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Nirmala Sitharaman gears up to present the Budget, scheduled for July 23, let's have a look at what the Budget Survey by ET Online said about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Indian economy at the moment. The good, surprisingly, is that 'inflation is under control', the bad part is the global uncertainty and coalition politics. The ugly, and predictably, is India’s jobless growth. In the run-up to the Budget 2024, ET Online conducted a survey to get a sense of what India is looking for in the upcoming Union Budget. The survey received responses from nearly 9,500 Economic Times readers. Over 34 per cent of respondents believe that inflation being under control is the best thing about the Indian economy at the moment. More than 29 per cent of respondents opted for the country's healthy forex reserves as a key strength. Nearly 24 per cent chose the healthy balance sheets of businesses, while 12 per cent appreciate the ease of doing business in the current economic climate.

Keki Mistry, Former VC & CEO, HDFC, says his experience over the years not only in India but in many other countries globally, is that when the tax rate is reduced, compliance is improved significantly and there is a greater urge to work and earn more income. So, a reduction in tax rates, whether it is a different tax rate and also the highest marginal tax rate, will go a long way in improving sentiment, including increasing productivity. At the end of the day, it will also result in higher savings and increased consumption.

Having survived an assassination attempt, and shown defiance and fighting spirit while under attack, former US president Donald Trump has improved his chances of beating a frail-looking Joe Biden, who struggles to convince American voters that he retains the mental acuity to continue in office for another term. Should Trump emerge as the 47th President of the US, as is highly likely, global geopolitical and geoeconomic conditions would swiftly change, given his economic policy plan announcements. This will impact India directly and indirectly through the global spillovers.

Nilesh Shah, MD & CEO, Envision Capital, says the first budget of any government's five-year term is the most important. So, to that extent, this Budget is going to be important from a couple of perspectives. One is essentially the agenda and the vision for the next five years. Second, whether the Budget continue to demonstrate continuity in terms of what it has been doing in the past, in terms of the focus being more on investment-led growth with some support coming from consumption. This is the first Budget from Modi 3.0. Could it appear in a new avatar because normally the first Budget of a new government is about fixing the short term, mending the medium term, and kickstarting the long-term? What could be the playbook for this year's Budget? Nilesh Shah: It has several kinds of implications and it is going to be probably the most important document in recent times because this Budget is probably going to unveil more like the vision for the next five years in terms of what direction India and the Indian economy take. It will surely have several measures that will not just sustain but also boost growth. We are an economy growing at 7- 8% and we need to sustain that growth rate and maybe higher for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years. This Budget is going to be keenly watched from the medium to long-term perspective and will probably unveil several growth-boosting measures.

Budget 2024 Expectations Live Updates: India, currently the world’s fifth-largest economy, is anticipated to climb to the third rank in the coming years. FM Sitharaman’s Budget 2024 is expected to outline a roadmap for sustained economic growth.

NEW DELHI : The full Union Budget 2024-25 is to be presented by the re-elected government on 23 July. The taxpayers’ expectations from the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman are well known. The overarching expectation is that the government will announce measures to increase personal disposable income.

BEIJING — U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump's new running mate JD Vance stuck to a hard line on China in his first speech since being selected earlier in the week.

Siddhartha Sanyal, Chief Economist & Head-Research, Bandhan Bank, says there is no urgency on the part of the government or the finance ministry to cut down their projected fiscal deficit or the borrowing number at this moment, possibly they can afford to take a call on that at a later date. But in general, with the additional resources, they will start to allocate it in some ratio both for consumption and investment and not focus too much on cutting the fiscal deficit right away.

