 How much effect will the note ban have on growth

  (pub. 09/01/2017 Mint)

 
- M. Govinda Rao interviewed by Latha Venkatesh 

 More populism, or a revival effort

  (pub. 03/01/2017 Financial Express)

  The government will have to tread carefully between wiping the tears of disruption that demonetisation caused and kick-starting the revival of economic activity.

- M. Govinda Rao

 Demonetisation a dicey domain

  (pub. 31/12/2016 Financial Express)

  Clarity on fiscal target is possible only after the FRBM Committee submits its report and the government considers it.  It is by now almost clear that the GST may not be implemented in April, and that's make projection of revenues that much more difficult.

- M. Govinda Rao

 Two litigations and a takeaway

  (pub. 27/12/2016 Business Standard)

  The fact that the complexities of FEMA are used to dispute contractual obligations is a wake-up call for the simplification of the law.

- Bhargavi Zaveri and Radhika Pandey

 Note ban's impact in 2017

  (pub. 26/12/2016 Business Standard)

  Many feel that once cash is back to normal levels, life will return to normal. Macroeconomies do not work like that.

- Ajay Shah

 Development as a measure of governance

  (pub. 16/12/2016 Business Standard)

  While the best and worst performing states have remained the same a decade apart, sharp changes appear when rankings are adjusted to account for the impact of development.

- Sudipto Mundle, Somik Chowdhury and Satadru Sikdar

 Our failed education policy needs urgent reform

  (pub. 16/12/2016 Mint)

  India's poor performance stands out when compared to that of some of our Asian neighbours and other emerging market economies.

- Sudipto Mundle

 Revamping the Income tax appellate tribunal

  (pub. 13/12/2016 Mint)

  The recent demonetisation is aimed at reducing the extent of black money-money on which tax should be paid, but it is not.

- Pratik Datta, Surya Prakash B.S. & Renuka Sane

  A bad time for a crisis

  (pub. 12/12/2016 Business Standard)

  India got a business cycle downturn in 2012. With demonetisation and weak global conditions, the difficulties have deepened.

- Ajay Shah

  RBI as uncertain as the rest of us

  (pub. 09/12/2016 Business Standard)

  The monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India has left the reporate unchanged at 6.25 percent.

- Rathin Roy

 Crossing the chasm

  (pub. 09/12/2016 Indian Express)

  In government's push for a cashless economy, policy and regulation must focus on competition, innovation.

- Ila Patnaik

The gains vis-a-vis the pains

(pub. 06/12/2016 Financial Express)

The announcement by the prime minister on November 8, that currency notes with face-value of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 will no longer be valid sent shock-waves.

- M. Govinda Rao

Off the Black Mark

(pub. 28/11/2016 Indian Express)

It might have been better to go after real estate transactions, the movie industry, gold, weddings, election financing and benami transactions.

- Ajay Chhibber

How to make digital payments work

(pub. 28/11/2016 Business Standard)

Tech companies should be given membership of the Reserve Bank’s RTGS system, which should be operational 24x7.

- Ajay Shah

Six battlefronts for the war on corruption

(pub. 21/11/2016 Mint)

To truly disrupt the shadow economy, reforms targeting gold, hawala, real estate, taxation, politics and elections, and administration are a must.

- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah

Growth pangs of demonetisation

(pub. 19/11/2016 Financial Express)

The ease at which the currency is replaced is key.

- N.R. Bhanumurthy

Consequences of the demonetisation shock

(pub. 18/11/2016 Live Mint)

With the overall tightening of the regulatory environment, tax evaders and wilful defaulters may consider changing their game.

- Sudipto Mundle

Demonetisation: Black Wealth, the Real Deal

(pub. 16/11/2016 Economic Times)

Demonetisation is usually associated with decrepit economies with hiper-inflation such as Zimbabwe recently and Argentina in the past.

- Ajay Chhibber

A monetary economics view of the demonetisation

(pub. 14/11/2016 Business Stantard)

Money is the lubricant of the economy; a shock to the money supply disrupts the economy and could lead to recession.

- Ajay Shah

Empire and Extraction

(pub. 12/11/2016 Business Stantard)

Shashi Tharoor's history of the colonial era will reignite thinking on the nature of British Rule in India.

- Ajay Chhibber

Show me the money

(pub. 11/11/2016 Indian Express)

Ban on Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes deals with stocks of black money. But push to a cashless economy is premature.

- Ila Patnaik

Reforming the UN development system

(pub. 11/11/2016 Business Standard)

The increasing importance of EMEs has the potential to simultaneously bring new ideas and broader ownership to the UNDS. 

