The Unassuming Economist

From Big News Network:

“External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday expressed India’s support for the priorities of the South African Presidency, which aligned with India’s own advocacy during its G20 Presidency.

Speaking during the session on G20 objectives at the 2025 G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Johannesburg, Jaishankar said, ‘We are supportive of the priorities of the South African Presidency. They jell with what India has advocated both nationally as well as during its own G20 Presidency’

He also emphasised the importance of the G20’s leadership in addressing global challenges. As the G20 enters its second cycle, Jaishankar stressed that it must prioritise collaboration over competition, accurately reflect global challenges, including food, energy, and health security, and promote women-led development.

‘Some thoughts have been shared on the former in the last Session. Let me just underline that as we enter the second cycle, G20 must retain its leadership. To do that, it must be accurately reflective of global challenges in their entirety. This includes food, energy and health security, establishing digital public infrastructure, and promoting women-led development. And G20 must always put the imperatives of collaboration higher than the compulsions of competition,’ said Jaishankar.

He highlighted several key areas, including – International Disaster Response; India initiated the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure in 2019, which now has 42 nations and 7 organizations as members.’

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From The Star:

“Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship presents a pivotal opportunity to advance ASEAN’s agenda, focusing on inclusive growth, sustainable development, and deeper regional collaboration, according to RHB Investment Bank Bhd.

It said Malaysia’s upcoming chairmanship will be key to navigating global uncertainties in the face of the potential intensification of global trade tensions.

“By prioritising economic resilience, innovation, and sustainable practices, Malaysia can lead and consolidate ASEAN’s position as a dynamic economic force and a pivotal player in shaping the future of Asia-Pacific economic integration,” the investment bank said in a note today.

As ASEAN progresses towards its vision of a unified and integrated community by 2030, it said that sustained commitment to these objectives will be crucial for navigating uncertainties and maximising opportunities in an increasingly interconnected world.

“While risks from the trade and geopolitical arenas persist (under the new US administration), Malaysia’s neutral stance and diversified trade relationships position the country well to navigate these external challenges,” it said.

Therefore, RHB Investment Bank believes that Malaysia’s growth outlook remains positive, bolstered by its regional integration and economic resilience.

In the medium to longer term, it noted that Malaysia’s strategic location in Southeast Asia, its neutral stance in the geopolitical arena and its developed industrial base and infrastructure make it an attractive destination for businesses looking for alternatives to China.”

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From a paper by Debkumar Chakrabarti, Sankalpa Bhattacharjee, and Pradeepta Sethi:

“This paper undertakes a comprehensive review of some of the less-discussed factors that harbor the potential to explain the wide variations in structural transformation, especially amongst developing economies. We begin by critically reviewing the effects of income, relative price, and international trade, which are generally considered drivers of structural change, with special emphasis on developing economies. Subsequently, we bring to the forefront three comparatively less-discussed factors—income inequality, financial market imperfections, and government policy that can explain a large part of the divergences in the transformation patterns of developing economies. Underscoring the limitation of the conventional discourse that relates cross-country differences in structure in terms of cross-country differences in manufacturing, we emphasize the need for the theoretical discourse to move beyond the industry-centric approach to focus on the recent research that views the surge of services as an additional engine of growth and the possible avenues through which it can affect structural transformation.”

From a paper by Rui Wang, and Shanshan Yang:

“While the global economy is on a clear path to recovery, the issue of inequality persists, particularly within developing countries. Based on the panel data of 127 developing economies around the world from 2000 to 2021, this study employs the multi-period DID model to investigate the role of China’s foreign digital aid in influencing the level of income inequality in developing economies. The study finds that China’s foreign digital aid has significantly reduced income inequality among recipient economies. Further analysis shows that there is an intriguing correlation between digital aid modalities and its effectiveness of implementation. When China’s foreign digital aid is an OOF-like program, it can significantly improve income inequality in recipient economies, yet when it is an ODA-like program, it can increase income inequality. In addition, the effectiveness of aid is influenced by the income levels of the recipient economies. Digital aid proves to be more effective in nations with high to middle income economies in comparison to nations with low-income economies. Therefore, the acceptance of China’s digital aid has an important role to play in reducing the level of income inequality in developing economies that cannot be ignored.”

From The Tribune:

“The Centre of Development Policy and Management (CDPM), IIM Udaipur, in association with People Research in India’s Consumer Economy (PRICE), recently hosted a thought-provoking panel discussion on ‘How Inclusive is India’s Growth in the 21st Century? The Experience of the First Quarter’. The session featured prominent experts–Dr. Shamika Ravi (Member, Economic Advisory Council to the PM), Mr. Nikhil Ojha (Senior Partner, Bain & Company), and Prof. Dipankar Gupta (Indian Sociologist)–who examined India’s economic and social transformation over the past 25 years. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Saurabh Gupta, Co-Head, CDPM.

Dr. Shamika Ravi emphasised that India’s growth is not an inevitability but the result of well-targeted policies. While India has successfully reduced absolute poverty to below 3%, human development indicators still lag behind global standards. She highlighted the increasing role of women in the labour force, attributing it to focused policy interventions. However, she noted that industrialisation remains critical for job creation as the country moves toward an increasingly urban future.

Mr. Nikhil Ojha focused on India’s shifting income distribution, pointing out that the middle class has expanded significantly, driving consumption growth. However, he cautioned that FMCG revenue growth is lagging behind nominal GDP, raising concerns about whether economic policies are sufficiently addressing the needs of aspirational consumers. He also highlighted the urgent need to address regional disparities, particularly in job creation, to ensure balanced growth.”

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