Beruflich Dokumente
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Indicus Analytics
September, 2008
5 September 2008
Indian Economy Next Quarter
But the impact of interest rate hikes, power problems and inflation has seriously affected the overall
manufacturing sector. There is a manufacturing growth slowdown but greater rural and government sector
incomes may very well pull it back up in the short run. So this year would not be too bad and the slowdown
in this sector should turn around by the last quarter of this year. On the agricultural front, rains have been
good in north and east India and the retreating monsoon is providing much needed succour to west and
south. Government procurement of wheat, rice etc. has been good. Food prices are therefore expected to
stabilize soon.
Reforms have made a somewhat of a comeback with a new and improved unshackled PM. Expect some
privatization in the next few months as that will also remove some liquidity from the system.
So rejoice, but with caution. The international economy is slowing down rapidly. Government finances are in
a mess (though the books do not show it). Hidden subsidies, public sector losses, and many pre-committed
expenditure items, are not helping. The Indian economy no longer has the strength that only comes with
conservative budgeting. Hopefully for another year or two the external environment will be good to us. But
even then India is on a long term inflation path of 6-8%, and that is not good for any economy
Bihar floods will impact agriculture growth as well. Bihar contributes on an average 4% of India’s agricultural
GDP. The District Agriculture Output of India (an Indicus database) shows that significant paddy and wheat
production occurs in the flood affected districts. The stagnant flood waters are expected to seep in and
impact not just current but the Rabi crop as well. Effectively, somewhere around 1% of India’s agri GDP has
gone down the Kosi.
P.S. As the new Governor takes over we wonder… No doubt RBI needs to reform. If reforms within the RBI
were the key objective then should it not have been the Deputy Governor who so well understands the
internal dynamics within the RBI and is yet an outsider? If reforms in the ministry were the key objective
then should not the Finance Secretary stayed on to reform the Ministry’s functioning? We do need
transparency in regulator choice. And we need a clearly laid out rationale for such decisions. But given this
decision, we wish Mr. Subbarao the best. He has a tough job ahead.
Consumer prices trended higher with CPI AL at 9.41% and CPI IW at 8.33% in July.
Price of crude has fallen for the first time in 8 months from an average of $133 in July to $113 in August.
On the NCDEX however, spot prices of agri commodities has been declining since the last week of July.
The dollar has seen a surge as Eurozone growth prospects grow dim.
Exports in July were 31.3% higher than levels last July in dollar terms, while in rupee terms they grew
by 39.1%.
Imports meanwhile rose by 48.1% in July in dollar terms and 56.9% in rupee terms.
Oil imports during July 2008 rose by 69.3% over last July while non-oil imports were up by 38.7% in
dollar terms.
Trade deficit for the period April-July stands at $41.2 billion, up from $ 27.35 billion in the same period
last year.