PLI: A pro-growth turn in government policy

The growth impact of PLI schemes could start showing up in FY22Neelkanth MishraLast Updated at February 8, 2021 22:41 IST This appeared in the Business Standard on 8 February 2021 (link). Total central government spending in FY22 should be unchanged from the government’s revised numbers for FY21, with the pandemic-triggered allocations to save lives and … Read more

Relying on Growth: opinion piece on the union budget

Aware of its own limitations, the government is carefully supporting industrial and consumer sentiment to take economy back to pre-pandemic pathIn some ways, what the government did not do is as important while assessing its focus on the quality of expenditure.Written by Neelkanth Mishra | February 2, 2021 3:00:06 am This appeared in the Indian … Read more

Global Economy: Sunnier growth with a chance of volatility

The pandemic will leave some economic scars globally; given the uncertainty in the global economy and polity, our policymakers must avoid dogma and remain agile. Neelkanth Mishra | January 9, 2021This appear in India Today (link). ISSUE DATE: January 18, 2021 UPDATED: January 9, 2021 02:36 IST Hope 2021 is better than 2020” sets a … Read more

How much better can FY22 be?

FY22 was once projected to be 13 per cent higher than FY20. Can six months of lockdown bring growth down to 1 per cent?Neelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at January 4, 2021 23:55 IST This was published in the Business Standard (link). India appears to be well on its way to putting the Covid-19 pandemic … Read more

Cheap money does not mean more capital flows

Cross-border capital flows do not just get driven by interest rates; plumbing and savings patterns may matter moreNeelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at November 30, 2020 23:38 IST (This was published in the Business Standard: link) Portfolio equity inflows into emerging markets (EMs) picked up strongly in November as the US election uncertainty lifted, and … Read more

A calibrated package

One must appreciate the restraint in “spending other people’s money”, a tendency most regimes find hard to resist. But it is equally important that nominal GDP growth picks up strongly.Written by Neelkanth Mishra | Updated: November 14, 2020 8:44:51 am (This was published in the Indian Express: link) The third package confirms some patterns in … Read more

The post-lockdown scars

As economic indicators and tax receipts improve, evidence of stress begin to appear tooNeelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at November 3, 2020 03:08 IST (This was published in the Business Standard: link) While assessing the post-pandemic economy, last month’s Tessellatum (“After the Storm”, October 6), expected upper-income wage earners to exit the lockdown with higher … Read more

Recovery and its discontents

New MPC’s unambiguous messaging on inflation should help buyers of government bonds take the riskWritten by Neelkanth Mishra | Updated: October 12, 2020 8:53:54 am (This was published in the Indian Express: link) The economy is rebounding faster than earlier expected, and year-on-year comparisons, only partly helped by the economic weakness seen in the second … Read more

After the storm: Taking stock of the economic scars of the pandemic

Now that the steep decline in economic activity is behind us, it is time to assess what parts of the economy have the worst scarsNeelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at October 6, 2020 06:47 IST (This was published in the Business Standard: link) Even as the number of cases and daily deaths are at unacceptably … Read more

An Expert Explains: Decoding India’s GDP contraction by 23.9%

The contraction seen in first-quarter GDP data is severe, but not unexpected. What should be done — or not done – at the level of govt policy so that the economy gets a chance to rebound as quickly as possible?Written by Neelkanth Mishra | Updated: September 13, 2020 11:43:51 am (This was published in the … Read more