Economy Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Is Keynesian advice relevant to India’s economy? Austerity, Keynes warned, could worsen an economic slump. If we all cut back on spending, output would reduce.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.At a gathering of academics and policymakers at Harvard this month, a participant reminded me that I had published a column 15 years ago on ‘The Manufacturing Imperative.’ As the title suggests, the piece emphasized the importance of industrialization in driving economic growth, creating good jobs, and building a middle class. “This is one of my all-time favourite articles,” the policymaker from Africa told the audience.There is scarcely a greater reward for a scholar than having his ideas resonate strongly with the people for whom he writes.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Cubans contending with widespread blackouts and growing desperation increasingly hope that a U.S. pressure campaign will lead to change on the island, even as the Communist government projects defiance.Many see a chance for greater freedom and economic transformation, even as others vow to resist any American military intervention.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Muthoot FinCorp Ltd, one of India's largest gold loan non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), is seeking to raise up to ₹4,000 crore through an initial public offering, even as it attempts to convince investors that it is more than just the business it has spent decades building.Muthoot wants to be read as a diversified, technology-enabled financial services company that can grow through its branch network, app, and a wider product set.That is the tension at the heart of the company’s initial public offering (IPO) pitch. In an interview with Mint, chief executive Shaji Varghese said the company is moving “from a single-product company to a company of a social segment with multiple products".The NBFC, with 3,800 branches, ₹56,185 crore in assets under management (AUM) and over ₹1,640 crore in net profit for FY26, approved the IPO on Saturday, subject to shareholder and regulatory clearances.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Policy planners expect some repayment stress to affect small-ticket loans disbursed under two flagship government schemes—PM SVANidhi Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana—in the next few quarters as a fallout of the war in West Asia, according to three people aware of the issue.The PM SVANidhi Scheme provides working capital term loans to urban street vendors, while the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana funds micro enterprises and small businesses. Many of the loan beneficiaries of these schemes are vulnerable to economic disruption and rising living costs.“We are expecting some stress in the PM SVANidhi Scheme portfolio as it directly caters to street vendors, who form an important part of the informal urban economy.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In prosperity, as in the hour of need, the thoughts of most Indians turn to gold. And with the steady drain on our foreign exchange reserves for over two years now, we have reached a stage as a nation when the question is being asked whether we could utilize the idle gold hoards of the people to see us through the critical years ahead. No less a person than the Prime Minister voiced this feeling at a recent meeting.” These words were written in 1958 by I.G.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For decades, India’s unorganized sector has remained a mainstay of employment in the economy, even as its share of economic output has declined.Large companies and factories have failed to generate jobs at the pace required to absorb a growing labour force. In that vacuum, the unorganized sector—small shops, workshops, grocery stores, tiny manufacturing units and street vendors—remains the fallback.Yet compiling reliable data on these enterprises has long been a challenge.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Rural-linked companies reported their strongest volume-led recovery in years in the March quarter (Q4FY26), driven by low inflation, healthy farm incomes and rising non-farm employment from infrastructure spending. Aggressive government welfare spending further boosted rural consumption across staples and discretionary categories.But experts warn the recovery may already be approaching its first major stress test.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: In 1973, Arab nations declared an embargo on oil production, leading to a global energy crisis. Prices quadrupled overnight. And some governments suddenly remembered ethanol.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Real estate developer Sattva Group plans to expand its hospitality business amid rising travel demand and higher consumer spending on premium experiences.The Bengaluru-based company, which has co-developed JW Marriott Hotel Kolkata and Novotel Kolkata Hotel and Residences, is building a wider hospitality pipeline spanning Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Darjeeling.“We will invest 10-20% of our turnover into the hotel business going forward," Adrija Agarwal, president of Sattva Group told Mint. “We see hospitality as a serious asset class for us now.