SCARCE LIQUIDITY MEANS RISK-AVERSE FIIS

Apr 22nd, 2005;  Source: The Financial Express

Last fortnight, I wrote about the uncertainty in the commodity cycle going forward. On the macro-economic side, the picture has just become more complicated, with the release on Wednesday of US inflation numbers for March. Consumer prices rose by a larger-than-expected 0.6% and core CPI was at 0.4% ...ReadMore

SUPER CYCLE OR SUPER CORRECTION?

Apr 8th, 2005;  Source: The Financial Express

We live in an uncertain world. This has been more than amply proven by developments in the commodities world over the last two years. Prices of most commodities have gone up by far more than anybody anticipated, or could have anticipated. The best example is oil where prices over $50 a barrel are no ...ReadMore

DEMOGRAPHICS WILL POWER OUR GROWTH

Mar 25th, 2005;  Source: The Financial Express

Every fortnight when I write this column, it is hard not to be torn between optimism about the long-term prospects of our country, and despair about our inability to get our act together as a people. Madeleine Albright once said about Yasser Arafat, “he misses no opportunity to miss an opportunity ...ReadMore

A DELIBERATELY NON-DRAMATIC BUDGET

Mar 11th, 2005;  Source: The Financial Express

This close to the Budget, it is hard to resist putting down one’s views on it. Great things were expected of this ‘dream team.’ The media, as is their wont, duly hyped the Budget, and expectations were sky high. Against this measure of public expectation, did the Budget disappoint? I fear the ...ReadMore

FOCUS ON GROWTH AND SECTORAL REFORMS

Feb 25th, 2005;  Source: The Financial Express

The Budget is always an important time in the Indian economic calendar. It is hard to escape all the attention and hype that surrounds it. Housewives are solicited for their opinions, economists spout wisdom, tax experts spring forth and give nuanced positions, business people ask for tax cuts, the ...ReadMore

ENCOURAGE INDIANS TO SAVE MORE

Feb 11th, 2005;  Source: The Financial Express

The India investment story is currently attracting significant interest from overseas investors. At a recent investor conference, over a third of the investors were first-timers, looking at allocating a part of their global pool of funds to India, while some of the old India hands had the “We’ve ...ReadMore

WE MUST REACT TO GLOBALISATION

Jan 28th, 2005;  Source: The Financial Express

The curse of the columnist has finally struck! My fingers are frozen at the keyboard with nary a worthwhile topic in my head. As I cast my mind around at the fortnight’s happenings, nothing dramatic jumps out. Yes, sure, there are a number of topics which could be worth writing about were it not ...ReadMore

CAPITAL IDEAS ON FINANCING GROWTH

Jan 14th, 2005;  Source: The Financial Express

Recently, we did a study on the likely financing needs of the Indian economy as a whole, and for the industrial sector. We worked backwards from an assumed target growth rate of 8% for the economy as a whole. The results were both interesting and disconcerting. At the outset, two points ne ...ReadMore

LOOKING BACK AT THE YEAR THAT WAS

Dec 31st, 2004;  Source: The Financial Express

It is fashionable for writers to review the year gone by in their end-of-year columns. I will make no exception to this principle and will attempt my own modest review of some of the important themes of the year just passed. First and among the most defining events of the year would have t ...ReadMore

LET PRIVATE ENTERPRISE TAKE THE LEAD

Nov 5th, 2004;  Source: The Financial Express

In my last column, I spoke on the need for an “in-the-trenches” mentality towards fostering further reforms in the Indian economy. This reflects the fact that the easier, or first phase, of mostly macro reforms are over and growth rates of 8% plus can only be engineered if more clusters, or sec ...ReadMore