India Economics Update Widening trade deficit no major concern The widening in India’s goods trade deficit in July was due in large part to the continued rebound in imports as containment measures were scaled back further. The trade deficit may widen a little... 16th August 2021 · 2 mins read
India Economics Weekly Vaccine rollout struggling for momentum Concerns continue to build over a new virus wave in India and adding to the worry is the sluggish pace of the vaccine rollout. The government has this week taken steps to boost supply, but they are... 13th August 2021 · 4 mins read
India Data Response Consumer Prices (Jul.) & Industrial Production (Jun.) India’s consumer price inflation dropped below the 6% upper limit of the RBI’s target range in July, and we think further falls are likely. With the economy also still weak, there should be little... 12th August 2021 · 2 mins read
India Economics Update RBI in no rush to tighten policy The Reserve Bank kept the repo rate on hold at a record low today and announced plans to ramp up government bond purchases on the secondary market, underlining its commitment to supporting the... 6th August 2021 · 3 mins read
India Economics Weekly Relapse risks rising Economic activity has been recovering quickly since the second virus wave abated. But we've argued for some time that the rapid reopening increases the risk of new outbreaks. That threat is building... 6th August 2021 · 4 mins read
India Data Response Services & Composite PMI (Jul.) The rebound in India’s PMI surveys in July provides further evidence that the economy was quick to get back on its feet after the second virus wave. But the rapid reopening, combined with low... 4th August 2021 · 2 mins read
India Economics Update Asset sales delay will create a fiscal hole The postponement of the planned privatisation of two state-owned banks to next year has dealt an all-too-familiar blow to the Finance Ministry’s hopes of raising significant revenues from asset sales... 3rd August 2021 · 3 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Asian industry struggles, strong recoveries in EM Europe June’s PMIs show that virus outbreaks have weighed on manufacturing in Southeast Asia while supply bottlenecks and weaker demand created headwinds for industry in China. In contrast, Indian industry... 2nd August 2021 · 2 mins read
India Data Response Manufacturing PMI (Jul.) The sharp rebound in India’s manufacturing PMI in July adds to evidence that the economy has been staging a strong recovery ever since the second virus wave receded. But with vaccine coverage still... 2nd August 2021 · 2 mins read
India Data Response Core Infrastructure Industries (Jun.) India’s core infrastructure industries index rebounded in seasonally-adjusted m/m terms in June, suggesting that an industrial recovery is well underway. 30th July 2021 · 2 mins read
India Economics Weekly Bankruptcy code upgrade, RBI meeting The amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) that were approved in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) this week could provide much-needed support to India’s banking sector. But... 30th July 2021 · 5 mins read
RBI Watch RBI in no rush to tighten Policy rates are highly likely to be left unchanged at the conclusion of the RBI’s upcoming MPC meeting on 6 th August, particularly given that inflation now appears to have peaked. Further ahead, we... 29th July 2021 · 7 mins read
India Economics Weekly Activity comes storming back One key lesson from the past 18 months is that economies can rebound quickly once virus waves have subsided. Even with this mind, the pace at which activity in India has rebounded from its second wave... 23rd July 2021 · 3 mins read
India Chart Pack Inflation has now peaked Amid the ongoing debate over inflation in a post-pandemic world, one thing that does appear clear is that near-term price pressures in India have peaked. Consumer price inflation held steady in June... 21st July 2021 · 9 mins read
Asia Economics Rates to remain low as virus disruption worsens Surging infections across South East Asia and the slow progress of vaccine rollouts mean that COVID-19 will continue to cause widespread economic disruption across large parts of the region until at... 20th July 2021 · 34 mins read
India Economics Weekly Bad bank starts to take shape The contours of India’s long-awaited “bad bank” have emerged over the past couple of weeks. The bad bank will help to restructure the loans of heavily-indebted firms and facilitate a clean-up of the... 16th July 2021 · 3 mins read