Pandemic Financial News

budget is a financial statement which carries niche terminology common people may not fully be familiar with. Without understanding these terms, the budget can be difficult to comprehend or evaluate. Below are the key budget terms that are crucial for understanding the budget. Read our full Budget 2024 coverage here Fiscal deficit When the government's receipts fall short of its entire expenditure, it has to borrow money from the public to meet the shortfall. Borrowings not only increase debt burden but also add to the interest the government has to pay every year on its debt. Fiscal deficits are unmanageable beyond an extent. The government had aimed in FY 2017 to reduce the fiscal deficit to 2.5% of the GDP. However, the pandemic disrupted that. The fiscal deficit for the current year is pegged at 5.9% and is likely to be lower next year. Primary deficit The revenue expenditure includes interest payments on government's earlier borrowings. The primary deficit is the fiscal deficit less interest payments. A shrinking primary deficit indicates progress towards fiscal health. The Budget document also mentions deficit as a percentage of GDP. This is to facilitate comparison and also get a proper perspective. Prudent fiscal management requires that the government does not borrow to consume in the normal course.

Disease X, a hypothetical illness with the potential for 20 times more fatalities than the COVID-19 pandemic, will be the focal point of a panel discussion in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, where international leaders will gather to deliberate on the potential looming threat.

BEIJING — Major international investment banks expect China's economy to grow at a slower pace in 2024 than in 2023, according to annual forecasts released in the last few months.

Student and legal advocacy groups are petitioning the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lift the interview requirement for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program applicants to receive food aid

India’s first woman finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, will deliver her 6th Budget speech on 1 February 2024. She is the fifth finance minister (FM) since the 1980s to have delivered five consecutive budget speeches (for 2019-20 to 2023-24) and now she will present an interim budget ahead of national elections later this year. Other FMs who delivered five consecutive speeches were Manmohan Singh (1991-92 to 1995-96), Yashwant Sinha (1998-99 to 2002-03), P.

 Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale breaks down housing affordability on 'Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street.'

De Beers made one of the steepest cuts to its diamond prices in years, as the world’s top producer tries to revive gem sales after the market ground to a halt.

Despite increasing expectations that interest rates have peaked, many Canadian businesses experienced weaker growth in the fourth quarter and blamed factors including their customers’ financial situations and the impacts of higher rates and inflation, according to the Bank of Canada’s latest business outlook survey.

₹25 lakh for performance guarantee and ₹10 lakh earnest money deposit were forfeited due to non-submission of ownership or lease documents for the aircraft, a mandatory condition in the tender agreement. Last year, the company moved the Gujarat High Court, stating that it had won the bid but received a show-cause notice for termination due to not executing an agreement for the service. In October 2022, the high court dismissed the petition and noted that the show-cause notice had been issued informing the company about proposed actions due to non-compliance with the agreement conditions.

The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

ATHENS (Reuters) — Greece has received nearly 15 billion euros in grants and loans from the European Union's Recovery Fund since 2021, a sum which is equivalent to about 8% of its economic output, as it stepped up the absorption of funds, the government said on Monday.

President can make an increasingly strong case that he’s helped fix inflation.

The anti-poverty organization Oxfam International says the world could have its first trillionaire within a decade

By Maria Martinez

(Reuters) — Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has eclipsed Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to become the world's largest company by market capitalization, driven by its deep focus on generative artificial intelligence (AI), a sector that has garnered increasing investor favour.

₹40 lakh) in new supplies has been shrinking in the top seven cities, from 24% in Q3 2021 to 18% in Q3 2023, according to Anarock, a property consulting firm. In Q3 2019, this segment accounted for 41%. This drop is driven by several factors, including higher land value and construction costs.

Bank of Baroda, growth in any economy always tends to be K-shaped where some sectors are moving up and down. Seldom do all sectors of the economy all move in the upward direction and when it happens, it is more when the growth is at a continuously elevated rate of over 8% per annum, he said. “If we look at the Indian economy there are several sectors moving in the upward direction especially those related to infrastructure like steel, cement, machinery.

stressed firms were rescued through the insolvency law in 2023 and the resolutions fetched their creditors more than three times the amount raised through 160 such debt resolutions in 2022, a senior official told ET, citing data compiled by the bankruptcy regulator. The realisation proceeds were to the tune of ₹67,000 crore in 2023 against ₹20,860 crore in 2022, according to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) data yet to be made public. The jump indicates a «robust upward trajectory» in the IBC's (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code's) effectiveness, the official said. A Delhi-based expert involved in shaping the insolvency policy said the 2023 resolution numbers also mirror the broader economic momentum being witnessed after the pandemic blues, which has expanded the universe of bidders for stressed assets.

₹45 lakh for affordable housing, in the metros, and a further increase in Mumbai, experts said. (Affordable housing is defined as a house or apartment valued up to ₹45 lakh, with a carpet area of up to 90 square metres, located in non-metros and villages, and 60 square metres in large cities.) “…Raising the limit from ₹45 lakh to ₹1 crore for metro city home buyers will significantly benefit the affordable housing segment, making homes more accessible," said Pritam Chivukula, vice-president of industry body Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India- (Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (Credai-MCHI). Around 476,530 residential units were sold in 2023 compared to 364,870 units in 2022, according to Anarock Property Consultants.

Goldman Sachs report, 'Affluent India', released last week, Indians earning more than $10,000 annually will number 100 million in the next three years, from its current 60 million. In absolute numbers, we are looking at a nation that is rich, if not yet a rich nation. India's consumption growth at either end of its income spectrum is diverging even after the wealth redistribution effects of the pandemic recede.

NEW DELHI : Leaders from across the world will congregate in the picturesque Swiss town for the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions, high inflation and tepid global growth. Mint explains the agenda this year: “Rebuilding Trust" is the theme, to resurrect globalization after global supply chains were disrupted due to the pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. With other problems such as climate change, business leaders are expected to brainstorm on long-term solutions and the role of cutting edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).