GDP Growth and Mirage of V-shaped Recovery
If GDP growth rate is an indication of where our formal economy is, then there’s a lot to worry about. It fell to -7.3% in FY21, from the low of 4.2% in FY20. Unless...
Fiscal Deficit and Divestment Chorus
The growing fiscal deficit is yet another reason market pundits are pushing for government divestment from Public Sector Units (PSUs). That would be akin to the story of the goose and the golden egg....
Three Cheers to Finance Matters!
This issue of Finance Matters marks the completion of three years since it was started.We thank you all its readers and those who contributed to it. To bring out a weekly newsletter has its own...
A Case which made World Bank Legally Accountable
On February 27, a year has passed since the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 7-1 judgment that World Bank does not enjoy absolute immunity. The judgment shook the foundations of...
It’s not just an energy issue; it’s also a justice issue
15 years back power sector witnessed a huge expansion. Between 2005 and 2011, thermal projects with 700 GW were given either TOR or EC by the government in around 570 projects, with estimated investments...
Road Paved for FRDI 2.0
The announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday (Nov 15) that the government is planning to increase the deposit guarantee limit from the existing Rs 1 lakh is a confirmation of the rumours/reports going around for some...
It’s wrong steroids, Finance Minister! It will only kill the economy!!
The press conference addressed by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday (Aug 23) is an indication that finally, the government acknowledges that the economy is crumbling and nearly hitting the rock bottom. That a...
The Economics Of Julian Assange’s Arrest
Yesterday Julian Assange, co-founder of Wikileaks, was arrested from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he took refuge seven years back, after the Ecuadorian government’s withdrawal of asylum. Interestingly, exactly a month back, on...
Can Norway’s Oil, Gas Divestment Encourage India’s Leapfrog Into Solar?
Given that India is building many of the world’s biggest solar parks and also harbours high wind power ambitions, there is no reason to waste precious foreign currency on imported gas or thermal coal...
Cut Out Taking Those Shortcuts
This February, in a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that financial institutions like the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) are not immune from the law of land, and can be held...
Wake Up World Bank
Absolute immunity leads to impunity, and that foments lack of transparency and the reluctance to be held accountable Over three decades back, it looked quite impossible to ask the World Bank to review a...
New World Bank President: From ‘Who’ and ‘How’ to ‘for What’!
With the formal process of selection of a new World Bank President kick-starting in a week’s time, it’s imperative to have a view beyond this selection, now that the dust of Jim Kim’s sudden...
World Bank: Jim Yong Kim and beyond
Here’s a lowdown on what good and bad came out of Kim’s reign as the bank’s president and what seems to be the future of the coveted title Jim Yong Kim resigned from the...
The Davids and the World Bank!
“There was no example to follow on September 22, 1993, when the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a resolution establishing the Inspection Panel. Over the next 25 years, the Panel forged a legacy...
Demonetisation: Lest we Forget
Changing goal posts has been a hallmark of the precariously conceived and insensitively implemented demonetisation, second anniversary of which was yesterday (Nov 8). Finance Minister who declared Nov 8 as Anti Black Money Day...
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