The sweetest deal.

"India's private sector output growth strengthened to its highest level in four months during December, according to the latest HSBC 'flash' PMI data compiled by S&P global." It has increased from 56.5 in November to 57.4 in December. Zee. But, why a celebration in the middle of the month, why not wait till it ends? Just a little propaganda to help the government because, "Between July and September, India's economy slumped to a seven-quarter low of 5.4%, well below the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) forecast of 7%." "Consumer spending has weakened, private investment has been sluggish for years and government spending - an essential driver in recent years - has been pulled back." BBC. But, "Are corporates evading accountability," because, "One, they haven't increased salaries despite profits. Two, they are paying lower taxes than even individuals. Three, they have not generated employment and invested in capacity building despite the tax breaks since 2019." "Even the biggest average salary hike of 5.4% is lower than the rate of inflation, which grew at an annual average of 5.7% in the last five years." India Today. "Around 4,000 listed companies in India reported a 6% growth in revenue or gross sales during financial year 2024, according to a report by the State Bank of India (SBI)." Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) increased by 28% and profit after tax (PAT) increased by 32%, whereas "Employee costs grew by only 13%," suggesting that "companies are focusing on optimizing their wage bills while maintaining profitability." ET.  "The 'buy now, pay later' (BNPL) schemes and the credit card spending facilitate immediate consumption and reduce the savings of the younger generations, said Michael Debabrata Patra, Deputy Governor, RBI." "This makes it harder for central banks to regulate and stabilize economic activities effectively." ET. "India's merchandise exports in November stood at $32.11 billion, while imports were $69.95 billion," so that trade deficit "widened to an all-time high of $37.84 billion from $27.1 billion in October." "Gold imports in November reached an all-time high of USD 14.8 billion." ET. At least people are saving in gold to hedge against inflation. Indian politicians and industrialists conveniently pass the blame on to the RBI for the fall in growth rate, wrote Rajrishi Singhal. "Both Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal have flagged high interest rates as a dampener for growth," and "recently underlined the need to lower interest rates to spur growth." India Today. However, "The previous episode of low interest rates saw Indian corporates deleverage their balance sheets but fail to invest in fresh capacity." On the other hand, "Data available for April-November 2024 shows overseas investment (equity plus debt) totaling $12.2 billion, in addition to $15 billion in guarantee issuances." "Indian commercial banks wrote off Rs 12.3 trillion in loans between the 2014-15 and 2023-24 financial years, according to government data presented in Parliament," of which Rs 6.5 trillion came from public sector (government owned) banks. ET. Raise prices for enormous profits, pay low taxes, loot the banks, squeeze employees and blame the RBI. Can't get sweeter than this. Such loving cronies.