The Weekly Stack 24th - 30th September

German economy is seen shrinking next year due to energy crisis

GERMANY’S economy will likely contract by 0.4 per cent next year due to the impact of the energy crisis, said the nation’s leading research institutes, who slashed their forecast from April of a 3.1 per cent expansion.

German output will be 160 billion euros (S$222.8 billion) lower this year and next than projected 5 months ago – partly due to the drastic increase in energy costs, the 4 institutes predicted on Thursday (Sep 29) in a twice-yearly report which the government uses as guidance for its own outlook.

“The Russian attack on Ukraine and the resulting crisis on the energy markets are leading to a noticeable slump in the German economy,” said Torsten Schmidt, head of economic research at the RWI Institute and spokesman for the Joint Economic Forecast Project Group.

UPI-Credit Card Linking Has Potential To Disrupt Visa, MasterCard Markets, Say Experts; Details

UPI-Credit Card Linking Proposal: As the number of credit cards in the system is rising at a fast pace, linking them with UPI will give a significant boost to the digital payments platform. The number of credit cards outstanding in India jumped 22 per cent year-on-year in August 2022. The RBI had announced its proposal to allow the linking of credit cards on UPI platforms. Experts said that in the long run, credit on UPI has the potential to disrupt all other scheme providers, including Visa and MasterCard.

The total number of outstanding credit cards in the system stood at about 7.80 crore at the end of August 2022, a significant 21.9 per cent jump as compared with 6.40 crore in August 2021, according to the RBI data.

What Indians are buying this sale season

Indian consumers are likely to to buy more discretionary products during the festive season in what could bode well for consumer goods makers, consulting firm Deloitte said in its latest India specific findings of the Global State of the Consumer survey.

“Despite concerns over inflation, the planned spending over the next four weeks will see spike across age groups in all categories. Consumers’ intent to purchase clothing (13%), electronic and home furnishing (10%), and recreation, entertainment and leisure (13%), indicates a positive spending pattern triggered by the upcoming festive season. The survey findings clearly indicate that consumers plan to increase their discretionary spend by 30 percent (on items such as recreation and entertainment, restaurants, and leisure travel) in August 2022, compared with April 2022," the survey findings revealed. This is Deloitte’s 34th Global State of the Consumer Tracker.

RBI Monetary Policy Live Updates: Sensex gains 1,017 points as banking shares surge after RBI rate hike; Nifty settles at 17,094

RBI Monetary Policy Live Updates: Benchmark indices bounced back on Friday after falling for the previous seven trading sessions, with the Sensex climbing 1,017 points following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) interest rate decision. The RBI on Friday raised the benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 5.90 per cent in a bid to check inflation, which has remained above its tolerance level for the past 8 months. Stay with TOI for all the latest updates.

The rupee strengthened on Friday at the end of a volatile week, after the Reserve Bank of India raised the key lending rate by an expected 50 basis points, and a Reuters report on central bank measures to stabilise the currency boosted gains.