Economics – Medium Level – GK Questions

The Capital/Financial account records transactions that alter the asset or liability status of a country's residents or government. FDI, Foreign Institutional Investment (FII), and external borrowings represent capital flows that change ownership of assets or create long-term liabilities. Exports, imports, remittances, and interest payments belong to the Current Account.

The BOP follows the double-entry bookkeeping system. Therefore, the sum of the Current Account, the Capital Account, and the Financial Account, along with changes in official foreign exchange reserves, must mathematically equal zero. A deficit in the current account must be perfectly offset by a surplus in the capital/financial accounts or by drawing down forex reserves.

While NBFCs are indeed regulated by the RBI and perform bank-like functions such as lending and asset financing, they are fundamentally different from banks. They cannot accept demand deposits (savings/current accounts), do not form part of the payment and settlement system, and consequently, cannot issue cheques drawn on themselves.

The term 'gilt-edged' historically referred to the gilded edges of paper certificates issued by the government. Today, Gilt-edged securities represent the highest grade, safest debt instruments issued by the Central or State Governments (like Treasury Bills and Dated Securities). They carry virtually zero default risk, though they are subject to interest rate risk.

Commercial Papers are unsecured promissory notes issued by large, creditworthy corporations and primary dealers to meet their short-term working capital requirements. Because they are unsecured, only entities with high credit ratings can issue them, and they are always issued at a discount to their face value, maturing within 7 days to 1 year.

The inter-bank money market is highly segmented by maturity. 'Call money' refers to overnight borrowing (1 day) to meet immediate reserve requirements. 'Notice money' covers short-term borrowing from 2 to 14 days, where the borrower must give a short 'notice' before repaying the funds.

Priority Sector Lending mandates banks to direct 40% of their credit to sectors vital for inclusive growth but which might otherwise struggle to secure formal finance. This includes agriculture, MSMEs, education, housing (up to specific affordable limits), and renewable energy. Luxury real estate is a commercial, profit-driven venture and is strictly excluded from PSL.

Prior to the IBC, defaulting promoters retained control of their companies while restructuring debts, often leading to endless delays. The IBC empowers the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to take control of the defaulting entity, allowing them to either approve a resolution plan to revive the company or liquidate its assets within a strict 330-day timeline.

The PCA framework acts as an early intervention mechanism. When a bank's financial health deteriorates (e.g., high Net NPAs, low Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio, or negative Return on Assets), the RBI invokes PCA to restrict risky activities and force the bank to focus on recapitalization, provisioning, and cleaning up its balance sheet.

When the RBI purchases government bonds from the open market, it pays for them by crediting the reserves of commercial banks. This infusion of permanent cash increases the banks' lendable resources, expands the money supply, and drives down bond yields, thereby lowering long-term borrowing costs for the economy.

The MPC was established under the amended RBI Act to bring transparency and collective wisdom to interest rate decisions. It comprises three officials from the RBI (including the Governor as the ex-officio Chairperson) and three external experts nominated by the Government of India. The Governor has a second or casting vote if the committee is evenly split.

Both Cesses and Surcharges are levied by the Centre for specific purposes or on high-income groups, respectively. Crucially, the Constitution dictates that the proceeds from both Cesses and Surcharges are retained entirely by the Central Government and do not form part of the divisible pool of taxes shared with the States.

The FRBM Act mandates the government to lay out a roadmap for reducing fiscal and revenue deficits, ensuring inter-generational equity in debt management. It aims to bring transparency and accountability to the fiscal management process, though its rigid targets have occasionally been relaxed during severe macroeconomic shocks or pandemics.

The Fiscal Deficit represents the total borrowing needs of the government. However, a large portion of this borrowing is often just to pay the interest on accumulated past debts. By subtracting interest payments, the Primary Deficit reveals how much the government is borrowing purely to fund its current fiscal year's expenditures.

Revenue Deficit occurs when the government's net revenue expenditure exceeds its net revenue receipts. Since this deficit is used to fund current consumption (like salaries, subsidies, and pensions) rather than capital formation, it is considered highly undesirable as it adds to the debt burden without generating future income streams to repay it.

Capital receipts are those government receipts that either create a liability (like fresh borrowings) or cause a reduction in the government's assets (like the recovery of past loans or disinvestment of PSUs). Tax revenues and dividends are 'Revenue Receipts' because they neither create liabilities nor reduce core assets.

The short-run Phillips Curve demonstrates an inverse (negative) relationship between inflation and unemployment. It suggests that policymakers face a trade-off: stimulating the economy to lower unemployment will inevitably lead to higher inflation, while contracting the economy to fight inflation will cause unemployment to rise.

This structural difference reflects the target audience of each index. The CPI measures retail inflation affecting the common man, for whom food constitutes the largest share of the household budget (over 45% weight). Conversely, the WPI tracks wholesale transaction prices, where manufactured goods dominate the basket (over 64% weight).

In 2019, the Government of India merged the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) to form the unified National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). This was done to streamline data collection, eliminate discrepancies, and improve the overall quality of national statistics.

The GDP Deflator reflects the price changes of all domestically produced goods and services, making it a broader and more comprehensive measure of inflation than the CPI or WPI. By dividing Nominal GDP (calculated at current year prices) by Real GDP (calculated at base year prices), it isolates the exact impact of inflation on economic growth.