Op-Eds

With better transport and communication facilities this region has the potential to grow trade with bordering nations. The ‘Look East’ policy of 1991 gave way to the ‘Act East’ policy” of 2015. The objective of the latter is to promote economic cooperation cultural ties and strategic relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacikc region. This would...   Read More

India should maintain an appropriate level of reserves avoid excessive volatility of the exchange rate and prepare banks and firms to handle greater volatility. In recent months tapering seems to have become the buzzword again.'Tapering' refers to the phenomenon when the central banks of advanced countries particularly the US Federal Reserve Board (FRB) start withdrawing liquidity...   Read More

While some headline economic indicators suggest a recovery we must not overlook weaknesses in employment-intensive sectors and still-worrisome joblessness that point to persistent distress. The official estimates of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter (Q1) of 2021-22 together with other recent information enable us to form a fairly comprehensive picture of how...   Read More

Professor Sonalde Desai is Distinguished University Professor at University of Maryland Sonalde Desai, Professor at NCAER, who holds a joint appointment at University of Maryland, USA, has recently been appointed as Distinguished University Professor (DUP) at the University. DUP status is a permanent honorific title that recognises exceptional records in research, teaching, and service. It...   Read More

Competitive markets in financial services are the best bulwark against consumer fraud in the long run. In the medium term omnibus and dedicated legislation could be the answer. In her Budget speech this year Nirmala Sitharaman announced several initiatives with a view to develop and deepen the country’s financial markets. This included the announcement of...   Read More

Relocate clearance procedures away from the border and partner countries must adopt well-established practices Of late India has been active in improving volume of trade flows through the land route with its eastern neighbours under the preamble of India’s Act East policy. With this in mind improving border management for faster movement of cargo has...   Read More

Water tables have fallen drastically and we need paradigmatic changes in agricultural practices for resource conservation. Our policies to ensure food sufficiency and assure farmers income have unfortunately also caused crop distortions that have led to excessive drawing of groundwater and its depletion. A disastrous water crisis has been creeping up on us for years. Water...   Read More

The 2nd Covid-19 wave rose sharply from mid-March and peaked on 9th May 2021 (NCAER Quarterly Review of the Economy). The peak number of cases and deaths in second wave were four times higher than the peak in the first wave.  Daily deaths (7-day moving average) peaked at 4190 on 24th May 2021 compared to...   Read More

The placement of these two ministries with one minister is the first step towards improving the employability of India's workforce in a pandemic. Skill development is a multi-dimensional problem. One dimension relates to “employer connect” that is essential for productive employment opportunities for the skilled persons. Another dimension is “entrepreneurship” or self-employment which is becoming...   Read More

Likely hysteresis and a closing demographic window make a case for wide-ranging reforms to sustain high economic growth Post-covid scenarios chalked out by NCAER indicate that effects of this shock will persist for a long time and we can’t expect a quick return to our pre-pandemic growth path even in the most optimistic of recovery...   Read More