India Economics Update Is the government’s FDI policy bearing fruit? The lifting of restrictions on foreign direct investment into a number of sectors of the economy has been one of the successes of Prime Minister Modi’s reform agenda so far. FDI inflows have picked up... 17th June 2015 · 1 min read
India Data Response Trade (May) India's trade data for May are a mixed bag, with the trade deficit narrowing despite another contraction in export growth. The big picture, however, is that India's external position is far less a... 16th June 2015 · 1 min read
India Data Response Wholesale Prices (May) Wholesale price inflation edged up in May, but it remains firmly in negative territory and close to its lowest rate since the series began in 2005. Importantly, core inflation fell further, providing... 15th June 2015 · 1 min read
India Data Response Consumer Prices (May) & Industrial Production (Apr.) Consumer price inflation edged up in May but not enough to put the Reserve Bank’s inflation target under threat. 12th June 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update External vulnerabilities diminishing India’s current account deficit narrowed in Q1 and, along with the pick-up in net FDI inflows, this has helped to boost the overall balance of payments position to its largest surplus since 2008. With... 11th June 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Consumers stifled by banking sector and labour market woes Indian consumers have struggled in recent months despite the tailwinds of lower inflation and reductions in interest rates. This can be explained in part by continued problems in the labour market and... 10th June 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Monsoon threat to inflation overplayed Inflation is likely to have stayed subdued in May. There are rising concerns that a weaker-than-normal monsoon could push inflation up in the months ahead. But we remain sanguine: many factors in... 8th June 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Labour market reform: can Mr Modi learn lessons from the states? Slow progress in liberalising India’s rigid labour market has been one of the biggest disappointments of PM Modi’s first year in power, but there are signs of improvement at state level, most notably... 5th June 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update PMIs pointing to lacklustre activity India's May PMI readings for both the manufacturing and services sectors suggest that activity remains subdued by past standards. The PMIs add to the list of indicators that contradict the official... 3rd June 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Rate-cutting cycle has a little further to run Today's decision by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut the repo rate for the third time this year to 7.25% is unlikely to be the last in the current loosening cycle. But the RBI can't be... 2nd June 2015 · 1 min read
India Data Response GDP (Q1) At face value, today’s GDP data for Q1 suggest that India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world. But the GDP data remain wildly inconsistent with numerous other indicators that point to... 29th May 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response China’s gold imports (Apr.) A fall in mainland China’s gold imports from Hong Kong in April has been more than offset by higher imports of the metal by India. Hence, we believe fears of a slowdown in demand from key emerging... 28th May 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Indonesia still looks vulnerable Today’s handover from military to civilian rule in Myanmar marks another welcome step forward in the country’s political development. But the new government must overcome a number of major challenges... 28th May 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Has Modi already missed his best opportunity? Prime Minister Modi’s first year in office was a mixed bag. The pace of economic reform will need to be stepped up in his second year to justify the investor enthusiasm that greeted his election... 28th May 2015 · 1 min read
RBI Watch Finance Ministry puts ball back into Governor Rajan's court Signs of continued economic slack and the weakness of inflation are key reasons for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to resume its rate-cutting cycle in its upcoming policy review on 2 nd June. One... 26th May 2015 · 1 min read
India Chart Pack Modi's first year: sparks but no fireworks As Prime Minister Modi's first year in office draws to a close, our view that the economic reform agenda would fall short of (at times frenzied) expectations appears to have been proved correct for... 22nd May 2015 · 1 min read
