fiscal

Who should bear the losses?

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It may be better for governments to bear the losses upfront than after the damage is doneNeelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at May 5, 2020 23:53 IST (This was published in the Business Standard: link) It now looks clear that we must learn to live with coronavirus, as the active case count is unlikely to … Read more

The other budgets

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With central reforms increasingly announced outside budget speeches, and both revenue and expenditures starting to become predictable, it might be more productive for public attention to move to other areas of government functioning like state and municipal budgets.Written by Neelkanth Mishra | Updated: February 6, 2020 9:36:43 am (This was published in the Indian Express: … Read more

Hidden inter-linkages hurting growth

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How fiscal pressures on state budgets are more pro-cyclical and weak imports push up bond yieldsNeelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at December 4, 2019 01:00 IST (This was published in the Business Standard: link) Economies are complex systems, with inter-linkages that usually do not get adequate attention, but which can have a strong effect on … Read more

State budgets: Less ‘crowding out’

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Collective borrowing by the Centre and states this year will likely be half of the financial savings of householdsNeelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at November 25, 2019 19:38 IST (This was published in the Business Standard: link) Given how important state government budgets are in the Indian economic framework, the Reserve Bank of India publishing … Read more

A next generation fiscal framework

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It may be time to set up a Centre-state council for expenditure, and to re-anchor bond marketsNeelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at September 4, 2019 00:57 IST(This was published in the Business Standard: link) The current economic slowdown is exposing challenges in how the country manages itself fiscally. First, it is well understood that a … Read more

Seize the slowdown

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The government needs to take a decisive approach on the financial architecture in India: It needs to take an axe to the system, as a scalpel will no longer suffice.Written by Neelkanth Mishra | Updated: August 30, 2019 10:45:03 am (This was published in the Indian Express: link) The economy has slowed. Now that there … Read more

What can be done to revive growth?

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Economic growth solves many problems. Can lower interest rates help reverse the slowdown?Neelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at March 6, 2019 01:08 IST (This was published in the Business Standard: link) Debatable as the analytical utility of quarterly GDP statistics in India may be, the continuing drop in growth rates as recently reported for the … Read more

Managing the stimulus

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The income transfer scheme was the highlight of the budget. But its success will need deft manoeuvring.Written by Neelkanth Mishra | Updated: February 5, 2019 1:26:58 am (This was published in the Indian Express: link) Like in each of the previous two years, the run-up to the budget this year was rife with fears of … Read more

A bold experiment for a tough problem: Rythu Bandhu

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There’s much in favour of Telangana’s Rythu Bandhu scheme but a lot that goes against it as wellNeelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at July 4, 2018 05:55 IST (This was published in the Business Standard: link) For decades, an important income transfer from the (largely non-farming) rich to the (largely farming) poor in India occurred … Read more

Encouraging trends in DBT for fertilisers

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Fertilisers are the largest component of non-labour farming costs, accounting for a third or more, on average, for both kharif and rabi cropsNeelkanth Mishra | Last Updated at January 1, 2018 22:48 IST (This was published in the Business Standard: link) That the Indian farmer is in distress is among the few remaining certainties in … Read more