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: The government plans to convert remote forest villages into tourist destinations by building 500 tribal-run homestays in the financial year starting April 2026, as India seeks to spread the economic benefits of the travel market, two government officials said.The initiative, part of the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan scheme under the Swadesh Darshan programme, which has a ₹1,905 crore outlay for 2026-27, will offer tribal households financial assistance of up to ₹5 lakh each for constructing new rooms and up to ₹3 lakh for renovation of existing rooms, the two officials said on the condition of anonymity. Six projects are expected to be sanctioned under the scheme during the fiscal year, the first person mentioned above said.The plan was outlined by the expenditure department to the tourism ministry in a communication reviewed by Mint.The plan targets the 104 million tribal citizens, about 8.6% of the country’s population, concentrated in states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Jharkhand, as well as in the Northeast.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.After a week of mounting political drama, the stage is set in the U.K. for months of uncertainty over who will lead the world’s fifth-biggest economy, as unpopular Prime Minister Keir Starmer embarks on a long and messy fight for his job against the left-wing mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.Burnham said late Thursday he planned to stand for election to parliament, opening the path for him to take on Starmer for the leadership of the ruling Labour Party.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Persistent tensions in West Asia and a worsening energy crisis at home dragged Indian equities to their worst weekly performance in two months. The Nifty 50 ended the week 2.2% lower at 23,643.50, while the Sensex fell 2.7% to 75,237.99.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In the decades since China joined the world economy, U.S. presidents have traveled to Beijing with a predictable list of demands: stop stealing American intellectual property, don’t force technology transfer, open your markets. Donald Trump followed the script on his previous visit in 2017.Whether he does so again this week, it would be pointless.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.There is a palpable fear among American workers that artificial intelligence (AI) is coming for their jobs. The answer to that fear, as I’ve argued, is to make job loss less scary by building a new unemployment programme. An overhaul is long overdue, and it would help not only a vulnerable labour market but also workers whose fears are realized.But would it be enough?AI job loss is not happening in a bubble.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Having DISCOVERED the costs of tariffs, President Donald Trump has now discovered the costs of war. On March 9th he declared that his campaign against Iran would be over “very soon”, sending oil prices, which had peaked at nearly $120 a barrel the day before, crashing to nearly $80 (before the war they had been $70).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.An underappreciated surplus of crude oil, sloshing around storage tanks and aboard ships, cushioned the global economy when the Persian Gulf closed 2½ months ago.That excess supply is now dwindling at a record pace, with oil executives and analysts predicting that a harsh reckoning is set to upend the relative calm in energy markets. Acute shortages of key fuels and soaring prices could emerge within weeks if the Strait of Hormuz remains shut.The drawdown in private storage and government strategic reserves along with a fall in demand due to the higher prices, has bought time and prevented oil prices from exploding.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Centre's move to lower royalty rates on oil and gas produced in the country is a sharp contrast to its decision to impose a windfall tax during the earlier bout of oil price surge in 2022, when the Russia-Ukraine war began. The West Asia war is causing sharp volatility in oil prices, besides exposing supply-chain vulnerabilities, and seems to have prompted the government to provide greater incentives to encourage domestic production.The share prices of state-owned producers Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Oil & Natural Gas Corp.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.It’s the best of times. It’s the worst of times. Charles Dickens wasn’t an economist, not by far, but his immortal lines in A Tale of Two Cities perfectly captures India’s macroeconomic dilemma today.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For the last few years, Jerome Powell would walk past a portrait of Arthur Burns on his way to his office, addressing him silently.I’m not going to be you.Burns, the Fed chair under Richard Nixon, embodied two failures: He allowed inflation to get out of control, and he yielded to a president who wanted lower interest rates.Powell faced both hazards—inflation and presidential pressure—and more during his eight years as chair. The Fed won broad credit for its novel pandemic response, took a share of the blame for the high prices that followed and confounded predictions by bringing inflation down without a recession.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Kevin Warsh was approved by the Senate as the next chair of the Federal Reserve on Wednesday afternoon, inheriting an economy reckoning with persistent inflation and an increasingly divided group of policymakers.The chamber confirmed him with a vote of 54-45, almost entirely along party lines. Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman was the lone crossover.The vote came just days before Jerome Powell’s term as chair expires Friday.