Wall Street’s record-breaking rally ran into a wall, as worries about potentially worsening trade tensions with China hit stocks of chip companies

Inflation in the U.K. held steady at the Bank of England’s target rate of 2% in June

Loretta Mester, having worked in the Federal Reserve system her entire career, rose to become president of the Cleveland Fed for a decade until her retirement on June 30

The International Monetary Fund is upgrading its forecast for the Canadian economy, projecting it will now grow by 1.3 per cent this year and by 2.4 per cent in 2025, according to a report released Wednesday.

commerce and industry ministry is finalising two cabinet notes for the clean economy and fair economy pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) as the inter-ministerial discussions are almost complete. The IPEF is structured around four pillars-trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy. India has joined all the pillars except the one on trade. «We are working on the cabinet notes and the inter-ministerial consultations are almost done. There were some concerns but broadly everyone is on board,» said an official. Last year, the 14 IPEF nations inked a supply chain resilience agreement to reduce dependence on China, and shifting production of critical sectors and key goods to member countries. Pillar III (clean economy) focuses on environmental issues, how to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in various industries, carbon capture utilisation and storage, and collaborative financing mechanisms to facilitate trading and reduce barriers for low-carbon projects.

Competition law practice at law firm Trilegal Nisha Kaur Uberoi is set to join law firm J Sagar Associates (JSA) along with her team of 25 attorneys including two partners Harshita Singh Parmar and Pranav Satyam. An alumnus of the National Law School of India University and the National University of Singapore Uberoi has also worked with firms such as AZB & Partners and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. “This move will greatly enhance and consolidate the firm’s existing domain in Competition Law, and further bolster our market-leading corporate and disputes practices,” said Amit Kapur and Vivek K. Chandy, joint managing partners at JSA in a joint statement. “The addition of Nisha and her team to our existing practice in JSA is a testament to our commitment to meeting the complex antitrust and competition needs of our clients globally.”

Despite agreement from 39% of investors that monetary policy is too restrictive, those surveyed remained optimistic that monetary easing will reach the soft landing ‘goldilocks zone'.  Faith that the most likely outcome for the global economy over the next 12 months will be a «no landing» reached a six-month low of 18%, while only 11% of investors saw a «hard landing». Janet Yellen sounds fears of US dollar being weakened by States' use of sanctions This is despite lower expectations for economic growth. According to the survey, more than half (53%) of those surveyed anticipate a w...

This is part of a special series of articles by the country's foremost voices, ahead of Union Budget 2024, aiming to draw attention to the critical reforms that can help India in its journey to become a developed nation by 2047. As India marches closer to the status of a $4 trillion economy and the world’s fourth largest, a crucial question emerges: how do we equip ourselves for the road ahead? For India to wear the crown of a developed nation, we require 10x growth targeting the $40 trillion mark. It is not just growth, but other goals that need to be addressed.

loan demand and the high interest they paid to hold on to deposits, but a flurry of bond sales boosted their investment banking units. Citizens Financial, US Bancorp, First Horizon and Synchrony Financial all paid higher rates compared with a year earlier on their customers' deposits, they said on Wednesday.

This is part of a special series of articles by the country's foremost voices, ahead of Union Budget 2024, aiming to draw attention to the critical reforms that can help India in its journey to become a developed nation by 2047. In the last decade, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has nearly doubled to $3.5 trillion, showcasing our resilience as one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies. As we envision Viksit Bharat by 2047, increasing our economic growth from 8% to 12% could transform India into a $50 trillion economy. The global landscape is witnessing rapid technological advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI) and new energy.

Wall Street Journal chief economics correspondent Nick Timiraos says the balance of risks have been shifting for the Federal Reserve on 'The Claman Countdown.'

Every mania and bubble share differences and similarities, but the current wave of artificial-intelligence optimism looks a lot like what we experienced with the internet euphoria in the late 1990s.

This is part of a special series of articles by the country's foremost voices, ahead of Union Budget 2024, aiming to draw attention to the critical reforms that can help India in its journey to become a developed nation by 2047. In a few days from now, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her seventh consecutive budget, a record in India’s history. This is also the first Union budget in the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Undoubtedly, we expect directional continuity in policy announcements with a thrust on economic growth, social development and sustainability, in line with the vision for Viksit Bharat 2047.