Vivek Kaul's Blog, page 13
September 13, 2020
A Primer on Bank Interest Rates for Real Estate Companies, Lawyers, Judges, Government and Everyone Else
The Supreme Court is currently hearing the loan moratorium case. Arguments have been made from different sides, on whether banks should charge an interest on loans during the moratorium and if an interest should be then charged on that interest. I wanted to discuss a few arguments being offered by lawyers who are representing borrowers ...
A Primer on Bank Interest Rates for Real Estate Companies, Lawyers, Judges and Everyone Else
The Supreme Court is currently hearing the loan moratorium case. Arguments have been made from different sides, on whether banks should charge an interest on loans during the moratorium and if an interest should be then charged on that interest. I wanted to discuss a few arguments being offered by lawyers who are representing borrowers ...
September 9, 2020
An Appreciating Rupee and Atmnirbharta Don’t Go Together
One dollar was worth around Rs 77.6 in mid-April. Since then, the rupee has appreciated against the dollar and now one dollar is worth around Rs 73.5. In a press release on August 31, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) explained the mystery of the appreciating rupee by saying: “the recent appreciation of the rupee ...
Read moreAn Appreciating Rupee and Atmnirbharta Don’t Go Together
September 7, 2020
Raghuram Rajan’s 10 Solutions to Get Economy Going Again
Summary: This one is for all of you, where are the solutions wallahs. Of course, I have offered many of the solutions that Rajan has offered in a column, but never put them together in one place. One of the perils of writing on the Indian economy in the last six years has been the ...
Read moreRaghuram Rajan’s 10 Solutions to Get Economy Going Again
September 6, 2020
The Curious Case of the Indian Festival Season
Summary: Does the Indian economy actually have a festival season when it comes to consumption? I recently did a long story for the Mint where I elaborated on why this festival season isn’t going to rescue the Indian economy. One of the questions I originally wanted to explore in the piece was whether the so-called ...
Read moreThe Curious Case of the Indian Festival Season
September 5, 2020
GDP contraction: No easy solutions but a chance for deep economic reforms
Summary: It is worth saying that if all problems had solutions, they wouldn’t be called problems in the first place. If you follow the news media closely or even if you don’t, you would know by now that the Indian gross domestic product (GDP) for the period April to June 2020 contracted nearly by a ...
Read moreGDP contraction: No easy solutions but a chance for deep economic reforms
September 3, 2020
In April to June 2021, India May Grow by 15-30%, But We’ll Still Be Catching Up
Summary: Base effect – The collapse in GDP during the April to June 2020 is going to make the GDP growth during April to June 2021 look fantastic. I want to make a prediction here. And this is a fairly easy one. A year from now, in early September 2021, you will see a spate ...
Read moreIn April to June 2021, India May Grow by 15-30%, But We’ll Still Be Catching Up
Winter and Money Printing are Coming to India, In a Few Months
The Controller General of Accounts publishes the state of government finance at the end of every month. This data is published with a gap of one month. Hence, on 31st August, the data as of 31st July, was published. This data, not surprisingly, doesn’t make for a good reading. The fiscal deficit, the difference between ...
Read moreWinter and Money Printing are Coming to India, In a Few Months
September 1, 2020
The US Economy Contracted by 9.1% and not 32%. India’s Economy Contracted by 23.9%.
Summary: I had absolutely no plans of writing this. But given what has been happening on Twitter and WhatsApp since the morning, I was forced to write this. Please read and share widely. There is a full-fledged controversy raging on the internet where people have said that the economy of the United States, as represented ...
Read moreThe US Economy Contracted by 9.1% and not 32%. India’s Economy Contracted by 23.9%.
August 30, 2020
Explained: Why Central Govt Needs to Compensate States for Collapse in GST Collections
I went looking for the legal reasons being offered by the central government to not compensate the state governments for the dramatic fall in GST collections. I found a central government paper explaining the logic with a lot of legalese. This piece tries to summarise the legalese in simple English. Along with that, I offer many reasons as to why the central government needs to adequately compensate the states. This is definitely not something you will read in the mainstream media.