- Rathin Roy

GST council should seize the initiative

(pub. 03/11/2016 Business Standard)

While rolling out GST, it must ensure that the taxation policy is transparent, predictable and inclusive. 

- Vijay Kelkar  

Fiscal reforms in a federal framework

(pub. 02/11/2016 Business Standard)

NITI Aayog should strive to be a vibrant think tank albeit with substantial financial muscle, says the writer in the first of a two-part series. 

- Vijay Kelkar

GST: A contest of competing truths

(pub. 02/11/2016 Mint)

A goods and services tax which is growth-oriented will improve the efficiency of the tax and the simplicity of its implementation.

- Vijay Kelkar and V. Bhaskar

GST Implementation: Avoid birth defects

(pub. 01/11/2016 Financial Express)

Having achieved some unification in tax rates at the state level, increasing the number of slabs is retrograde. 

- M. Govinda Rao

From despots to institutions

(pub. 30/10/2016 Business Standard)

Reliable performance over the long term requires shifting focus from individuals to institutions. 

- Ajay Shah

Regime change at the Reserve Bank of India

(pub. 21/10/2016 Live Mint)

Global empirical evidence indicates that anchoring inflation expectations is critical for managing current inflation. 

- Sudipto Mundle

Visioning India 2032

(pub. 21/10/2016 Business Standard)

How big will be governments of India be in 2032 and what will they be doing? 

- Rathin Roy

Eight principles for better regulators

(pub. 17/10/2016 Business Standard)

Creating regulators was supposed to combat central planning, but India has often failed in this regard. 

- Ajay Shah

Unprepared for bad days

(pub. 17/10/2016 Indian Express)

India lacks the institutional mechanisms to deal with the death of firms and the failures of banks. 

- Ila Patnaik

GST: Brazing for the reform

(pub. 04/10/2016 Financial Express)

The arrangement to separate service taxpayers is conceptually flawed as once GST is levied, it is inappropriate to think in terms of goods and services separately. 

- M. Govinda Rao

Who will bear the loss?

(pub. 03/10/2016 Business Standard)

A mature market economy is one in which failures are swiftly resolved and there is clarity about how losses will be allocated. 

- Ajay Shah

The Inflation-fiscal defict linkage

(pub. 02/10/2016 Business Standard)

Having adopted flexible inflation targeting, macroeconomic consistency can be achieved through the adoption of flexible fiscal targets.

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

Finance for the poor: Policy, not programmes

(pub. 19/09/2016 Business Standard)

Enacting and enforcing the draft Indian Financial Code holds the key to financial inclusion.

- Ajay Shah

Universal basic income: an idea whose time has come?

(pub. 16/09/2016 Livemint)

While the academic debate gathers momentum in high income countries, a discourse on UBI has also surfaced in a relatively poor country like India.

- Sudipto Mundle

No Hyderabad blues

(pub. 15/09/2016 The Hindu)

The Centre’s assistance package for Andhra Pradesh is certainly more than what the special category status could have brought in.

- M. Govinda Rao

A note for Dr. Patel

(pub. 09/09/2016 The Indian Express)

New RBI governor must build on Rajan’s legacy of commitment to inflation targeting - and communicate it too.

- Ila Patnaik

Should targets be range-bound?

(pub. 06/09/2016 Financial Express)

Unfortunately global experience shows that governments want to spend the maximum they can and there is a danger that they will always work on the ceiling of the range.

- M. Govinda Rao

Financial reforms: Mid-term report card

(pub. 05/09/2016 Business Standard)

Halfway through the Modi govt’s tenure, India has six achievements in financial reform to boast of; a dozen more are needed.

- Ajay Shah

Need for simple macro-framework

(pub. 02/09/2016 Business Standard)

Macroeconomic analytics for policymaking cannot be an end in itself .

- Rathin Roy

Who is afraid of Algorithmic trading?

(pub. 22/08/2016 Business Standard)

Instead of fearing technological change, it is necessary to develop capabilities for enforcement against market abuse.

- Ajay Shah

GST Bill a Historic Landmark, But Formidable Challenges Lie Ahead

(pub. 19/08/2016 Live Mint)

The most difficult challenge is to complete the legal processes, in particular those relating to the tasks of the GST Council.

- Sudipto Mundle

Tracing GST's Evolution as an Idea

(pub. 18/08/2016 Business Standard)

Now that the goods and services tax (GST) Constitution amendment Bill has been passed by the Rajya Sabha, different political parties are ascribing its success to their own ingenuity.

