08

Overall, we expect WPI to print in a disinflation

of 0.8-1.0 per cent in FY 2021
ADITI NAYAR
KOLKATA, SATURDAY 15 AUGUST 2020 ICRA PRINCIPAL ECONOMIST

THUMBNAILS
WPI inflation in negative Exports contract
Vedanta CEO: Vedanta Ltd
10.21% in July;
zone for 4th month in a row
today announced that
industry veteran and for-
mer CEO of Hindustan Zinc
Ltd Sunil Duggal is elevat-
deficit narrows
ed as chief executive offi-
cer of the company. “We
Inflation in June was (-) 1.81%, while for May and April it was (-) 3.37% and (-) 1.57%, respectively PRESS TRUST OF INDIA have recorded negative growth
are delighted to welcome PRESS TRUST OF INDIA and moderate rise in potato NEW DELHI, 14 AUGUST during July include petrole-
Sunil Duggal as our CEO. NEW DELHI, 14 AUGUST FOOD PRICES ON THE RISE prices pushed up the veg- um products (-51.54 per cent),
Sunil is a proven leader etable inflation in July Contracting for the fifth gems and jewellery (-49.61 per

T
� The annual rate of infla-
with a wealth of strategic he wholesale price- 2020, contributing to the straight month, India's exports cent), leather (-26.96 per
executive experience. He based inflation stood
tion, based on monthly uptick in the inflation for pri- slipped 10.21 per cent to cent), man-made
has motivated and led at (-)0.58 pc in July,
WPI (wholesale price index), mary food articles to a four- $23.64 billion in July, on yarn/fabs/made-ups (-23.33
stood at (- 0.58 per
teams to deliver high stan- remaining in the neg- cent)(provisional) for the month high. account of decline in the per cent), ready-made gar-
dards of operational excel- ative zone for the fourth month of July2020 as com- “While the inflation for shipments of petroleum, ments of all textiles (-22 per
lence, stakeholder man- straight month even as veg- pared to 1.17 per pulses remained steady in leather and gems and jewellery cent), and cashew (-21.25
agement, best-in-class peo- etables and other food items cent during the corre- double-digits, cereal infla- items, according to the gov- per cent).
ple practices, technology, turned costlier. sponding month of the tion eased appreciably, to a ernment data released on Sectors with positive
safety, ESG and carbon WPI inflation in June was previous year mild 0.75 per cent in July today. growth during the month
footprint,” Vedanta Ltd (-) 1.81 per cent, while for the 2020, offering a modicum of However, the outward include rice, iron ore, oil
chairman Anil Agarwal said month of May and April it was � Inflation in food articles relief,” Nayar said. shipments in July recovered seeds, oil meals, meat, dairy
in a statement. PTI (-) 3.37 per cent and (-) 1.57 was at a four-month high The RBI, in its policy review from a steeper decline of and poultry products,
per cent, respectively. level of 4.08 per cent in July, last week, kept interest rates 60.28 per cent in April, 36.47 pharmaceuticals, coffee,
“The annual rate of infla- mainly due to sharp rise in unchanged and said it sees an per cent in May, and 12.41 per engineering goods, and plas-
GoAir CEO: GoAir on Friday tion, based on monthly WPI vegetable prices. Inflation upside risk to inflation. The cent in June. tic.
