Worsening credit conditions
Bikky Khosla | 31 Dec, 2019 |
| A report released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week raised concern about poor credit growth, again. According to the report, "Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2018-19", credit growth revival that began in 2017-18 maintained momentum into 2018-19, led mainly by private sector banks, but it has turned anaemic in 2019-20 while the overhang of NPAs remains high. These findings raise concern which needs to be addressed urgently. |
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New MSME definition
Bikky Khosla | 24 Dec, 2019 |
| The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector needs a new definition, an industry chamber viewed last week. It added that the sector is critical in employment generation and poverty reduction. |
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Demand slowdown
Bikky Khosla | 15 Dec, 2019 |
| Demand slowdown is showing little signs of recovery, both in domestic and international fronts. Latest export figures for November released last week reflect this situation. |
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RBI shocker
Bikky Khosla | 10 Dec, 2019 |
| Disappointing markets and borrowers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week kept the repo unchanged at 5.15 percent citing inflationary pressures |
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GDP growth slump
Bikky Khosla | 03 Dec, 2019 |
| Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate fell to the slowest in around six years in the second quarter of 2019-20. According to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation |
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Delayed payments
Bikky Khosla | 25 Nov, 2019 |
| Late payment is an old parasitic business practice. While extending credit to customers is an aid to selling, there is also an inevitable element of risk involved, and when it comes to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), their cash flow can hardly withstand the burden of late payment. But late payment has become a way of doing business. |
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Export concerns
Bikky Khosla | 18 Nov, 2019 |
| Contracting for the third consecutive month, India’s exports fell by 1.1 percent in October. According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry last week, exports in the month were marginally down to $26.38 billion from $26.67 billion |
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Moody's downgrade
Bikky Khosla | 12 Nov, 2019 |
| Global rating agency Moody's Investors Service last week cut India's outlook from 'stable' to 'negative'. |
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Industrial slowdown
Bikky Khosla | 05 Nov, 2019 |
| The Indian manufacturing sector grew at its slowest pace in two years in October. The IHS Markit India PMI index - based on a survey of 400 producers - fell from 51.4 in September to a two-year low of 50.6 in October. |
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Exports decline in September
Bikky Khosla | 22 Oct, 2019 |
| Merchandise exports from the country contracted the most in more than three years in September. According to data released last week, exports declined 6.57 percent y-o-y to $26.03 billion in the month. |
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Credit crunch
Bikky Khosla | 15 Oct, 2019 |
| Data released by the Reserve Bank of India last week showed that bank credit growth rate slowed to single digit at 8.8 percent to Rs 97.71 lakh crore during the fortnight to September 27. |
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RBI rate cut
Bikky Khosla | 07 Oct, 2019 |
| The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week cut the short-term lending rate by 25 basis points to 5.15 percent in its fourth bi-monthly policy review. |
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Time to focus on revenue generation
Bikky Khosla | 01 Oct, 2019 |
| Fiscal deficit of the country touched Rs 5.54 lakh crore at the end of August, which is 78.7 percent of the Budget Estimate for 2019-20. These official figures have come amid concerns raised by several quarters over a possible fiscal slippage in the background of the Rs 1,45,000 crore stimulus by the Centre. |
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Big-bang stimulus
Bikky Khosla | 24 Sep, 2019 |
| In the fourth tranche of post-Budget economic stimulus measures, the Centre last week came out with Rs 1,45,000 crore stimulus which includes slashing of corporate tax to 22 percent for domestic companies, lowering of tax of 15 percent for new manufacturing firms and measures to boost the capital market. |
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A much-needed boost for exports
Bikky Khosla | 17 Sep, 2019 |
| The last week saw the announcement of a slew of measures by the government to boost the export sector. It came just a day after our exports dropped by 6.05 percent year-on-year to $26.13 billion in August. |
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Auto crisis
Bikky Khosla | 10 Sep, 2019 |
| Automobile sales in August witnessed the sharpest fall in overall sales since Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) started recording wholesale vehicle sales in 1997-98. Industry data showed on Monday that sales in all segments |
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GDP concern: Time to fight the slowdown
SME Times News Bureau | 02 Sep, 2019 |
| Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of the country grew 5 percent in the April-June period of 2019-20 as compared to 5.8 percent in the last quarter of the financial year and 7.8 percent in the same quarter of the previous financial year. |
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Stimulus package a relief to MSMEs
Bikky Khosla | 27 Aug, 2019 |
| The government last week came out with a much-awaited economic stimulus package. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an array of measures to help the economy that had been suffering from a complex set of problems. |
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Exports sector: Where is it heading?