- M. Govinda Rao

India needs a consolidated approach

(pub. 12/08/2016 Financial Express)

Looking at the finances of the central government alone gives an erroneous picture.

- Ajay Chhibber

How to build tax administration

(pub. 08/08/2016 Business Standard)

The CBDT must be seen as a mini-state and held at an arm's length from the finance ministry.

- Ajay Shah and Shubho Roy

Misleading stylised facts

(pub. 05/08/2016 Business Standard)

The consequences of relying on incorrect stylised facts are more damaging than incorrect analysis or wrong empirical evidence.

- Rathin Roy

Now, iron out the wrinkles

(pub. 04/08/2016 The Hindu)

For the GST regime to be successful, it is important to not only reduce the costs of compliance within the system but also make more effective the costs associated with evasion.

- R. Kavita Rao

Remembering Raja Chelliah - The father of tax reform

(pub. 02/08/2016 Financial Express)

The broad thrust of his reforms was to move away from the levy of extortionary rates.

- M. Govinda Rao

Public health, not healthcare

(pub. 30/07/2016 Indian Express)

Dengue should be prevented and not merely tackled when the epidemic sets in.

- Ila Patnaik

Overhaul regulation of professions

(pub. 25/07/2016 Business Standard)

In the stock markets, rule-making, enforcement and adjudication improved after independent professionals were put in charge.

- Ajay Shah

Sebi needs a new regulatory structure

(pub. 23/07/2016 Business Standard)

The stock market regulator's adjudication and executive functions should be independent of each other.

- Pratik Datta

M'Lord, Protect us from Lawyers

(pub. 16/07/2016 Economic Times)

Growing instances of professional misconduct by advocates seem to have finally tipped the scales. 

- Pratik Datta

Reflections on a short passage through China

(pub. 15/07/2016 Live Mint)

Rising domestic consumption, a pillar of new growth strategy, is subject to greater risks.

- Sudipto Mundle

Worst-case scenario for the banking crisis

(pub. 11/07/2016 Business Standard)

A long crisis with a lack of sound short-term, long-term actions can result in sluggish growth in India, similar to that in Japan.

- Ajay Shah

A vicious circle

(pub. 07/07/2016 Business Standard)

It is important to understand how pay awards affect behavioural incentives. 

- Rathin Roy

In search of the elusive stability

(pub. 05/07/2016 The Financial Express)

The govt. must contain fiscal deficit to create borrowing space for the private sector.

- M. Govinda Rao

RBI should not regulate asset reconstruction companies

(pub. 03/07/2016 Business Standard)

Banking and stressed asset management are two separate businesses.

- Pratik Datta & Rajeswari Sengupta

The UK mustn’t fall for negative interest rates

(pub. 01/07/2016 The Financial Express)

This has not been able to take economies out of deflationary pressure.

- Abhishek Anand and Lekha Chakraborty 

Great institutions, not great men

(pub. 26/06/2016 Business Standard)

India must make sure that capabilities lie in institutions and not in one person.

- Ajay Shah

How to combat food price rise before its too late

(pub. 22/06/2016 The Financial Express)

Persistence of high food inflation can harden the monetary policy stance and make fiscal choices difficult.

- Lekha Chakraborty and Pinaki Chakraborty

All about Brexit repercussions

(pub. 21/06/2016 The Financial Express)

It would entail fiscal austerity measures with cuts on good public spending and a call on deficits.

- Lekha Chakraborty and Samiksha Agarwal

The challenge of unemployment

(pub. 17/06/2016 Live Mint)

Can the government crack the unemployment problem, or will the problem crack the government?

- Sudipto Mundle

Forced unbundling for greater competition

(pub. 13/06/2016 Business Standard)

A process of separating two industries is easier to enforce than fighting an integrated utility trying to hamper access to a new entrant.

- Ajay Shah

15 questions and a plea 

(pub. 10/06/2016 Business Standard)

Today’s two-trillion economy, set to double in size in seven years’ time, requires rules-based policy making, rather than discretion.

- Rathin Roy

Has the economy bottomed out?

(pub. 07/06/2016 The Financial Express)

The extent and speed of recovery depends on the pace at which reforms are calibrated.

- M. Govinda Rao

Prioritise banking reforms

(pub. 30/05/2016 Business Standard)

The size of the banking crisis is roughly 10% of GDP and taxpayers should be unhappy about footing the bill.

- Ajay Shah

The fall guy

(pub. 28/05/2016 The Indian Express)

Successful inflation targeting calls for more reform. Targeting Governor Raghuram Rajan is all too easy.

