@RiazHaq
Brofessor sb,
With due respects BD is doing much better than India or Pak. There is no need for BD or SHW to bow before Adani, Modi or anyone else.
Regards
Sheikh Hasina is an Indian puppet. Her own sustenance depends on Modi's support.
News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World
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Shaikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, recently visited New Delhi to seek political and economic assistance from the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This summit was preceded by Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdul Momen's trip to India where he said, "I've requested Modi government to do whatever is necessary to sustain Sheikh Hasina's government". Upon her return from India, Sheikh Hasina
told the news media in Dhaka, "They (India) have shown much sincerity and I have not returned empty handed". It has long been an open secret that Indian intelligence agency
RAW helped install Shaikh Hasina as Prime Minister of Bangladesh, and her Awami League party relies on New Delhi's support to stay in power. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdul Momen has described India-Bangladesh as one between husband and wife. In an interview with Indian newspaper 'Ajkal,' he said, "Relation between the both countries is very cordial. It's much like the relationship between husband and wife. Though some differences often arise, these are resolved quickly." Both Bangladeshi and Indian officials have reportedly said that Sheikh Hasina "has built a
house of cards".
@RiazHaq
Brofessor sb,
The USD 68 billion loss suffered by the Adani group is bigger than the market cap of the entire KSE 500 companies, no?
Regards
And you think it's a good thing?
India is one of the most unequal countries in the world.
Crony capitalism in rampant in India.
News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World
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India is one of the most unequal countries in the world, according to the
World Inequality Report 2022. There is rising poverty and hunger. Nearly 230 million
middle class Indians have slipped below the poverty line, constituting a 15 to 20% increase in poverty. India ranks 94th among 107 nations ranked by World Hunger Index in 2020. Other South Asians have fared better: Pakistan (88), Nepal (73), Bangladesh (75), Sri Lanka (64) and Myanmar (78) – and only Afghanistan has fared worse at 99th place. Meanwhile, the wealth of Indian billionaires jumped by 35% during the pandemic.
Unemployment Crisis:
India lost 6.8 million salaried jobs and 3.5 million entrepreneurs in November alone. Many among the unemployed can no longer afford to buy food, causing a significant spike in hunger. The country's economy is finding it hard to recover from
COVID waves and lockdowns, according to data from multiple sources. At the same time, the Indian government has reported an 8.4% jump in
economic growth in the July-to-September period compared with a contraction of 7.4% for the same period a year earlier.
Rising Poverty:
Nearly 230 million
middle class Indians have slipped below the poverty line, constituting a 15 to 20% increase in poverty since Covid-19 struck last year, according to
Pew Research. Middle class consumption has been a key driver of economic growth in India. Erosion of the middle class will likely have a significant long-term impact on the country's economy. “India, at the end of the day, is a consumption story,” says Tanvee Gupta Jain, UBS chief India economist, according to Financial Times. “If you never recovered from the 2020 wave and then you go into the 2021 wave, then it’s a concern.”
Increasing Hunger:
India ranks 94th among 107 nations ranked by World Hunger Index in 2020. Other South Asians have fared better: Pakistan (88), Nepal (73), Bangladesh (75), Sri Lanka (64) and Myanmar (78) – and only Afghanistan has fared worse at 99th place. The
COVID19 pandemic has worsened India's hunger and malnutrition. Tens of thousands of Indian children were forced to go to sleep on an empty stomach as the daily wage workers lost their livelihood and Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in the
South Asian nation.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan opted for "smart lockdown" that reduced the impact on daily wage earners. China, the place where COVID19 virus first emerged, is among 17 countries with the lowest level of hunger.
Rich Getting Richer:
The wealth of Indian billionaires increased by 35% during the lockdown and by 90 per cent since 2009 to $422.9 billion, ranking India sixth in the world after the US, China, Germany, Russia, and France, according to
Oxfam.
India’s 100 top billionaires saw their fortunes increase by Rs 12,97,822 crore since March last year when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and this amount is enough to give 138 million poorest Indians a cheque for Rs 94,045 each, according to a report in
The Business Standard.
 |
| Share of Income of Richest 1% in South Asia |
Inequality in Pakistan:
A United Nations report on
inequality in Pakistan published in April 2021 revealed that the richest 1% Pakistanis take 9% of the national income. A quick comparison with other South Asian nations shows that the 9% income share for the top 1% in Pakistan is lower than 15.8% in Bangladesh and 21.4% in India. These inequalities result mainly from a phenomenon known as "elite capture" that allows a privileged few to take away a disproportionately large slice of public resources such as public funds and land for their benefit.
Elite Capture:
Elite capture, a global phenomenon, is a form of corruption. It describes how public resources are exploited by a few privileged individuals and groups to the detriment of the larger population.
A recently published report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has found that the elite capture in Pakistan adds up to an estimated $17.4 billion - roughly 6% of the country's economy.
Pakistan's most privileged groups include the
corporate sector,
feudal landlords,
politicians and the
military. The UN Development Program's NHDR for Pakistan, released last week, focused on issues of inequality in the country of 220 million people.