said it has appointed (wholesale price index), stood in vegetables stood at 8.20 apex bank projected retail The country's imports too Import segments that
Kaushik Khona as its chief at (- 0.58 per cent) (provisional) per cent, against (-) 9.21 inflation to moderate in Octo- dipped 28.4 per cent to showed negative growth in July
executive officer in place for the month of July 2020 per cent in June ber-March period. $28.47 billion in July, leaving include machinery, electrical
of Vinay Dube. Dube has as compared to 1.17 per ucts, however, witnessed in July, against 0.08 per cent Retail inflation was 6.93 per a trade deficit of $4.83 billion, and non-electrical; chemicals
ceased to be in the cent during the correspond- � Manufactured prod- inflation of 0.51 per cent in June cent in July, against 6.23 per compared to a shortfall of and electronic goods.
employment of GoAir with ing month of the previous cent in June. $13.43 billion in the same During the April-July peri-
immediate effect and year,” the commerce and “Overall, we expect WPI to month last year, as per the od, exports declined by 30.21
hence ceases to be the industry ministry said in a 10.24 per cent, while for pota- Inflation in fuel and power erable narrowing in the WPI print in a disinflation of 0.8- data. per cent to $74.96 billion,
CEO, the budget airline statement. to it was 69.07 per cent in July. basket fell 9.84 per cent in disinflation in July 2020 rel- 1.0 per cent in FY 2021, dri- In June, the country had while imports fell 46.7 per cent
said in a statement. Khona Inflation in food articles was Protein-rich items like egg, |July, compared to 13.60 per ative to the previous month, ven by the correction in prices reported its first trade surplus to $88.91 billion. Trade deficit
had served as CEO of at a four-month high level of meat and fish saw hardening cent drop in the previous was along expected lines, of various commodities other in over 18 years. during the period stood at
GoAir from April 2009 to 4.08 per cent in July, mainly of prices with inflation at 5.27 month. Manufactured prod- with a correction in the index than gold. Today's WPI Oil imports declined by $13.95 billion.
June 2011. “The Nomina- due to sharp rise in vegetable per cent. ucts, however, witnessed infla- levels for crude oil and min- print does not materially alter 31.97 per cent to $6.53 billion Oil imports during the
tions & Remuneration prices. Inflation in vegeta- However, onion prices soft- tion of 0.51 per cent in July, eral oils, further narrowing of our view that an extended in the month under review. period dipped by 55.88 per
Committee and the Board bles stood at 8.20 per cent, ened and inflation fell 25.56 against 0.08 per cent in June. the core disinflation and a rise pause is likely from the mon- Gold imports grew by 4.17 per cent to $19.61 billion. Non-
met on Friday and have against (-) 9.21 per cent in June. per cent, while in fruits it was Icra principal economist in food inflation. etary policy committee,” Nayar cent to $1.8 billion. oil imports declined by 43.36
appointed Kaushik Khona Pulses saw inflation of (-) 3.03 per cent. Aditi Nayar said the consid- “The surge in tomato prices said. Major commodities that per cent to $69.3 billion.
as CEO with immediate