- Ila Patnaik

The mirage of cooperative federalism

(pub. 26/05/2016 The Financial Express)

Despite the Fourteenth Finance Commission providing a different framework, “cooperative federalism” has remained more a slogan than a reality.

- M. Govinda Rao

The pros and cons of subsidies through direct benefit transfer

(pub. 17/05/2016 Live Mint)

The main takeaway is that PAHAL is potentially a much better alternative compared to PDS.

- Sudipto Mundle

Tax policy for a globalised India

(pub. 16/05/2016 Business Standard)

Public finance principles to consider when thinking about Mauritius, Panama, and FIIs.

- Ajay Shah

Emerging trends in state finances

(pub. 03/05/2016 The Financial Express)

Restructuring of centrally-sponsored schemes needs to be carefully examined.

- M. Govinda Rao

Sustainability hurdles and opportunities

(pub. 03/05/2016 Business Standard)

India's urbanisation and agriculture challenges require improvements in production efficiency to utilise scarce resources better.

- Rathin Roy

India's start-ups are lazy businesses

(pub. 02/05/2016 Business Standard)

The spectacle of young men and women imbued with a get-rich-quick ethos and dreams of laziness is disturbing.

- Ajay Shah

Time to inflate economy's 'spare tyre'

(pub. 19/04/2016 Business Standard)

There are no maturity-driven restrictions on the bonds that Indian residents may invest in. The same principle must be applied to foreign portfolio investors in rupee-denominated debt.

- Bhargavi Zaveri & Radhika Pandey

Commodity futures - waiting for the gains

(pub. 18/04/2016 Business Standard)

Seven changes the government must make to develop India's financial system.

- Ajay Shah

Strategy to revive investments for higher GDP growth

(pub. 16/04/2016 Financial Chronicle)

Shorter term limited option is to expand public investment in infrastructure.

- N.R. Bhanumurthy

Trust in states’ fiscal responsibility vindicated

(pub. 15/04/2016 Livemint)

Contrary to fears of fiscal profligacy expressed by some following the FFC award, the states have maintained fiscal prudence.

- Sudipto Mundle

The problem of secretive tax havens

(pub. 11/04/2016 The Hindu)

Instead of waiting for yet another leak, proactive steps need to be taken now.

- D. P. Sengupta

Sort out the tax maze

(pub. 09/04/2016 The Indian Express)

India needs to rationalise capital controls, simplify its tax regime to mitigate illegitimate cross-border flows.

- Ila Patnaik

Union Budget: Pulling the rug under states’ feet?

(pub. 05/04/2016 The Financial Express)

Now that instant reactions and discussions about the Union Budget are over, the time is opportune to take a more considered view.

- M. Govinda Rao

Why India gets foreign borrowing wrong?

(pub. 04/04/2016 Business Standard)

Firms that should borrow abroad do not do so enough, and those that should not borrow abroad do.

- Ajay Shah

Delivering effective fiscal responsibility

(pub. 01/04/2016 Business Standard)

There are six actions that government needs to take to put an effective FRF in place.

- Rathin Roy

Is India Sliding Into A Banking Crisis?

(pub. 23/03/2016 BusinessWorld)

India must remember that the 1997 Asian financial crisis was exacerbated by tight monetary policy, forced on by IMF conditionality.

- Ajay Chhibber

In need of action

(pub. 21/03/2016 Business Standard)

Although a banking crisis raises the need for major reform, the RBI has not yet woken up to this.

- Ajay Shah

A transformative budget?

(pub. 18/03/2016 The Live Mint)

The govt saying that it will stick to the 3.5% fiscal deficit target is just a sound bite without credible substance.

- Sudipto Mundle

The textbooks don't apply

(pub. 07/03/2016 Business Standard)

India's economy is not like Western ones, and thus needs restrained fiscal policy even during a recession.

- Ajay Shah

Of Tagore, Tiruvalluvar and pet lovers

(pub. 04/03/2016 Business Standard)

In India, Budget speeches are also platforms for identifying issues that require fiscal attention.

- Rathin Roy

Caught in a Chakravyuha?

(pub. 03/03/2016 The Financial Express)

To assume the budget gives more space to the financial system for lending to support rate-cuts may not be realistic.

- M. Govinda Rao

Wait for the good days got longer

(pub. 03/03/2016 The Hindu)

A government in the middle of its term could have taken bold decisions. The Budget leaves room for neither private borrowing nor public investment.

- M. Govinda Rao

La-la Land Budget

(pub. 02/03/2016 The Indian Express)

Official GDP data is embedded in its vision and strategy. But the numbers seem wrong.

