Editorial

By all accounts 2009 has been a most eventful one so far, having achieved much for India and lost as much in terms of its economy and life in general. How else do we describe the really depressing forecast for 2008-09 in terms of GDP growth, with many fearing that we might consider ourselves fortunate if we are able to clock even 5% and blessed if we cross 5.5%. But, we may as well call ourselves twice blessed since we did manage to register what must be a whopping, and for some, unbelievable, 6.7% inspite of the circumstances in which we found ourselves during the financial year. While this was good news for a nation starved of smiles, it turns out the same is only helping in keeping our statistics healthy, for, the situation on the ground is not yet so positive. The simple test is whether the fall in inflation (based on WPI) has translated to prices of foodstuff, which really matters for the average citizen. This for various reasons, does not seem to be happening, atleast not yet. Added to this is the fear in many quarters of the negative inflation sliding into deflation, causing more worries for the managers of the economy.