India’s real gross domestic product fell sharply to an almost two-year low of 5.4 percent in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal. This economic slowdown is caused by weak productivity growth and muted investment, including government spending. India Inc’s performance in the July-September quarter remains weak. Although there has been some pick-up in rural areas, use in urban areas is declining.
Will the economy see a turnaround in the second half of the current fiscal? How will the changing political climate affect domestic growth? Will we see a revival in animal spirits of India Inc. soon?
Inflation has been a cause for concern, as October’s print rose to a 14-month high of 6.21 percent. However, consumer price inflation (CPI) fell to a three-month low of 5.48 percent, helped by food inflation. Could softening retail inflation continue?
At a time when growth has been sluggish and inflation remains high, what will be the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) priority? How will the RBI maintain a balance between growth and inflation? When is RBI expected to start cutting interest rates?
The Indian rupee has been depreciating amid a strong dollar and outflows from foreign investors (FPIs). How much of a concern is the depreciating rupee?
To answer some of these questions and provide more details, in the latest session of Express Explained.Live on “Where is the economy headed”, Indian Express invited Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda.
He will be in conversation with Hitesh Vyas, Assistant Editor, The Indian Express.
Sabnavis is a leading economist, novelist and author of four best-selling books. He has over 30 years of experience across development banking, commercial banking, engineering, commodity exchanges and credit ratings. He has published more than 2,500 articles in financial journals.
Explained.Live is a unique series of interviews explained by Indian Express from time to time.
Expert Guests at the Explained.Live sessions include former Indian ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale, former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, former Indian ambassador to Russia u -DB Venkatesh Varma, former Foreign Secretary and Indian ambassador to China. Vijay Gokhale, former Deputy NSA Pankaj Saran, former Indian ambassador to UAE Navdeep Suri, former Indian High. Pakistan Commissioner TCA Raghavan, former G20 Director Sous Sherpa JS Mukul, IIT-Delhi Director Ramgopal Rao, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja, president of Public Health Foundation of India Dr K Srinath Reddy, industrialist Naushad Forbes, capital market expert Nilesh Shah, medical scientist Dr. Gagandeep Kang and Mahesh Vyas, MD and CEO of Center for Economic Monitoring of India among others.
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