.svg){kind=icon}
.svg){kind=icon}
%201.svg){kind=icon}
%201.svg){kind=icon}
.svg){kind=icon}
.svg)
.svg)
Ila Patnaik
Ila Patnaik is a Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP). Prior to this, she was the Principal Economic Advisor to the Government of India from May 2014 to December 2015. She has also worked at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), and as economics editor at the Indian Express. Her main area of interest is open economy macroeconomics, including issues related to capital flows, the exchange rate regime, monetary policy, business cycles, and the financial sector in the context of opening of the capital account. Her recent papers deal with India's experience with capital flows, methods for testing, dating and monitoring structural change of the exchange rate regime, an examination of the exchange rate regime in India and China, questions of moral hazard in the currency exposure of firms, and explaining the change in home bias against Indian firms.
.svg)
Understanding the dynamics of the rupee-dollar exchange rate
Since 1993, the Indian rupee (INR) has officially been following a market-determined exchange rate – price is determined by demand for and supply of foreign exchange – with intervention by the Reserve Bank of India from time-to-time. Analysing data from 2000-2020, Patnaik and Sengupta examine whether INR actually followed multiple exchange rate regimes, and if so, how the Central Bank managed exchange market pressure across these regimes.
How tax incentives influence household financial saving
Indian households tend to hold a high fraction of their wealth in non-financial assets such as real estate and gold. Tax policy has been used to incentivise saving in financial assets and encouraging long-term saving. Analysing aggregate national accounts data, this article finds that while aggregate financial saving has remained stable, tax breaks have been influential in driving saving into specific products, like insurance and pensions.
Union Budget 2018: Not as expansionary as appears at first blush
In this article, Ila Patnaik assesses the implications of the recently announced Union Budget for inflationary expectations and monetary policy.
Where is India's growth story headed
The global financial crisis and domestic policy paralysis led to a decline in firms’ investment activities and investors’ business confidence in India. Could this have affected the economy’s long-term growth? This column contends that institutional capacity for reform and the right policy action can render the negative investment shock temporary, and ensure that the trend growth of output remains strong.
Foreign investors under stress: Evidence at the firm level
Emerging market policymakers have been concerned about the financial stability implications of financial globalisation. These concerns are focussed particularly on behaviour under stressed conditions.
Capital controls in India: Did they work?
Are capital controls the right way to manage an economy? This column looks at what we can learn from India’s experience, where capital controls have never been fully dismantled.
Does Foreign Institutional Investment in India Increase Financial Vulnerability? An Empirical Investigation Using an Event Study Approach
Emerging market policymakers are concerned about the effects of foreign portfolio flows on financial stability. Do tail events in the home country trigger off extreme responses by foreign investors and is there any asymmetry between the responses of foreign investors to very good versus very bad days
When higher volatility is good news
Conventional wisdom suggests that access to financial services such as banks and bond markets, providing savings and borrowing instruments, allows smoothing consumption over lifetime, irrespective of income fluctuations. Yet, India and other emerging economies have witnessed an increase in consumption volatility relative to income volatility after financial sector development. This column argues that large permanent income shocks in emerging economies explain this puzzle.
Foreign currency borrowing by Indian firms: What do we know?
As foreign currency borrowing by Indian firms has been increasing, concerns have surfaced about rising associated risks. Hence, recent policy changes seeking to make the regulatory regime simpler and more transparent are timely. This column addresses several important questions regarding foreign currency borrowing of Indian firms, the answers to which can provide a firmer basis for ongoing policy formulation.
Foreign borrowing by Indian firms: Implications for growth and macroeconomic stability
This project analyses the pattern of external borrowing by Indian firms, an exercise that has as yet not been carried out. It identifies possible drivers of such borrowing.
Foreign investors under stress: Evidence from India
Emerging market policymakers are concerned about the effects of foreign portfolio flows on financial stability. This column focuses on the behaviour of investors in extreme events, allowing for the possibility that what happens under stressed market conditions may differ from day-to-day outcomes. The findings for India suggest that while on good days, foreign investors exacerbate the boom by bringing in additional capital, no significant effects are found on very bad days in the local economy.