Banking Awareness of 1, 2 and 3 September 2022

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

1. As per NSO, unemployment rate in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above was 7.6% during April-June 2022.

• As per National Statistical Office (NSO), this rate was 12.6% during April-June 2021 and 8.2% during January-March 2022.
• Decline in unemployment rate amid improved labour force participation ratio shows sustained economic recovery from the pandemic.
• Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) – Quarterly Bulletin for April to June 2022 has been released.
• As per the bulletin, unemployment rate among females of age 15 years and above in urban areas declined to 9.5% in April-June, 2022 from 14.3% a year ago. It was 10.1% in January-March, 2022.
• Similarly, unemployment rate also declined among males of age 15 years and above in urban areas from 12.2% a year ago to 7.1% in April-June 2022. It was 7.7% in January-March 2022.
• Labour force participation rate (LFPR) in CWS (Current Weekly Status) in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above increased to 47.5% in the April-June 2022, from 46.8% in the same period a year ago. It was 47.3% in January-March 2022.
• Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in CWS in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above was 43.9% in April-June, 2022. It increased from 40.9% in the same period a year ago. It was 43.4% in January-March 2022.
• As per Centre for Monitoring Indian economy (CMIE) data, unemployment rate in India increased to 8.28% in August 2022 from 6.8% in July 2022. This (8.28%) is the highest unemployment rate since August 2021.
• Urban unemployment rate increased to 9.57% in August 2022. Rural unemployment rate increased to 7.68% in August 2022.
• Highest unemployment was seen in Haryana at 37.3% in August. Haryana was followed by Jammu and Kashmir (32.8%) and Rajasthan (31.4%).

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

2. Retail inflation for industrial workers eased marginally from 6.16% in June 2022 to 5.78% in July 2022.

• In July 2021, retail inflation for industrial workers was marginally lower at 5.26%.
• As per data published by Ministry of Labour, food inflation also eased marginally from 6.73% in June 2022 to 5.96% in July 2022. It was 4.91% in July 2021.
• According to the ministry, All-India Consumer Price Index- Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) for July 2022 stood at 129.9. It increased by 0.7 points.
• Maximum upward pressure in the current index came from the housing group. It contributed 0.37 percentage points to the total change.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

3. Eight core industries’ output growth for July 2022 declined to 4.5% in July.

• This was much lower than upwardly revised 13.2% output growth seen in June.
• Out of the eight core sectors, six recorded positive growth in output in July 2022.
• These six sectors were coal, refinery products, electricity, fertilisers, cement and steel.
• Only two sectors recorded output contraction in July. They are crude oil and natural gas.
• Crude oil output fell 3.8% from a year ago. Natural gas output declined 0.3% in July 2022.
• The growth rate of eight sectors was 11.5% during April-July 2022. This was lower than 21.4% growth in April-July 2021.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

4. Centre’s fiscal deficit reached 20.5% of the annual target in April-July 2022.

• It was 21.3% a year ago. This reflects improvement in public finance.
• In actual terms, the fiscal deficit was ₹3,40,831 crore during April-July period of this quarter.
• According to data of Controller General of Accounts (CGA), government's receipts, including taxes, were ₹7.85 lakh crore or 34.4% of the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23.
• The tax revenue was ₹6.66 lakh crore or 34.4% of the Budget Estimates (BE) for this year.
• Central government's total expenditure was ₹11.26 lakh crore or 28.6% of the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23.
• Capital expenditure was 27.8% of the full-year budget target.   
• The government's fiscal deficit is estimated to be ₹16.61 lakh crore or 6.4% of the GDP for 2022-23.

Topic: Taxation

5. Direct tax collection in the April-August period reached ₹4.80 lakh crore.

• This is about 33% growth over the ₹3.60 lakh crore collected during the corresponding period in the last fiscal.
• The budget target for direct taxes this year is ₹14.20 lakh crore.
• During Fiscal Year 2021-22, direct taxes increased by 49% to reach ₹14.10 lakh crore.
• The collections from Securities Transaction Tax (STT) have already reached ₹10,000 crore.
• Securities Transaction Tax is tax paid on the value of securities transacted through a recognized stock exchange.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

6. India's GDP grew at the rate of 13.5% in the first (April-June) quarter of the current fiscal year.

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 8.4% in July-September 2021, 5.4% in October-December 2021, and 4.1% in January-March 2022.
• According to the data, the Gross Value Added (GVA) grew 12.7 percent to Rs 34.41 lakh crore in April-June this year.
• According to projections provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing sector increased by 4.5% in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2022-23.
• The manufacturing sector grew by 4.8%, while the construction industry increased by 16.8%.
• The electricity, gas, water supply, and other utility services segment grew by 14.7% in the quarter compared to 13.8% last year.
• The GDP segment of services related to trade, hotels, transport, communication, and broadcasting registered a growth of 25.7 percent in the current fiscal.
• In Q1 of 2022-23, real GDP is expected to reach 36 lakh 85 thousand crore rupees, compared to 32 lakh 46 thousand crore rupees in Q1 of last fiscal at 2011-12 Prices.
• The GDP growth rate was 20.1 percent in the first quarter of the financial year 2021-22.
• India remained the fastest-growing major economy, while China recorded 0.4% GDP growth in the April-June 2022 quarter.

Topic: Miscellaneous

7. Agricultural economist Abhijit Sen passed away recently.

• During his career, he held several important positions, including the Commission of Agricultural Cost and Prices chair.
• He was a planning commission member during the Manmohan Singh government from 2004 to 2014.
• He was the chairman of the High-Level Committee of Experts on Long-Term Grain Policy, which submitted its report in 2002.
• Abhijit Sen was awarded the Padma Bhushan for public service in 2010.
• He wrote a thesis titled "The agrarian constraint to economic development: the case of India".

Topic: Reports and Indices

8. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for August declined marginally from 56.4 in July to 56.2.

• This has shown second-strongest improvement in operating conditions since last November.
• Manufacturing has a share of more than 14% in Gross Value Added (GVA).
• PMI is compiled by S&P Global from responses to questionnaires sent to purchasing managers in a panel of around 400 manufacturers.
• PMI is sum of the percentage of ‘higher’ responses and half the percentage of ‘unchanged’ responses. PMI varies between 0 and 100.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

9. India’s services exports have grown by 20.2% year-on-year to $23.26 billion in July 2022 as per RBI data.

• However, July exports were lower than $25.29 billion in June 2022.
• According to monthly data on India's international trade in services for July 2022, the imports increased 22.3% to $13.92 billion in July.
• In June, the imports stood at $15.76 billion. During April-July 2022-23, the exports stood at $94.75 billion.
• The imports stood at $58.94 billion during April-July 2022-23.
• Monthly data on services are provisional. RBI said it may undergo revision when the Balance of Payments (BoP) data are released on a quarterly basis.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

10. India's economy moves up to the fifth largest in the world with IMF growth forecast of more than 7% this year.

• India now has the fifth-largest economy in the world, overtaking the United Kingdom.
• International Monetary Fund said, India took a lead in the final three months of 2021 and became the fifth-biggest economy.
• As per IMF, the Indian economy is forecast to grow more than 7% this year.
• Recently, the weighting of Indian stocks this quarter increased to second place in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, only behind China’s.
• Britain's economy is now the sixth largest in the world, falling behind India.
• MSCI Emerging Markets Index tracks the performance of key companies in fast-growing nations. It was created by MSCI Inc. (Morgan Stanley Capital International).

Read Banking Awareness PDF of 1, 2 and 3 September 2022