Pyramid to diamond by 2024.

"India is witnessing record-breaking FDI inflows, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the investors virtually at the 7th edition of invest Madhya Pradesh - Global Investors Summit...in Indore." FE. That may be why the rupee has strengthened to 81.61 to the US dollar this morning, xe.com, after hitting a record low of 83.06 to one dollar in opening trade on 20 October 2022. TOI. "Today, the country boasts more than 4.3 million 'crorepati' (those with wealth of over Rs 10 million) households, equivalent to 23 million consumers," wrote Rajesh Shukla. "Consider this: by the end of this decade, the structure of the country's demographics will change from an inverted pyramid, signifying a small rich class and a very large low-income class, to a rudimentary diamond, where a significant part of the low-income class moves up to become part of the middle class." Poorer households are still in distress. "RBI's monthly bulletin indicates that commercial bank loans against gold jewelry increased by 218% between February 2019 and August 2022," wrote Raghuram Rajan, Rohit Lamba and Rahul Chauhan. "According to the National Family Health Survey, average land holdings were 22% lower in the latest round (2019-21). For households in the lowest wealth quintile, land holdings shrunk by 8.5% annually since the previous round, even though the land holdings of this quintile were growing between 2% and 5% per annum in surveys between 2004-05 and 2015-16." "The reassuring news is that India's gross domestic product (GDP) in the financial year ending in March 2023 will be significantly higher than in the financial year March 2020, the last one before the pandemic sent economies across the world on a downward spiral," wrote Niranjan Rajadhyaksha. However, in the next financial year, "Export demand will weaken as other major economies slip into recession." "Nominal GDP growth will be lower while government borrowing costs will be higher." Higher spending by an expanding middle class will naturally increase imports. "A flood of imports swelled the Centre's customs duty receipts in the three months to November," Mint. Receipts grew to Rs 1.41 trillion from Rs 1.26 trillion a year ago. As a result, "India's current account deficit, which is already at a nine-year high, is set to worsen further going forward due to the current scenario of high imports and slower exports, Deloitte warned in a report." The Wire. "India aims to cut spending on food and fertiliser subsidies to 3.7 trillion rupees ($44.6 billion) in the fiscal year from April, down 26% from this year...to rein in fiscal deficit." TOI. "Compared with January 2020, around 14 million fewer individuals - 4.5 million fewer men and 9.6 million fewer women - were employed in October 2022." ET. These astrological articles about how India will become the richest country in the world will probably continue till the general election in 2024, wikipedia. Long time for banana skins, though.