Bikky Khosla | 20 Aug, 2019 |
| The Ministry of Commerce and Industry churned out monthly exports data last week. According to the latest figures, exports rose 2.25 percent y-o-y in July to $26.33 billion from $25.75 billion reported for the corresponding month of the previous year. |
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Time to fight slowdown
Bikky Khosla | 13 Aug, 2019 |
| With trade tension between the two largest economies – US and China – showing no sign of improvement, multinational financial services firm Morgan Stanley has warned that the global economy is inching toward a recession |
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Growth slowdown
Bikky Khosla | 05 Aug, 2019 |
| Discussions abound these days on the Indian economy losing its steam. With a sizeable number of indicators of the consumer economy flashing red, the concern seems to have reasonable grounds. |
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TI Logistics: Shipping made easy
Bikky Khosla | 29 Jul, 2019 |
| Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) often struggle when it comes to logistics and shipping. While handling these daunting tasks all by itself is hardly possible for a small business, no less difficult is it even to find out a reliable and efficient delivery service provider at an affordable price. |
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Demographic dividend: Skill gap a big barrier
Bikky Khosla | 23 Jul, 2019 |
| A media report on Monday said that the working-age population (people between 15 and 64 years of age) of the country has grown larger than the dependant population (children aged 14 or below and people above 65 years of age) since 2018. |
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Budget neglects export sector!
Bikky Khosla | 16 Jul, 2019 |
| Highlighting the importance of exports on a country’s economy, the latest Economic Survey said rightly that when an economy is in a virtuous cycle, investment, productivity growth, job creation, demand and exports feed into each other. |
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MSME-friendly Budget
Bikky Khosla | 08 Jul, 2019 |
| Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week presented the first budget of the Modi government in its second term. She laid down a 10-point vision to transform India's economy to reach USD 5 trillion by 2025. |
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Will Budget bring cheer to MSMEs
Bikky Khosla | 01 Jul, 2019 |
| Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of the Indian economy …. This sector is key to addressing the lingering job crisis in the country. This is what we often hear in speeches. |
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GST Council meet
Bikky Khosla | 25 Jun, 2019 |
| The 35th GST Council meet, held in New Delhi last week under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proved a mixed bag. It did not deliver any big surprises, but introduced some minor changes only to the existing structure and procedures under the GST. |
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Paving the way for exports
Bikky Khosla | 18 Jun, 2019 |
| Merchandise exports grew 3.93 percent year-on-year to $29.99 billion in May. Imports were 7.76 percent higher at $45.35 billion during the month. |
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Fixing the economy
Bikky Khosla | 11 Jun, 2019 |
| The last week saw some important developments which augur well for the economy. First, the government formed two new cabinet committees to check the declining trend in growth, generate employment, spur demand and push consumption |
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Thumbs up to Modi 2.0
Bikky Khosla | 27 May, 2019 |
| Prime Minister Narendra Modi has roared back to power as hundreds of millions of Indians gave a thumping mandate to the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party. |
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Industrial slowdown
Bikky Khosla | 14 May, 2019 |
| The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted by 0.1% in March. This was against the consensus growth expectation of 1.2%. Also, it is after a gap of 21 months the index entered negative territory. |
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Manufacturing, services sectors' worries
Bikky Khosla | 07 May, 2019 |
| India’s manufacturing sector’s performance eased to an eight-month low in April. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index registered a reading of 51.8 in April, against the 52.6 in March. |
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End of US waivers on Iran oil!
