There were concerns that simply opening a bank account wouldn't constitute meaningful financial inclusion, as the poor would rarely use these accounts. However, recent data submitted to Parliament attests to increased account usage, says Ishan Bakshi.

Ehile the Centre had projected tax revenues to touch 12.1 per cent of GDP in FY19, Revised Estimates peg the collections at 11.9 per cent, owing to a shortfall in the goods and service tax (GST) collections, reports Ishan Bakshi.

Bad loans, however, continued to rise in the micro, small and medium enterprises category

For the first eight months of the current financial year, the figure stood at Rs 7.17 trillion.

As beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojna have to be EPF subscribers, these numbers indicate that the increase in EPFO payroll estimates is largely due to an increase in the beneficiaries registered under PMRPY.

The decision to do away with Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes accelerated the slowdown in economic activity with growth averaging 6.8 per cent in the seven quarters after it, as against an average of 8 per cent in the six quarters preceding it, says former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian.

As the MPC is mandated to target CPI inflation rate at 4 plus minus 2 per cent, any measurement error in CPI is likely to have grave consequences for monetary policy.

The shortfall in the Centre's GST collections has raised concerns over it meeting the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP, reports Ishan Bakshi.

Pharmaceuticals, along with software and services, also added the most new entrants on the rich list 2018.

Economists, however, caution against interpreting the data as a broad-based revival

Recently, the government announced yet another ambitious scheme aimed at providing health insurance to 50 crore individuals.

With the creation of the state of Telangana, additions were made to ToRs of the 14th Finance Commission to make recommendations for the newly created states after the reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh.

The 14th Finance Commission had recommended that states' share in the divisible tax pool be raised to 42 per cent, from 32 per cent earlier.

The budgeted indirect tax collection target is Rs 9.26 trillion, and the Centre has collected around Rs 5 trillion in the first 8 months. So it needs another Rs 4.2 trn in the last four months

Lower revenue collection puts upward pressure on government borrowing, ensuring that it deviates from the glided path of debt reduction

The year 2018 is likely to be steady in terms of institutional investment into real estate

'We forecast real GDP growth to moderate to 6.7 per cent in the year ending March 2018.' 'However, as disruption fades, we expect to see a rebound in real GDP growth to 7.5 per cent in the next fiscal year.'

Data released earlier by CAG shows capital expenditure by the Centre had contracted 9.2 per cent in Q2

According to the NIPFP, there is the possibility that even if the banking system matures over time, some transactions could bypass the system so as not to pay the BTT.

From 1980 to 2014, the top 1 per cent captured 29 per cent of total growth, as much as the bottom 84 per cent put together.