News digest: Fiscal deficit, Indian billionaires, stock markets, and more

Govt breaches fiscal deficit target in 8 months

The government has breached its fiscal deficit target given in the Budget for 2017-18 in November itself. During the April-November period, the fiscal deficit was 112 per cent of its Rs 5.5 lakh crore target for current fiscal year. This is the highest deviation from the Budget Estimates (BE) for fiscal deficit in the first eight months of a financial year since 2008-09, the year of the global financial crisis. Read more

Year End Specials: Super rich get richer in 2017

2017 has been a bumper year for Indian billionaires, with Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani, and Sunil Mittal seeing a sharp increase in their wealth despite a slowing economy. The wealth, or net worth, of Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, grew nearly 120 per cent during this period, the steepest among the billionaires. Read more

In 2017, markets clock best returns in three years

The S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 have delivered 27.9 per cent and 28.6 per cent returns, respectively, in 2017, making it the best year for equities since 2014.

This was on account of strong portfolio flows and hopes of an improvement in economic growth and corporate earnings. Analysts expect the momentum in the markets to continue with a revival in earnings and strong global cues while the effects of demonetisation and GST implementation fade. Read more