Bikky Khosla | 30 Apr, 2019 |
| US President Donald Trump has ended the waiver allowed to certain countries including India to buy Iranian oil and threatened sanctions if the embargo is not complied with. |
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A look at, and beyond, GDP numbers
Bikky Khosla | 23 Apr, 2019 |
| India's GDP growth forecast for 2019-20 was lowered by multiple agencies recently. First, the ADB cut it to 7.2% from 7.6%. It was followed by the RBI’s cut to 7.2% from 7.4% and then by the IMF to 7.3%. |
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Bank credit growth
Bikky Khosla | 15 Apr, 2019 |
| Bank credit rose by 13.24 per cent to Rs 97.67 lakh crore in the fortnight to March 29, while deposits grew by 10.03 per cent to Rs 125.72 lakh crore for the period, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week. |
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Economic concerns amid poll heat
Bikky Khosla | 09 Apr, 2019 |
| With less than a week left for the Lok Sabha elections, our political parties are gearing up for an intense electoral battle. The ruling party has, in its manifesto, promised, among others, a |
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RBI rate cut eagerly awaited
Bikky Khosla | 01 Apr, 2019 |
| Retail inflation rose at a faster pace than anticipated in February. It picked up to 2.57 percent, after easing to 1.97 percent in January. This increase in prices is mainly due to higher costs of housing, health, education services and fuel. Wholesale inflation also showed a similar trend in the month, rising to 2.93 percent from 2.76 percent in January, due to rise in prices of fuel, electricity and some household items. Both readings are still within the RBI's comfort zone, however. |
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Strong Rupee, weak exports
Bikky Khosla | 26 Mar, 2019 |
| The Indian Rupee has recently seen an upward trend. Though it ended on a flat note at 68.96 per US dollar on Monday, sustained foreign fund inflows and narrowing trade deficit have helped the currency gain a lot of strength last week. |
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Slowing economy needs a boost
Bikky Khosla | 19 Mar, 2019 |
| The last week saw the release of data on some important macroeconomic parameters, including exports, industrial output growth and inflation. According to the Commerce Ministry, our exports rose 2.44 percent in February while wholesale inflation for the month rose to 2.93 percent. |
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GSP withdrawal
Bikky Khosla | 11 Mar, 2019 |
| US President Donald Trump last week announced that the US would end India's $5.6 billion trade concessions under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme. |
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Renewed growth concerns
Bikky Khosla | 05 Mar, 2019 |
| The government last week cut Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth estimates for 2018-19 to 7 percent, down from the 7.2 percent attained during the previous financial year. These figures are worrisome. |
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Startups get a boost
Bikky Khosla | 23 Feb, 2019 |
| Startups have been reshaping the landscape of the Indian industry for quite some years now, making the country one of the largest startup ecosystems in the world. |
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Export sector concerns
Bikky Khosla | 19 Feb, 2019 |
| A meeting of the Board of Trade (BoT) was convened by the Commerce Ministry last week in the national capital. It was attended by top officials from several ministries, including Commerce, Finance and Agriculture and representatives of all major industry bodies, Export Promotion Councils and industrialists. |
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RBI surprises positively with rate cut
Bikky Khosla | 12 Feb, 2019 |
| The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week cut its policy rate by 25 basis points from 6.5 percent to 6.25 percent. It also changed its policy stance back to "neutral" from "calibrated tightening". |
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Interim Budget 2019-20
Bikky Khosla | 05 Feb, 2019 |
| The Centre presented the Interim Union Budget for 2019-20 in Parliament last week, and as was expected, the shadow of the general election fell squarely on it. |
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Budget 2019: Industry, MSMEs need support
Bikky Khosla | 29 Jan, 2019 |
| The Government will present its Budget or Vote-on-Account in the Lok Sabha on February 1. With the next general elections expected in May and in the backdrop of the victories by its Opposition parties in three state polls last month |
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Delayed payment: A solution coming!
Bikky Khosla | 22 Jan, 2019 |
| Late payment is a headache to small and medium enterprises. While majority of SMEs suffer from poor cash flow, still they extend credit to their clients, in fear of losing business. |
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Archives:
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Index
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| Customs Exchange Rates |
| Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
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66.20
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64.50 |
UK Pound
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87.50
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84.65 |
Euro
|
78.25
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75.65 |
| Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
| As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
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| Daily Poll |
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| PM Modi's recent US visit to redefine India-US bilateral relations |
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