Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
It has been a month since Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the 2019 Union Budget. But, if we take a look at the state of the economy, the workforce and the stock prices don’t seem to be doing good at all.
First, let’s focus on the automobile sector. Problems for Maruti Udyog keep increasing as their sales have dipped by 36 percent.
The interesting fact here is that Maruti Udyog acts like a compass for the Indian economy – for its sales figures often reflect the market trends. So, if Maruti’s sales are up, that means the economy is doing fine and vice versa.
'Noticeable Slump in Automobile Sector’
Mahindra tractors sales have dropped by 12 percent while Ashok Leyland has witnessed a 14 percent drop. This has also resulted in almost 280 dealerships closing down, and would indirectly affect the rate of production of automobiles.
Moving on to the share market, the news isn’t good here either. The market saw a dip for most of the month, before closing on 1 August with the highest drop in 17 years.
Small cap and mid cap businesses are in a bad condition as well. The foreign portfolio investment has dried out too, which means that foreign investors are not investing in the country.
Investors face a notional loss of close to Rs 13-14 lakh crore. And, as per CAG, the fiscal deficit stands at 5.9 percent and not 3.4 percent.
Investors usually strategise based on this value, and it is precisely why it has had an adverse effect on the economy.
Talking about the national treasury, the tax revenue saw an uptick of just 6 percent in April, May and June. The government must increase the tax collection by 30 percent in the remaining nine months of the year to meet its target.
There is another major figure that is a huge cause of concern for investors – almost 13 lakh finished houses have seen a drop in sales in the nation’s major cities.
In such a circumstance, how do we accelerate the economic growth? The Indian economy is heading towards a grave consequence. All we can do, now, is hope for a new approach to the economy.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)