Budget 2018-19

  Few questions are more consequential, whether it’s for executives wondering where long-term profits will come from, or investors weighing the dollar’s status as global reserve currency When will China overtake the U.S. to become the world’s biggest economy? Few questions are more consequential, whether it’s for executives wondering where long-term profits will come from, investors weighing the dollar’s status as global reserve currency, or generals strategizing over geopolitical flashpoints. In Beijing, where they’ve just been celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, leaders are doing their best to present the baton-change as imminent and inevitable. “The Chinese nation,” President  Xi Jinping  said last week, “is marching towards a great rejuvenation at an unstoppable pace.” Early in the Covid-19 crisis, when China managed to control infections and maintain growth even as the U.S. suffered hundreds of thousands of deaths and a crunching recessi...

  Officials see 2021 GDP growth of 6.5%, unemployment at 4.5% The Federal Reserve on Wednesday projected a rapid jump in US economic growth and inflation this year as the  Covid-19  crisis winds down, and repeated its pledge to keep its target interest rate near zero for years to come. The US central bank now sees the economy growing 6.5% this year – predicting the largest annual output growth since 1984 – and the unemployment rate falling to 4.5% by year’s end, compared to growth of 4.2% and unemployment of 5% projected at its December policy meeting. The pace of price increases is now expected to exceed the Fed’s 2% target for the year, hitting 2.4% by year’s end before falling back in 2022. “Indicators of economic activity and employment have turned up,” the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement that kept the benchmark overnight interest rate in a target range of zero to 0.25%. The improvement in the Fed’s economic outlook did not immediately...

  The path of the economy continues to depend significantly on the course of the virus International News:  The US Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the record-low level of near zero, as the country grapples with slowing economic recovery amid surging Covid-19 cases. “The path of the economy continues to depend significantly on the course of the virus,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at a virtual press conference on Wednesday. “A resurgence in recent months of Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths is causing great hardship for millions of Americans and weighing on economic activity and job creation.” The Fed chief noted that following a sharp rebound in economic activity last summer, the pace of the recovery has “moderated” in recent months, with the weakness concentrated in the sectors most adversely affected by the resurgence of the virus and greater social distancing, reports Xinhua news agency. “The economy is a long way from our empl...

The economy could be plunged into a period of uncertainty following Tuesday’s presidential election The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell only slightly last week, adding to signs that the economic recovery was losing steam as the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies and fiscal stimulus ends. The economy could be plunged into a period of uncertainty following Tuesday’s presidential election, potentially undermining business investment and delaying a much-needed second coronavirus relief package from the government. Democrat Joe Biden edged closer to victory on Thursday, while President Donald Trump alleged fraud without providing evidence, filing lawsuits and calling for recounts in a race yet to be decided two days after polls closed. “It looks like a second wave of layoffs is hitting the economy perhaps due to the rising count of virus cases, but it could also mean that many businesses are unable to reopen fully and facing bankruptcy, so they have to let th...