The Hindu Business Line : Numbers in the reform process

This has reference to `The number game' (Business Line, December 14). The recent fall in the stock market has established that numbers and statistics have the power to seduce as well as cause despair.

The figures have the ability to create buoyancy or sentiment, which has a direct bearing on the stock market.

Yet, the poor growth of the country's mainstay, agriculture, is not regarded as important as market sentiment.

It is not yet known to what extent the October numbers of the Index of Industrial Production will affect the economy, as GDP growth is still strong.

If the figures have far-reaching implications, the economy may face a dampening effect sooner or later towards the end of the fiscal.

The reformists would have to consider the issue with greater care so that any lacunae are addressed to keep the pace of reforms steady.

C. P. Velayudhan Nair

Kochi

Letters to the editor and contributions can be sent by e-mail to: bleditor@thehindu.co.in

More Stories on : Letters | Stock Markets

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
CST replacement therapy

Governance and the deficit debate

The Great Divide: Monetary vs fiscal purism

Spectre of an aging population

Corridors in the corridors of power

Casual confusion

A patently anomalous provision

Singur crisis

Numbers in the reform process