Month: March 2020

In the Union Budget for 20-21, several measures were proposed to enhance the breadth and depth of the markets which included greater access for overseas investors, introduction of ETFs, and access to infrastructure investments with a tax holiday. The RBI has announced enhanced limits for foreign investments in governments securities and corporate bonds, and also […]

The RBI had been cognizant of the economic conditions and cut policy rates during the course of 2019, but it maintained a slow and steady approach. Over the last few months, the RBI’s headroom for direct support to growth was restricted owing to spike in inflation numbers, resulting in the central bank focusing rather on […]

There are some useful social welfare announcements from the Finance Minister this afternoon, focused on taking care of people who may be affected by the lockdown consequent to the pandemic. These measures should be understood in the correct perspective. These are not economic stimulus measures, but social welfare measures aimed at preserving the sustenance of […]

In the last few weeks, we have witnessed unprecedented volatility across asset classes, resulting from the sharp sell-off amidst flight to safety, generated by the fears around the economic impact of the pandemic. Under normal circumstances, the risk-off sentiment leads to money flowing into avenues traditionally considered as safe haven, such as debt. But in […]

THE FED ACTION The Fed has brought down the base rate to a range of 0% to 0.25%, bringing it back to the levels earlier seen during the recession of 2006-07. This coupled with the earlier cut of 0.50% is one of the deepest cuts the Fed has gone-in for in the recent history. The […]