Pandemic Financial News

Americans expect more federal student debt forgiveness in a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last month.

ResiClub co-founder and editor-in-chief Lance Lambert discusses the U.S. housing affordability crisis on 'Making Money.'

Since the pandemic we have all thought about health care more than ever. And where there are thoughts of health care, they are thoughts of costs.

Target has revamped its grocery aisles since the COVID-19 pandemic with items ranging from Korean foods and mocktails to barbecue-flavored trail mix as the discount retailer caters to shoppers who want to experiment while sticking to a budget

DK Joshi, Chief Economist, CRISIL, says what is currently playing out is that when the households put money in financial assets, they are moving a little away from the bank deposits towards higher paying assets like mutual funds or stocks or for that matter they could be acquiring more gold right now, and so there is that change of preference taking place towards financial assets that offer you higher returns that could even be small savings. You have come out with a note where you have made some observations regarding the citizens and the country's working class and their savings versus borrowing behaviour. What is a bit surprising and I would say a bit worrying also is that the borrowing growth rate is way higher than savings growth rate. Is it a worrying trend? DK Joshi: What happened since the pandemic struck is that during the pandemic we had no option to consume, so we were saving. After that, savings slowed down a bit and consumption picked up. That was the broad trend. But coming to the savings part, there are two things happening.

₹17 crore, which the company aims to clear by the end-of-season sale in the September quarter (Q2FY25). Metro is optimistic about realizing higher-than-carrying value from this inventory. As such, Metro has been trimming the fat, shutting down many Fila stores with just three exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) operational as on March-end.

Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) is set to announce the Class 10 Board Examination results for 2024 shortly. The board said that the result will be announced by May 20. Students who took the RBSE 10th exams can check their scores online via the official website, rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in.

affordable 5G handsets weighed on average smartphone prices in India in the quarter ended March, halting a price surge after 12 quarters. Average selling prices (ASP), an indicator of how much people are paying for their handsets on average, were flat sequentially in the first quarter at $263, said market research firm IDC India. This follows a double-digit rise in ASPs over the last three years amid a growing appetite for higher-priced handsets since the pandemic. Flat ASP in the March quarter was largely due to a 22% on-year rise in shipments of mass budget phones priced at $100-200 at 16.3 million units, compared with 13.4 million units a year earlier, marking a resurgence from previous quarters. “The mass budget segment of $100-200 which holds the majority share was declining but has seen a revival in beginning of 2024 with affordable 5G offerings and is expected to either remain flat or grow in coming quarters,” said Upasana Joshi, senior research manager, IDC India.

United Spirits, India's biggest liquor firm, said there is a slowdown in liquor demand because tipplers are limiting social occasions although they are still not downgrading to lower-priced products. The Diageo-controlled company expects the pace of growth to recover in the second half of the year due to a lower base, although it will still be slower compared with the demand surge seen after the pandemic. «On the demand front, the growth has moderated from two years ago. And at the lower end, we continue to see some pressure. Moderation was there during the wedding season, and so growth is continuing to be slower,» the company's managing director and chief executive Hina Nagarajan told analysts during an earnings call.

Over the past four years, we have been amazed by the notable increase in the number of demat accounts, SIP investment flows, mutual fund (MF) investor count and similar data. The number of unique investors in Indian equity markets has nearly tripled since 2020 to 90 million.

culpable since they apparently allowed their underage son to drive their car, a Porsche, knowing full well that he did not have a driving licence as he wasn’t yet eligible for one. Sure, we live in an age where parents have less and less influence over their progeny, especially once they reach their teens. But that does not absolve them of responsibility.

₹3.2 trillion. However, the scheme was not free from delays, poor quality, and the lack of proper monitoring, and more importantly, had its aims based on the outdated 2001 Census. After the BJP government returned to power in 2014, the pace of construction picked up, reaching 134 km per day in 2017-18 and 2018-19, but has slowed since.

Rishi Sunak gave his most senior ministers little more than an hour's notice of what he was about to tell the country and had already told King Charles III, that he had decided to call a snap UK general election for July 4. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt was among those caught unaware. Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who'd had to cancel a visit to Albania just to make the meeting in Downing Street, expressed surprise, but said the decision «seizes the initiative, sets the agenda and forces the choice,» according to people familiar with the conversation.

subsequent interview with The Economist. His dramatic warning that “Europe could die" provides an opportunity to reflect on the challenges that face the continent, and the progress it has made since President Macron’s first speech. The geopolitical landscape has shifted dramatically over those seven years.

COVID-19 pandemic has erased almost ten years of advancements in enhancing life expectancy in just two years.In an official statement, WHO said, “From 2019 to 2021, the global life expectancy declined by 1.8 years to reach 71.4 years, returning to the level seen in 2012. Similarly, the global healthy life expectancy decreased by 1.5 years to 61.9 years in 2021, also reverting to the level observed in 2012."Also Read: India sees 324 cases of KP.1, KP.2 variant driving Covid-19 in Singapore, Maharashtra tops with 148The 2024 report also underscored the unequal impact felt across the globe.

post-pandemic period, triggered by revenge shopping. Zara, the world's biggest clothing retailer, and Starbucks, the largest coffee retailer globally, saw their slowest ever sales growth in India during FY24, excluding the pandemic year. Vedant Fashions, which owns men's ethnicwear brand Manyavar, said this is the first time it has seen a weak wedding season for five quarters in a row, though a lower base will make for better sales numbers upon recovery.

The independent bookstore boom continues

Despite growing demand for long-term care, the industry struggles with labor shortages, and experts worry about whether there will be enough workers in the future to care for America’s aging population

ResiClub co-founder and editor-in-chief Lance Lambert discusses the U.S. housing affordability crisis on 'Making Money.'

The Externship, an 8-week virtual training initiative for aspiring financial planners, is set to offer a significant benefit.

A key driver was strong underlying growth of 6.8%, but the headline figure rose more slowly (2.4%) due to fewer one-off special dividends over the quarter. At the same time, the index found 93% of companies either increased or held their dividends steady in the three-month period. UK dividend outlook 'healthy but unexciting' despite cuts to growth forecast Dividends in the US reached an all-time quarterly high of $164.3bn, a 7% increase on an underlying basis. This was attributed to the restoration of Disney's payout after the pandemic, as well as first Q1 dividends from Meta and T...