- Ila Patnaik

Predictable but unrealistic

(pub. 01/03/2016 The Live Mint)

The low allocation for agriculture, rural sector and social sectors, though predictable, is disappointing.

- Sudipto Mundle

Maintaining a fine balance

(pub. 01/03/2016 The Telegraph)

GDP growth across the major developed countries are slowing down.  The global financial markets continue to be volatile leading to outflow of foreign capital from the EMEs.

- N.R. Bhanumurthy

Nothing Exceptional at all

(pub. 01/03/2016 Business Standard)

The Budget has failed to build an atmosphere of tangible optimism.

- Ajay Shah

Reform, fiscal commitment and more

(pub. 01/03/2016 Business Standard)

This government has stayed the course on unglamorous reforms and tax proposals.

- Rathin Roy

Missing pieces in the Bankruptcy Code

(pub. 26/02/2016 Business Standard)

The move to keep the entire financial services sector out of the Code is misplaced and must be revisited.

- Bhargavi Zaveri & Shivangi Tyagi

FM’s fiscal deficit dilemma

(pub. 25/02/2016 The Indian Express)

Sticking to the fiscal deficit target is riskier than relaxing it a little in order to prop-up growth.

- N.R. Bhanumurthy

Can higher fiscal deficit revive investment demand?

(pub. 24/02/2016 Live Mint)

Ahead of Budget 2016-17, lack of investment demand is a major macroeconomic concern.

- Pinaki Chakraborty

A fine balance on the Budget

(pub. 23/02/2016 The Hindu)

Given the pressing need for financial prudence and the equally pressing need for increasing public investment, the Finance Minister needs to raise additional resources and rationalise and target subsidies.

- M. Govinda Rao

A call to arms for reforms

(pub. 21/02/2016 Business Standard)

The non-oil, non-finance sector of the economy is under severe stress.

- Ajay Shah

What the market understands

(pub. 08/02/2016 Business Standard)

While the Indian stock market processes information about individual firms well, it struggles with macro-level forecasting.

- Ajay Shah

Let the rupee slide

(pub. 03/02/2016 The Indian Express)

The economy is best served by lowering interest rates and blocking protectionism.

- Ila Patnaik

Budget FY17: Walking the tightrope

(pub. 02/02/2016 The Financial Express)

The govt. must find a way to get back on the path to fiscal consolidation while increasing public investment.

- M. Govinda Rao

High growth and the price of food

(pub. 29/01/2016 Live Mint)

India’s current high growth is not necessarily a flawed estimate, but is organically linked to food price inflation.

- Sudipto Mundle

Channels of Influence

(pub. 25/01/2016 Business Standard)

How India should respond to the China slump.

- Ajay Shah

Fiscal responsibility key to cooperative federalism

(pub. 22/01/2016 The Financial Express)

In the upcoming Budget, the govt should stick to the announced fiscal consolidation path, as deviating from it will make it harder for the Centre to instil greater discipline on states and PSUs.

- Ajay Chhibber

Be tight-fisted

(pub. 18/01/2016 The Indian Express)

The 'tight fiscal, easy monetary' policy mix can better address problems that plague private investment.

- Ila Patnaik

Mother of all currency defences

(pub. 11/01/2016 Business Standard)

The defence of the renminbi reveals the flaws of the much-admired 'China model'.

- Ajay Shah

Inflation and policy coherence

(pub. 08/01/2016 Business Standard)

On the fiscal front, the one thing this government must NOT do, whatever the excuses or inducements, is to relax its fiscal deficit target for 2015-16.

- Rathin Roy

A bold disinvestment strategy needed

(pub. 07/01/2016 The Financial Express)

A 10-year plan to divest at least 50% PSU assets is required. The business of the government is public infrastructure, not public companies.

- Ajay Chhibber

The crisis of credibility

(pub. 05/01/2016 The Financial Express)

The demand for relaxation of the fiscal deficit target raised in the Mid-Year Review is worrisome.

- M. Govinda Rao

Preventing a zombie economy

(pub. 28/12/2015 Business Standard)

Stopping India's economic landscape from being littered with zombie firms is essential for recovery.

- Ajay Shah

To 2016, uncertainly

(pub. 26/12/2015 The Indian Express)

The passing year leaves a legacy of stalled reforms, growing economic worries.

- Ajay Chhibber

Creating a competent insolvency professionals’ pool

(pub. 21/12/2015 The Financial Express)

The draft Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code must go further in equipping Insolvency Professional Agencies to complement the other reforms envisaged.