Covid-19 may accelerate shift in

effect,” it said.

Ambani to set up successor

PTI

Maruti Alto: Maruti Suzuki

‘family council’: Report global trade relations: Moody’s

Alto announced a remark-
able milestone of 40-lakh
cumulative sales. Alto is
the preferred choice of
Indian car buyers with 76 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE This leadership group will
per cent of Alto cus- MUMBAI, 14 AUGUST The planned council take critical decisions relat- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA kets for certain goods under
tomers choosing it as will provide equal rep- ing to the family and the NEW DELHI, 14 AUGUST
Some Asian markets excluding China will the 'Generalized System of
their first car. Crowned as Reliance Industries chair- resentation to all fam- business empire. benefit from the supply chain shifts, Preferences' and the 'Every-
India’s best-selling car, man Mukesh Ambani is in the ily members said the “The proposed family Moody's Investors Service particularly as companies look to diversify their thing but Arms' initiative to
Alto could not have process of setting up a "fam- council, which will emulate has said the coronavirus pan- sources of supply support low-and middle-
achieved this milestone ily council" as part of a future report, including Muk- other wealthy families, espe- demic is likely to accelerate income economies,” Moody's
without the unparalleled governance structure to man- esh Ambani’s three cially multigenerational fam- fundamental shifts in trade economies. out of the region to the US or added.
faith and support from all age the family’s Rs 11 lakh crore children who are exp- ilies with controlling interests relationships and global sup- Some Asian markets the European Union will have According to Moody's, in
its valuable customers, ($160 billion) business empire, ected to succeed their in diversified businesses, will ply chains. According to excluding China will benefit negative effects for Asian pro- a post-Covid world, ensuring
the company said in a according to a media report. father in running RIL also act as an executive body Moody's the trend toward a from the supply chain shifts, ducers, notably those in strate- supply security through
statement. SNS A newspaper report quot- to coordinate among the fam- more fragmented and pro- particularly as companies gic sectors. Moody's said as enhanced supply chain robust-
ing “two people directly aware ily members on various mat- tectionist global economy look to diversify their sources the global trade system ness will become a key focus
of the discussions” was the first in 2002. The planned coun- ters,” according to one of the will likely accelerate as a result of supply, it further noted. becomes more regionally of governments and compa-
Mi India to donate smart- publicly revealed instance of cil will provide equal repre- people quoted as involved in of the pandemic, with restric- “Asian countries ex-China focused, each major region nies. Supply chain robust-
phones: Chinese smart- the 63-year old Ambani plan- sentation to all family mem- the matter. tions on trade, investment will stand to benefit from Asia, Europe and the US will ness refers to the ability to
phone maker Xiaomi said ning a succession process to bers said the report, includ- Akash, Isha and Anant and technology transfers. diversification away from likely have its own suppliers maintain operations during
its arm Mi India will donate run Reliance, India’s largest ing Mukesh Ambani’s three Ambani will head separate ver- “The pandemic will like- China provided that these for strategically important a crisis, which can be achieved
2,500 brand new smart- industry group. children Akash (29), Isha (28) ticals within Reliance Indus- ly result in some fundamen- countries have sound eco- products. As these trends both by increasing invento-
phones worth Rs 2 crore Ambani, with a personal and Anant (25) who are expect- tries such as retail, digital tal shifts in trade relation- nomic fundamentals, reli- accelerate, some localization ries and increasing supplier
for online education of net worth of $81.6 billion and ed to succeed their father in and energy. The family coun- ships and supply chains glob- able infrastructure, sufficient and reshoring of supply chains diversification.
children from communi- ranked among the world’s running RIL. cil is to help ensure harmo- ally, further hardening attitudes human capital stock, and low outside of Asia to Europe and As this occurs, the global
ties that are worst affect- richest people, has obvious- Ambani senior aims to ny and synergy without a fur- against globalization,” it said geopolitical and supply secu- the US will be likely, it said. trade system will become
ed by the Covid-19 pan- ly indicated intention of want- complete the succession plan- ther break-up as with their and noted that the supply rity risk,” Moody's said in a “Developing countries in more fragmented, leading to
demic in the country. Mi ing to avoid a repeat of the ning process by the end of uncle Anil. The Ambani sib- chain shifts will occur in a report. Asia such as Indonesia, Cam- less efficient, less just-in-time
India has partnered with messy break-up with his 2021, with the family coun- lings have already been app- multi-year process, particu- However, localization of bodia and India stand to ben- supply chains at the global level
Teach For India, to ensure brother Anil in 2005 after cil including external mem- ointed to the board of various larly as China will retain a num- production or reshoring that efit from their preferential but an increase in regionally
