“We believe that investment strategy and the asset allocation of an investor should not vary from year to year…”
(Mar 5, 2008)
To continue a long-standing custom, we interviewed Mr. Sukumar after the budget to elicit his views on the long-term impact of the budget on the economy and stock markets and what the retail investor must do to make the most of the budget.
(Interview)

I give the budget a rating of 6 out of 10…
(Mar 1, 2008)
In an exclusive interview with Personalfn, Mr. Doshi offers his views on the budget.
(Interview)

The HUF budget
(Feb 29, 2008)
By Ajit Dayal, Director, Quantum Asset Management Company Private Limited.

Budget: Lost in translation?
(Feb 29, 2008)
If you are an investor, you’ll probably find it difficult to put a label on this budget. It’s not like the Finance Minister (FM) chose to maintain status-quo or did not introduce any ‘cheer-worthy’ measures. Sure he did, but those actions are few and not major (barring the move to hike the Income Tax exemption limit) ones. Perhaps it’s the result of the political considerations or maybe it’s just the strain of balancing ‘reforms and relief’.

Mutual Funds: Much ado about nothing!
(Feb 29, 2008)
It was the last budget (at least for this term) from the Finance Minister and expectations were running high. For someone who usually introduced at least one significant measure in nearly every budget for the investor, this was a particularly uneventful budget. At least there wasn’t much in store for the mutual fund investor.

Budget 2008-09: The 10 that matter
(Feb 29, 2008)
Not willing to disappoint any section of the voting class, the Union Budget speech delivered by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today was calibrated to satisfy almost all segments of the population. From aggressively raising the cause of farmers to supporting higher education to offering medical benefits to sops for women and senior citizens, the Budget almost sounded perfectly rounded. The enhanced income tax exemption limits were the icing on the cake. However, what left us disappointed was the fact that Budget ignored the necessary reform measures, especially in the PSU sector that would have set the ball rolling for economic growth in the coming fiscal as well. Here are the 10 key measures that we believe are the lead points of the Budget announced today.

FM, the Farmer’s Messiah
(Feb 29, 2008)
We, together with a lot of other observers indeed guessed it right! This budget, the last before the next general elections, was supposed to be nothing but a way to appease the voters. It turned out exactly that way. There were a whole lot of dole outs and grants for social sectors (and deservedly so) but the scale of the same with no real announcement of a major revenue collection exercise really caught us by surprise. The finance minister, P. Chidambaram also pricked some nerves by not reducing the corporate tax rate and the surcharge thereon. Rather, he increased the short-term capital gains tax from 10% to 15%. The stocks markets took note of the same with the Sensex and Nifty closing the day with big losses.

Eco. Survey 2007-08: Of ground realities
(Feb 28, 2008)
What a change an year can bring? Change in beliefs, changes in mindset, and changes in performance. While the economic survey released last year was highly upbeat about India’s GDP growing strongly and sustainably in the future, this year’s survey seems a bit toned down as far as the enthusiasm is concerned. While the survey talks about the continuance of a strong GDP growth (expected to grow 8.7% YoY in FY08), the fact that it also highlights concerns to future growth is appreciable. The key concerns that the survey has talked about are –

Public finances: Recovery round the corner?
(Feb 28, 2008)
Mirroring the trend witnessed last year, buoyant tax collections once again have led to the improvement in the quality of the fiscal deficit, which is measured by the share of revenue deficit in the fiscal deficit (the lower the better). While there has been a reduction between FY02 and FY07, sustaining the same is the key going forward and the trick lies in the implementation of the FRBM Act. It should be noted that for FY07, the third year of operation of the FRBM Act, the revenue deficit considerably reduced to 1.9% of GDP (2.6% in FY06). Looking at the nine-month actual performance, the revenue deficit stood at 50% of the fiscal deficit (70% in FY07).

Banking: Is the worst over?
(Feb 28, 2008)
With the fears of subprime losses and write-offs looming large and soliciting headlines for most part of the fiscal, FY08 was not particularly the bankers’ delight. The developments in the Indian banking sector in FY08, however, did not mirror that of its global counterparts. This was manifested in the government’s and the RBI’s efforts of reconciling the twin objectives of facilitating economic growth and containing inflation. While limited exposure to global assets itself thwarted the sub-prime risks, the meltdown in credit disbursal due to a slowdown in economic growth could not be avoided.