A penny saved is a penny earned, so goes an old saying. If that be so, several Indians were earning quite a few thousand rupees in the last 40 days when they were not spending in locked-down India. They opened their wallets or swiped their cards only to buy food, medicines, masks and sanitisers. They did not drink, they did not binge, they did not fly, they did not hire cabs, they did not buy clothes, shoes or phones, they did not go to the movies. Most of them did not buy even a bowl of ice cream.
In normal times, it is important to know how much people spend; but in abnormal times like these, it is equally important to know how much people did not spend. There are no official figures about it. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) says the Indian retail sector “lost” about ₹5.5 lakh crore during the lockdown period. Notionally, that could mean Indian shoppers did not spend ₹5.5 lakh crore.
Going by the old saying, Indian shoppers saved ₹5.5 lakh crore, or gained ₹5.5 lakh crore, or earned ₹5.5 lakh crore. But that remains as idle money in wallets or in bank accounts, earning only simple interest which is peanuts. This is, in effect, savings. Savings per se are not enough for any economy. The challenge before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is to convert the savings into investment.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 17, 2020 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 17, 2020 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI