Good Bye 2019: Know 10 Major Developments in Economy

In relation to the Indian economy, 2019 was a roller coaster ride. ETV Bharat has listed the 10 major developments of this year.

Hyderabad: In a few hours, the year 2019 would be behind us. In relation to the economy, it was a roller coaster ride for the country. In fact, the previous one year can be termed as a watershed year in the annuls of recent economic history.

ETV Bharat has picked ten major developments of 2019 and presenting those to you.

1. Economic Slowdown

In the second quarter of 2019 GDP touched 4.5%

The growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the total value of goods and services produced in the country, has been on a downward path in 2019. From the high of 8 % in Jan-March 2018, it touched an abysmal low of 4.5% in July-September 2019 setting alarming bells for not only the policymakers and the business but also for Aam Admi, who is at the receiving end of the crisis. The slowdown has a deep impact on the automobile sector. As per the data available, the industry is expected to close 2019-20 with a decline of 13-17 per cent in wholesale dispatches as compared with the last financial year.

Prices of onion touched Rs 200/kg mark in many parts of the country in December

2. High Onion Prices

Prices of red bulb have scaled and touched Rs 200/kg mark in many parts of the country in December.

While untimely rains caused the problem in the first place, illegal hoarding by the middle man added fuel to the fire. To curb the price rise in the coming year the government has decided to maintain a buffer stock of 1 lakh tonnes.

On september, 2019 FM introduced an ordinance to slash corporate tax rate to 22%

3. Corporate Tax Cut

In fact, this one of the bold moves by the Modi Government. In September, the Finance Ministry slashed effective corporate tax to 25.17 per cent from 30 per cent for all companies and 15 per cent for new manufacturing units to boost economic growth with the hope more foreign investments will flow to the country and boost ‘Make In India’.

PMC account holder's protesting outside RBI

4. PMC Bank Scam

The Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank came to light on September 24 when RBI imposed restrictions on its activities. The central bank also limited the amount a customer could withdraw from their account, initially Rs 1,000 which was later increased to Rs 50,000.

The 32,959-page charge sheet filed by the Mumbai Police in December maintained the diversions of funds by the higher officials of the bank in lieu of kickbacks received from HDIL.

Jet Airways employee's protesting

5. Jet Airways Saga

Jet Airways, which was once India's largest airline, had to suspend its operations in April 2019. The airline had an accumulated debt of nearly Rs 8,500 crore and is still looking for bidders under the insolvency proceedings.

RBI Governor during the MPC meeting

6. Monetary Policy

Since February, the Reserve Bank of India has reduced the Repo Rate by 135 basis points to 5.15 per cent. To everyone's surprise, it has maintained a status quo in its last MPC meet which was held on December 5.

Nirmala Sithraman presenting her maiden budget on 5 july

7. Nirmala Sithraman as Finance Minister

Nirmala Sithraman was appointed as the finance and corporate affairs minister on 31 May 2019. She is India's first full-time female finance minister. She presented her maiden budget in the parliament on 5 July 2019.

Telecom Companies had to pay Rs 1.3 lakh crore depending on AGR

8. AGR Issue

According to a Supreme Court ruling the leading telecom companies had to pay a large sum of around Rs 1.3 lakh crore towards license fee and spectrum usage fee, which are dependent on the value of Adjusted gross revenue(AGR). The ruling has caused panic among major telecoms of the country that resulted in increasing mobile tariffs in December.

PM Modi Representing India at RCEP

9. India Opting out of RCEP

"Neither the Talisman of Gandhi Ji nor my own conscience permits me to join RCEP", said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In November 2019, India decided not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as the grouping failed to address the interests of India adequately.

RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement among 10 ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam and its six FTA partners China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

10. Bank Mergers

The total number of banks were reduced from 27 to 12 after government announced merger of major banks

In the biggest consolidation exercise in the banking space, the government announced four major mergers of public sector banks, bringing down their total number to 12 from 27 in 2017.

The move, which was announced in August, aimed at making state-owned lenders global sized banks. United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce will be merged with Punjab National Bank, making the proposed entity the second largest public sector bank (PSB).