- Anirudh Burman and Suharsh Sinha

Balance regulatory transparency with protection of bank information

(pub. 20/12/2015 Business Standard)

Without updated laws, it is unsurprising that the Supreme Court would order the RBI to release even information that could harm banks' operations.

- Pratik Dutta

A tale of two models

(pub. 18/12/2015 Live Mint)

One of the interesting consequences of Nitish Kumar’s return to power in Bihar is the emergence of two competing models of development.

- Sudipto Mundle

More of the same

(pub. 15/12/2015 The Financial Express)

The CMs panel on centrally-sponsored schemes has missed an opportunity to rationalise them.

- M. Govinda Rao

Prelude to GST

(pub. 09/12/2015 The Indian Express)

Report of a key panel lays out the middle ground for resolving political differences.

- M. Govinda Rao

Hike and effect

(pub. 05/12/2015 The Indian Express)

Pay commission recommendations aren’t inflationary. But the fiscal deficit targets may prove unrealistic.

- N.R. Bhanumurthy

Pressing the GST pedal: Where do we go from here?

(pub. 01/12/2015 The Financial Express)

Industry must play a more proactive role in the architecture, engineering and management of GST.

- M. Govinda Rao

Will Bihar results drive cooperative federalism?

(pub. 20/11/2015 Live Mint)

The current political scene is such that the centre will have to work in tandem with the states for major economic policy initiatives.

- Sudipto Mundle

UDAY lacks brightness

(pub. 17/11/2015 The Financial Express)

Improvement in the finances of discoms is possible only if they reduce costs and increase revenues.

- M. Govinda Rao

The possibility of bipartisanship

(pub. 13/11/2015 The Business Standard)

I write this column on Diwali, a very special day of optimism, light and togetherness.

- Rathin Roy

Need to go beyond OECD path

(pub. 03/11/2015 The Financial Express)

Many developing countries have pressed for addressing concerns specific to them.

- M. Govinda Rao

A Regime of Fear

(pub. 03/11/2015 The Indian Express)

To reform tax policy, government must think about it clearly.

- Ajay Shah

For a future decentralisation

(pub. 02/11/2015 The Hindu)

Despite its uneven history in India, decentralisation is vital to strengthen participatory democracy, facilitate responsive governance and enable public service delivery.

- M. Govinda Rao

Out of business

(pub. 23/10/2015 The Indian Express)

Centre must take up strategic disinvestment with vigour.

- Ajay Chhibber

Inequality and Growth

(pub. 23/10/2015 Live mint)

Economists don't write bestsellers.

- Sudipto Mundle

Lacking the power of reforms

(pub. 20/10/2015 The Financial Express)

The new bailout plan is unlikely to change the incentive structure and ensure healthy functioning of discoms.

- M. Govinda Rao

For a friendlier tax regime

(pub. 06/10/2015 The Financial Express)

The foremost job is to reform the system that creates incentives to harass the taxpayers.

- M. Govinda Rao

Unfinished business

(pub. 02/10/2015 Business Standard)

In any reasonable country, Dr. Raghuram Rajan's reputation would be that of a rate-cutting governor.

- Rathin Roy

Is India staring at deflation?

(pub. 24/09/2015 The Indian Express)

India is experiencing disinflation, not deflation. It is time to replace the wholesale price index with a producer price index to avoid further confusion.

- N.R. Bhanumurthy

The tortoise and the hare

(pub. 18/09/2015 Live Mint)

Regardless of which new normal we choose, the Chinese economy will remain much larger than the Indian

economy for several decades.

- Sudipto Mundle

Can a rate cut spur investment?

(pub. 15/09/2015 The Financial Express)

Banks are unlikely to transmit any cut, given structural rigidities in the sector.

- M. Govinda Rao

Finance ministry vs. federalism

(pub. 04/09/2015 Business Standard)

Poor predictability, credibility and effectiveness of fiscal performance have been key reasons for successive governments failing to deliver on their promises, in large part because the finance ministry business process remains unreformed to this day.

- Rathin Roy

More than just smart infrastructure

(pub. 01/09/2015 The Financial Express)

Don't limit the Smart Cities initiative to just enclave-type development

- M. Govinda Rao

GST, by other means

(pub. 28/08/2015 The Indian Express)

A full-fledged GST will take time in the present political environment. But the Union government can begin by transforming its own indirect taxes into a GST at the manufacturing stage.

- C. Rangarajan and M. Govinda Rao

 Don't cut corners on pension reforms

(pub. 27/08/2015 The Financial Express)

Strengthen the New Pension System to head off 'one rank one pension' - like political crises.

- Renuka Sane and Ajay Shah

The Reform Conundrum

(pub. 25/08/2015 The Financial Express) 

The government must reach out to Opposition parties to get the reform process moving.

- M. Govinda Rao

The Land Question

(pub. 21/08/2015 Live Mint)

BJP’s U-turn on the proposed land Act reflects a rebalancing of deeper political forces that are at work in India’s political economy.

- Sudipto Mundle

 In Paris, abandon the status quo

 (pub. 21/08/2015 Business Standard)

India’s status quo position with respect to climate change negotiations appears to have three important “red lines”.

- Rathin Roy

A Deeper Reform

(pub. 05/08/2015 The Indian Express)

The question of age is how to set up a regulatory apparatus that powers high growth. Draft Indian Financial Code offers an anwser.

- Ajay Shah

For whom and at what cost?

(pub. 04/08/2015 The Financial Express)

Quality institutions, state-of-the-art infrastructure and efficient allocation of resources will be crucial.

 

- M. Govinda Rao

Failing to Finance Development

(pub. 24/07/2015 Business Standard)

The recently concluded Addis Ababa financing for development "summit" was, as widely predicted, a damp squib.

 

- Rathin Roy

Getting NITI Aayog to work

(pub. 21/07/2015 The Financial Express)

It can play an effective role in inter-governmental coordination only if states see it as a non-partisan institution.

 

- M. Govinda Rao

The third Greek bailout: An assessment

The immediate crisis has been resolved, but has the pact with the European Council ensured Greek solvency over the medium to long term?
 
- Sudipto Mundle

Unbalanced sheets

(pub. 26/06/2015 The Indian Express)

We need a holistic bankruptcy code. RBI's Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme is not the answer.

 

- Ajay Shah

Phasing out tax expenditures

(pub. 16/06/2015 The Financial Express)

A close scrutiny of tax sops for SEZs, infrastructure sector and fertiliser can boost tax-GDP ratio by at least 1%.

 

- M. Govinda Rao

Moving on Reforms

(pub. 02/06/2015 The Financial Express)

While some changes in the law may be important, it may be necessary to work around this in the short-term.

 

- M. Govinda Rao

Understanding one-rank one-pension

(pub. 02/06/2015 The Financial Express)

It is a dramatic escalation of the implicit pension-debt for the government.

 

- Ajay Shah

How BRICS bank can win

(pub. 02/06/2015 The Financial Express)

The Asian Infrastructure Bank (AIB) has got off to a wonderful start with the commentariat.

 

- Rathin Roy

Use GST bill breather to set it right 

(pub. 19/05/2015 The Financial Express)

It is important not to implement a bad tax in the eagerness to introduce GST.

 

- M. Govinda Rao

Missing Prince of Denmark in the Hamlet of Reforms

(pub. 15/05/2015 The Financial Express)

By any measure, even the hardcore supporters of the ruling party consider one year of the NDA rule as uneventful.

 

- M. Govinda Rao

Getting federal transfers right 

(pub. 08/05/2015 The Hindu)

With the flow of untied resources increasing to States, the focus must now be on non-Finance Commission transfers to enable States to effectively utilise the enhanced fiscal space.

- Pinaki Chakraborty

First step, but with birth defects

(pub. 05/05/2015 The Financial Express)

A close examination of the Constitution amendment bill shows that the structure envisaged is fraught with flaws.

 

- M. Govinda Rao

The politics of growth projections

(pub. 05/05/2015 The Financial Express)

Since my return to India two years ago, I have fielded many questions from rating agencies and fund managers about forecasts of India's economic growth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

 

- Rathin Roy

 

The long winter in banking

The silver lining lies in the fact that India is a market-dominated financial system with a fairly small role for banking.

(pub. 25/12/2017 Mint)

- Ajay Shah

GST, a work in progress

We need to immediately move towards three tax slabs, and evenutally two.

(pub. 22/12/2017 Hindu)

- C. Rangarajan and M. Govinda Rao

Balancing act on fiscal deficit

(pub. 05/01/2018 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

Balancing act on fiscal deficit

(pub. 05/01/2018 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

 

The next level of credit analysis

There should be estimates for the resolvability of companies. Cheapest debt financing should go to firms that have higher chances of success.

(pub. 08/01/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

The next level of credit analysis

There should be estimates for the resolvability of companies. Cheapest debt financing should go to firms that have higher chances of success.

