Page 9 - Statsguru

StatsGuru: Analysing key direct tax numbers for 2000-15

The Income-tax office has released partial data on direct taxes paid in 2000-2015

StatsGuru: Tracking India Inc's green shoots

The early results from India inc for Q1 of 2015-16 are in, and these strongly suggest that a cyclical recovery is underway

StatsGuru: Tracking India's key trade numbers

India's balance of trade, shown in Table 1, continues to head into ever safer territory. That this is largely driven by oil prices is visible in Table 2, which demonstrates that from over a third of the import bill, oil now accounts for less than 18 per cent. Thus, the current account deficit, too, in Table 3, looks comfortable as a percentage of gross domestic product.However, there are warning signs. The trade balance has narrowed partly because imports have fallen, as Table 4 shows. But non-oil import growth, tends to fall significantly less in the context of low oil prices, as that table shows. And the weakness of Indian export growth, including non-oil exports, in Table 5, is a real worry. It is worth noting that other peer exporters have not seen this sustained exports decline, as Table 6 reveals. Perhaps the rupee's value holds part of the answer. While the rupee has declined against the dollar, as Table 7 shows, the Reserve Bank of India has also paused on its reserve-building

StatsGuru: Key numbers the Reserve Bank will consider while setting policy

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in making its upcoming monetary policy decision, has many variables to juggle. Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation, as shown in Table 1, has been steady at around five per cent, while the Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation is still in deflationary territory. Food inflation, shown in Table 2, is more volatile, however. Meanwhile the Index of Industrial Production, in Table 3, has decelerated sharply of late. The Purchasing Managers' Indices (PMIs) for the Indian economy, in Table 4, are barely in expansionary (above 50) territory. On the other hand, credit growth seems to have recovered marginally in the past few months, according to Table 5. Interest costs, for the first time in years, have declined as a proportion of revenue for big listed companies; profit margins have increased over last year, according to Table 6.Yields on long-term government bonds, in Table 7, have decreased - but, although the Centre's borrowing has come under con

StatsGuru: Taking stock of the government's push to electrify India

The government's push in the electricity sector, particularly rural electrification, continues to make news

StatsGuru: Tracking the trends in commodity prices

The commodities universe, which has suffered from a lengthy decline in values, was rocked over the past month by a sharp revival in some prices

StatsGuru: Taking stock of ECB's tightening

The European Central Bank doubled down on easy monetary policy last week. As Table 1 shows, ECB refinancing interest rates have already dropped to zero - deposit rates are now negative.Meanwhile, as Table 2 shows, the ECB's quadrupling of its quantitative easing sustains the recent expansion of its balance sheet again to prop up European economies. Growth in several large European economies has turned solidly positive, as Table 3 shows - although Germany is no longer growing at the scorching pace it was earlier. However, many are yet to recover the level of GDP that were at before the crisis, as Table 4 reveals. The debt-to-GDP ratio, in Table 5, is still worrying in several countries, and so is the government deficit - though countries like Spain have worked to reduce it, as Table 6 shows.Yields on European government paper may have reversed a lengthy decline, as Table 7 suggests, but spreads between southern and northern euro zone countries remain intact. The ECB's expansionism has l

StatsGuru: Squeezing the stressed telecom sector

Telecom sector is showing signs of stress - although debt shrank marginally in the last financial year

StatsGuru: Survey of India

The Economic Survey 2015-16 takes a wide-ranging look at diverse issues affecting the Indian economy.

StatsGuru: Tracking Brent crude oil producers' supply glut and its effects

News that Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to freeze production of crude oil at January 2016 levels has introduced further uncertainty in the market