Construction and real estate are staring at a worker shortage of 52%, followed by manufacturing at 44% and healthcare and pharmaceuticals at 42%, according to a survey based on initial hiring discussions, enquiries and mandates. Companies across industries are facing a huge shortage of blue-collar workers as they gradually resume operations after the lockdown, and … Read more
While describing the current situation as “much more uncertain than normal”, the FMCG major added that it is confident about its ability to manage the immediate crisis, news agency PTI reported. “The situation remains volatile with the trajectory of the virus undetermined, evolving hot spot geographies, the success of containment measures uncertain, the severity and … Read more
Moody’s downgrades India’s sovereign rating to ‘Baa3’ from ‘Baa2’ with negative outlook. This is one shot away from non investment grade – though it’s unlikely that would happen. It’s also reasonable to expect that in all likelihood, S&P will follow soon. They are currently one step higher at BBB- with stable outlook. Mostly, they would … Read more
In a widely expected move, RBI today slashed policy rates by 40 bps to ease Covid2019 impact. The repo rate now stands at 4% and reverse repo at 3.35%. This is the second significant cut in the year. Previously, in March RBI had cut the repo rate by 75 bps. “The MPC also decided to … Read more
By Andy Mukherjee When private equity firm Sycamore Partners walked away from beleaguered lingerie chain Victoria’s Secret, some of the loudest gasps came from India, Asia’s busiest market for distressed assets. Acquirers felt emboldened to seek legal advice. Could they at least renegotiate prices by arguing that the coronavirus was a material adverse change? Also … Read more
Mumbai: India Inc now wants India to fully get back to work, economy and jobs to be the central focus, and to stop alarmism about Covid-19, because policymakers must recognise that the country will have to live with and work around the spread of infection. ET spoke to industrialists, CEOs and bankers, who were all … Read more
The extended lockdown in India has resulted in zero shipments for the smartphone players in India in the month of April as factories are shut and it will take two-four weeks time for the manufacturing units to resume normal operations once lockdown is relaxed. The month of March saw a steep annual decline in smartphone … Read more
NEW DELHI: The government is likely to cap its overall spending on coronavirus-related relief at around Rs 4.5 lakh crore ($60 billion), due to concerns that excess spending could trigger a sovereign rating downgrade, two senior government officials said. “We have to be cautious as downgrades have started happening for some countries and rating agencies … Read more
Commuting hurdles faced by employees and problems in transporting goods are hampering the restart of businesses despite measures to ease the nationwide lockdown, a survey by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) found. In the survey, 36% of the respondents said that the industry is facing issues with daily movement of employees, while another 31% mentioned … Read more