that the children can avail their father Dhirubhai’s death bers as mentors and advisors. Reliance entities since 2014. ber of advantages over other moves productive capacity access to the EU and US mar- focused production, it said.
these smartphones for
online learning and educa-
tion, according to a Press
release. SNS RBI clears transfer of G P Garg takes
charge as Sebi
Former errand boy’s free app Forex reserves
climb $3.62b
Luminous service: Lumi- `57,128 crore to govt executive ‘Dukaan’ rescues retailers to record
538.19b
nous Power Technologies
has rolled out contactless
customer service on What-
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, 14 AUGUST The RBI Board had
director STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE The Dukaan app, its makers saler from Surat sells beau-
sApp. It will offer multiple met via video confer- NEW DELHI, 14 AUGUST MUMBAI, 14 AUGUST said, “enables anyone to cre- ty products to barbers online," In the previous week
services, resolving cus- The Central Board of the ence on 14 August ate an online store within 30 said Suumit Shah, who is also ended 31 July, the
tomer’s query and help- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the chairman- Markets regulator Sebi today A small-town engineer and seconds”. co-founder of the
ing them while they stay has approved the transfer of said G P Garg has taken charge former errand boy Suumit The Dukaan app enables Mumbai-based digital mar-
reserves had
safe indoors, said a Press Rs 57,128 crore as surplus to ship of the central as its executive director. Shah’s freely available android brick-and-mortar businesses keting firm RiseMetrics. increased by $11.938
release. SNS the Central Government for bank Governor Prior to his promotion, app "Dukaan" has helped to sell their products and ser- “Dukaan aims to be as billion to reach
the accounting year 2019-20, Garg was chief general over 1.5 lakh stores go online, vices online through What- easy as a platform as $534.568 billion
while continuing to main- Covid-19 pandemic. manager in Sebi and has in a much-needed rescue sApp. Grocery stores, restau- Google Pay for creating online
New robots: Milagrow, taining the Contingency Risk “The Board discussed the handled several important of small business owners rants, sellers of any kind stores”. MUMBAI, 14 AUGUST
India's leading service Buffer at 5.5 per cent. proposal of setting up an assignments since joi- across India during this pro- make catalogues of prod- Dukaan’s unique selling
robots brand, has The RBI Board had met via Innovation Hub,” said RBI ning the regulator in January longed Covid-19 turmoil. ucts on the cell phone to share point is its simplicity, accord- The country's foreign
launched three new video conference on 14 August chief general manager Yogesh 1994, Sebi said in a state- Based in Satara, a Maha- with their customers. ing to its creator Shah who exchange reserves swelled
robots ~ MilagrowiMap under the chairmanship of Dayal, besides reviewing RBI ment. rashtra town 255 km from The Dukaan app, that has as a boy ran errands for his by $3.623 billion to a record
Max, MilagrowiMap 10.0 the central bank governor operations and accounts for He has been closely asso- Mumbai, Shah in July generated more than 75,000 uncle’s small store before high of $538.191 billion in the
and Milagrow Seagull, with Shaktikanta Das. 2019-20. RBI Deputy Gover- ciated with Sebi's initiatives launched the android app orders across 400 cities, is getting an engineering degree. week ended 7 August, the
independent navigation The 584th meeting of the nors B P Kanungo, Mahesh on Financial Literacy and called Dukaan (shop) to empowering a wide cross-sec- He learned web design and Reserve Bank of India data
features. All of them use Central Board reviewed the Kumar Jain and Michael Investor Education in the help small businesses tion of people in a poster web development from his showed on today.
the proprietary Milagrow current economic situation Debabrata Patra attended country. He also played a key badly affected by the lock- story of "Digital India" pro- roommate in college. In the previous week ended
software 'RT2R' ~ real with its continuing global the virtual meeting, besides role in the establishment of down to sell online, without viding solutions in stressful Shah attributed his 31 July, the reserves had
time terrain recognition and domestic challenges, nine of the 15 directors of the National Institute of Securi- any need for high technol- times. Dukaan inspiration to a text increased by $11.938 billion
technology. They can be and the monetary, regulato- Central Board and the two sec- ties Markets (NISM) includ- ogy. "We have a 16-year-old kid from a Bengaluru outlet to reach $534.568 billion.
used for both commercial ry and other measures that retaries of Department of ing setting up of the new Within a month, Dukaan who helped his father set up informing they have begun The reserves had crossed
and domestic purposes, RBI has taken to mitigate Economic Affairs and Dept. state of the art campus at Patal- has helped sell 5,00,000 prod- online rakhi store in Gorakh- accepting orders on What- the half-a-trillion mark for the
says a Press release. SNS the economic impact of of Financial Services. ganga. PTI ucts across 40 categories. pur, a 59-year-old whole- sApp. first time in the week ended
June 5, 2020, after it had
jumped by $8.223 billion to
$501.703 billion.