(pub. 08/01/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Robust, pragmatic fiscal policy targets the need of the hour

(pub. 10/01/2018 The Hindu BusinessLine)

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

Robust, pragmatic fiscal policy targets the need of the hour

(pub. 10/01/2018 The Hindu BusinessLine)

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

GST panel proposes centralised registration of big service providers

The 6.5 per cent warning

(pub. 11/01/2018 Indian Express)

- Ila Patnaik

The curious case of FIR by the UIDAI

Apart from a financial audit, the Aadhar Act fails to prescribe any ex-ante or ex-post accountability mechanism

(pub. 11/01/2018 Mint)

- Vrinda Bhandari and Renuka Sane

Challenges in regulating cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency transactions have let to concerns regarding consumer protection, money laundring, and financing of criminal activities. 

(pub. 15/01/2018 Mint)

- Radhika Pandey and Bhavyaa Sharma

Current Challenges to Growth, and long-term constraints 

Many distortions remain in the regulatory and institutional environment that are inimical for high growth over the long term. 

(pub. 19/01/2018 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

Current Challenges to Growth, and long-term constraints 

Many distortions remain in the regulatory and institutional environment that are inimical for high growth over the long term. 

(pub. 19/01/2018 Mint)

- Sudipto Mundle

Mutual Funds with feet of clay 

The magic of mutual funds lies in their having transparent and liquid assets. However, this edifice stands on top of secondary market trading. 

(pub. 22/01/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Battling a retreat from globalisation 

 What we need is a social equivalent of quantitative easing- a qualitative easing towards the Leave No One Behind 2030 agenda-by focusing on the 'quality' of economic growth. 

(pub. 29/01/2018 Financial Express)

- Lekha Chakraborty

A realistic budget with some compromise on growth 

(pub. 02/02/2018 Financial Express)

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

The question of credibility 

The entire fiscal adjustment path has been reworked in this budget.

(pub. 02/02/2018 Hindu)

- M. Govinda Rao

Reading between the lines 

We hope there will be a gap between the populist rhetoric and reality.

(pub. 02/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Fiscal Slippage a Concern 

Despite the focus on health insurance for the vulnerable, health expenditure will grow by less than 6 per cent.

(pub. 02/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Sudipto Mundle

Slippage is structural, not populist

Important measures are required to get back on the path of fiscal reforms.

(pub. 02/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Rathin Roy

How best to play finance SEZs

What is needed is not mere deregulation but the construction of institutions that will permit private firms to compete in exporting and inspire confidence in global customers

(pub. 05/02/2018 Business Standard)

- Ajay Shah

Reviewing the passage of the Aadhaar bill

Barring review would imply the the Speaker can bypass constitutional procedures.

(pub. 05/02/2018 Mint)

- Shefali Malhotra

Once again a missed opportunity

While it proposes a number of interventions, a closer look at the allocations does not convince anyone that there are qualitative difference from the past.

(pub. 06/02/2018 Financial Express)

- M. Govinda Rao

Union Budget: not as expansionary as it seems

Big announcements not withstanding, the fine print suggests that fiscal deficit targets are likely to be met.

(pub. 06/02/2018 Mint)

- Ila Patnaik

Bifurcation and Blame

It’s misleading to blame the 14th Finance Commission for not according special category status to States.

(pub. 12/03/2018 The Hindu)

- M. Govinda Rao

Bifurcation and Blame

It’s misleading to blame the 14th Finance Commission for not according special category status to States.

(pub. 12/03/2018 The Hindu)

- M. Govinda Rao

Bifurcation and Blame

It’s misleading to blame the 14th Finance Commission for not according special category status to States.

(pub. 12/03/2018 The Hindu)

- M. Govinda Rao

The Economic Survey 2017-18

AIR Commentary: Economic Survey

(pub. 20/02/2018 ESD: AIR: ALL UNITS)

 - Lekha Chakraborty

Policy solutions to India's BoP crisis 
 
Despite the interest rate hike, the interventions could lead to capital flight, tiggering a panic reation among foreign investors.             

(pub. 18/09/2018 Financial Express)

 

- Lekha Chakraborty

The strategy and the tactics
 

We need a conceptual framework for economic strategy, alongside the practical problems of building government organisations.

 

 

 

- Ajay Shah

 
Budget 2019: Focus is on structural issues that economy is facing
 
 

 

- N. R. Bhanumurthy

 

Budget FY21: Avoid creative accounting
 
 

Atul Sarma and Manish Gupta

 

Time to step up on trade, investment
 
 

Lekha Chakraborty and Emmanuel Thomas

 

Keep the wheels of economic recovery turning
 

Emmanuel Thomas and Lekha Chakraborty

 

The government must loosen its purse strings

(pub. 10/03/2021 Indian Express)

 

Lekha Chakraborty and Emmanuel Thomas