Food inflation negative for India's credit ratings: Moody's
India's high food inflation is a negative for the country's sovereign ratings as it filters through the broader economy, with adverse consequences for growth and the country's large fiscal and current account deficits, Moody's said on Monday.
Moody's Investors Service is the only one of the three major credit agencies to rate India with a "stable" outlook. Fitch Ratings and Standard and Poor's Ratings Services downgraded their outlook on India to "negative" from "stable" last year.
Higher food prices can accelerate broader inflation by pushing up wages, while negatively impacting the government finances and reducing monetary policy flexibility, Moody's said in a report.
(Sources: Livemint, the Hindu, Wall Street Journal, Reuters India, Business World, Moneycontrol)
RBI may cut repo 25 bps, but will stay cautious on inflation
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to cut the repo rate by 25 bps in the mid-quarter review of its monetary policy on Tuesday. However, given that the inflation rate is still above its comfort level, the Street says the tone of the policy guidance might continue to be hawkish.
The hope of a cut in repo rate, currently at 7.75 per cent, had got a boost as the rate of core inflation (non-food manufacturing) in February declined to 3.8 per cent - the lowest since March 2010 - even as the headline inflation rose.
(Sources: Business Standard, India Everyday, Reuters India, Smart investors, NDTV, Livemint)
India made progress in cutting multidimensional poverty: Study
India has made significant progress in cutting multidimensional poverty between 1999 and 2006 but at a rate that was less than one-third of the speed of its poorer neighbours like Nepal and Bangladesh, a study by Oxford University has found.
According to the study, Nepal and Bangladesh are star performers in achieving some of the strongest decreases in poverty in both absolute and relative terms.
India reduced multidimensional poverty more than 50 per cent faster than it reduced income poverty in absolute as well as relative terms, the University said in a statement. The poverty measure used by OPHI, the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), is unique in capturing the simultaneous disadvantages experienced by poor people, such as malnutrition, education and sanitation, providing a high-resolution lens on their lives.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Silicon India, IBNLive, Press Trust of India, News BCC)
Foreign firms not leaving India on policy issues: Govt
The government today said there are no broad trends to suggest that foreign companies are leaving the country on account of policy-related issues.
"Broad trends do not suggest that foreign companies are leaving the country on account of policy-related issues," Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha to a query on whether foreign firms were leaving India due to policy paralysis and regulatory issues.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Firstpost, Allvoices, Zeenews, IBNLive)
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