Markets retreat for third day; bank stocks bleed In the week ended 7 August,
the forex kitty rose on the back
of gains in foreign currency
assets (FCAs), a major com-
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA by SBI, M&M, Bajaj Finance, SENSEX DOWN 443 POINTS post market hours on Thurs- the UK added more Euro- ponent of the overall reserves.
MUMBAI, 14 AUGUST ITC, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech day showed. pean countries to its quar- FCAs rose by $1.464 billion
and IndusInd Bank. � Tanking 663 points from and telecom BSE auto, bankex, finance, antine list. to $492.293 billion in the
Equity indices nursed losses Only five index constituents the day's high, the 30- indices fell up oil and gas, FMCG and tele- Global oil benchmark Brent reporting week, the RBI data
for the third straight session ended in the green ~ Sun share BSE Sensex settled to 2.50 per cent com indices fell up to 2.50 per crude was trading 0.65 per cent showed. Expressed in dollar
today as investors pruned Pharma, NTPC, Tata Steel, 433.15 points or 1.13 per in Friday's ses- cent in Friday's session, while lower at $44.67 per barrel. terms, the foreign currency
exposure to banking, finan- Titan and Infosys, rising up to cent lower at 37,877.34 sion, while metal, healthcare and con- In the forex market, the assets include the effect of
cial and consumption stocks 2.04 per cent. points metal, health- sumer durables closed high- rupee settled 6 paise lower at appreciation or depreciation
amid negative global cues. During the week, the Sen- care and con- er. 74.90 against US dollar. of non-US units like the euro,
Weak macroeconomic data sex declined 163.23 points or � Only five index con- sumer Broader BSE mid-cap and Meanwhile, India's Covid- pound and yen held in the for-
and a depreciating rupee fur- 0.42 per cent, while the stituents ended in the durables small-cap indices fell up to 1.02 19 caseload surpassed 24 lakh eign exchange reserves.
ther curbed risk appetite, Nifty fell 35.65 points or 0.31 green ~ Sun Pharma, NTPC, closed per cent. today after 64,553 more peo- Gold reserves were up by
traders said. per cent. Tata Steel, Titan and Infos- higher Global equities were under ple tested positive and the $2.160 billion to $39.785 bil-
Tanking 663 points from the “Indian markets tracked ys, rising up to 2.04 per cent pressure following lacklustre recoveries rose to over 17 lion. The special drawing
day's high, the 30-share BSE weak global cues in the latter industrial production and lakh, the health ministry rights with the International
Sensex settled 433.15 points part of the trading day to end � BSE auto, bankex, retail sales data in China. said. Monetary Fund (IMF)
or 1.13 per cent lower at with losses. The uncertainty finance, oil and gas, FMCG Bourses in Hong Kong and With 17,51,555 people increased USD 6 million to
37,877.34 points. was with regards to the US- Seoul ended in the red, while defeating the disease, the USD 1.481 billion.
The broader NSE Nifty China trade meet this week- Shanghai and Tokyo settled recovery rate has surged to However, the country's
slumped 122.05 points or 1.08 end and a lack of wholesome numbers that came in above results especially in the Auto Retail inflation rose to 6.93 with gains. 71.17 per cent. The death toll reserve position with the IMF
per cent to close at 11,178.40. pickup in economic activity the MPCs' target also put sector also contributed to the per cent in July, mainly driven Stock exchanges in Paris, climbed to 48,040 with 1,007 declined by $7 million to
Axis Bank was the top lag- in many countries, including doubt on expected rate cuts losses,” said Vinod Nair, Head by rising prices of food items Frankfurt and London plunged people succumbing to the $4.632 billion during the
gard in the Sensex pack, slip- China. by the RBI, which the market of Research at Geojit Finan- like vegetables, pulses, meat up to 2 per cent in early deals, disease in 24 hours, the min- reporting week, the data
ping 2.81 per cent, followed “The Indian retail inflation was looking forward to. Weak cial Services. and fish, official data released dragged by travel stocks, after istry data showed. showed. PTI