Ms. Kanni Wignaraja, assistant secretary-general and regional chief of the UNDP, told
Aljazeera that Pakistani leaders have taken the findings of the report “right on” and pledged to focus on prescriptive action. “My hope is that there is strong intent to review things like the current tax and subsidy policies, to look at land and capital access", she added.
Income Inequality:
The richest 1% of Pakistanis take 9% of the national income, according to the UNDP report titled "
The three Ps of inequality: Power, People, and Policy". It was released on April 6, 2021. Comparison of
income inequality in South Asia reveals that the richest 1% in
Bangladesh and
India claim 15.8% and 21.4% of national income respectively.
In addition to income inequality, the UNDP report describes the inequality of opportunity in terms of access to services, work with dignity and accessibility. It is based on exhaustive statistical analysis at national and provincial levels, and includes new inequality indices for child development, youth, labor and gender. Qualitative research, through focus groups with marginalized communities, has also been undertaken, and the NHDR 2020 Inequality Perception Survey conducted. The NHDR 2020 has been guided by a diverse panel of Advisory Council members, including policy makers, development practitioners, academics, and UN representatives.
Summary:
Neoliberal policies in emerging markets like India have spurred economic growth in last few decades. However, the gains from this rapid growth have been heavily skewed in favor of the rich. The rich have gotten richer while the poor have languished. The average per capita income in India has tripled in recent decades but the minimum dietary intake has fallen. According to the
World Food Program, a quarter of the world's undernourished people live in India. The
COVID19 pandemic has further widened the gap between the rich and poor.
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From the Wall Street Journal:
Heard on the Street: #Adani Group saga is a credibility test for #India’s markets and institutions. How #NewDelhi reacts will greatly affect foreign #investors’ perception of the country’s attractiveness. #Modi #CronyCapitalism #economy
https://www.wsj.com/articles/adani-...s-institutions-11675098415?st=h1m4yjy59fk6e3f via @WSJ
The sprawling conglomerate built by Gautam Adani is under attack by short seller Hindenburg Research, which successfully deflated electric-vehicle maker Nikola Motors in 2020. At stake is both Mr. Adani’s empire and, potentially, India’s own ambitions to position itself as a credible alternative to China—as a manufacturing giant and a must-have part of an emerging-markets portfolio.
U.S.-based Hindenburg Research, which last week said it held short positions in Adani Group through its U.S.-traded debt and offshore derivatives, has accused the conglomerate of accounting fraud and stock manipulation through opaque offshore entities. Adani Group denies the allegations and says the short seller is trying to smear its reputation and derail a public stock offering. Shares of the group’s companies have plunged since Hindenburg’s report, wiping out nearly $64 billion in market value. Hindenburg’s report comes amid a $2.5 billion secondary share sale by Adani Enterprises 512599 4.21%increase; green up pointing triangle that closes on Tuesday.
The Indian government now faces a stark choice.
Reuters reports that India’s markets regulator is already looking into Hindenburg’s allegations as an extension of its own, previously stalled investigation. Foreign investors, who hold a large chunk of the conglomerate’s sizable debt, may be reluctant to keep financing it until they are confident that the regulator has thoroughly assessed Hindenburg’s claims. Yields on the group’s dollar bonds have leapt: an Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. 532921 -0.29%decrease; red down pointing triangle dollar bond maturing in 2027 was yielding 12% on Monday, according to FactSet, up from less than 7% in mid-January. Yields on an Adani Green Energy Ltd. ADANIGREEN -20.00%decrease; red down pointing triangle bond maturing in 2024 have risen to 15%.
On the other hand, if a government investigation were to unearth real financial problems, India’s public-sector banks and insurers might end up holding the bag: Brokerage CLSA estimates, for example, that state-controlled banks have lent Adani Group companies the equivalent of about 6% of their fiscal year 2024 net worth. And Adani Group is a major part of the effort to upgrade India’s chronically poor infrastructure and thus its competitiveness.
Infrastructure is a capital-intensive business, so it is little surprise that Adani Group has a heavy debt load. Still, the group’s debt has risen precipitously in recent years. Net debt sits at 1.6 trillion Indian rupees, equivalent to $19.63 billion, while consolidated gross debt is 1.9 trillion Indian rupees, or $23.31 billion, according to Jefferies. Total debt at five major Adani companies rose about 76% from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2022, according to data from CLSA, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is up 120%. Flagship firm Adani Enterprises’ ratio of net debt to trailing Ebitda is 5.8, according to FactSet. That is much higher than peer Reliance Industries, which stands at 1.5. And Adani Enterprises shares fetch 112 times prospective earnings.
Foreign investors have also played an increasing role in financing Adani Group’s expansion in recent years, leaving it vulnerable to a change in sentiment. CLSA calculates that 29% of total debt at five major group companies—Adani Power 533096 -5.00%decrease; red down pointing triangle, Adani Green, Adani Ports, Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission—is in foreign-currency bonds. But the brokerage estimates that 49% of the debt increase from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2022 came from foreign-currency bonds.
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The stakes could hardly be higher for both India and Adani Group.
