Here we look at five major market turmoils that significantly affected common people the country in 2019:
GDP Growth Declined To 6 Yrs Low:
In 2019, India witnessed as many as six successive quarters of declining GDP growth making it the longest slowdown over the past 23 years. The last time India had witnessed six straight quarters of slowdown was between March quarter of FY 2011 and June quarter of FY 2013.
The GDP growth in second quarter of the 2019 fiscal tanked to 4.5 per cent from 5 per cent in the previous quarter. This was sixth straight drop in India's quarterly GDP growth.
The major factor in the GDP fall was manufacturing contracting by 1 per cent. A separate data showed core infrastructure industries' output declining 5.8 per cent in October, the biggest contraction since at least 2005.
Jet Airways Shutdown:
On April 17, 2019, as many as 20,000 employees and passengers were hit hard as Jet Airways announced temporary suspension of all flight services as it failed to secure interim funding for maintaining even bare minimum operations. Deaths of employees and their family members due to heart attacks and other reasons were also reported during this time.
Thousands of staffs across department came out on roads to appeal the government to do 'something' to revive the carrier. Most of the agitating staff said they were asked to take leave without pay. For some, Jet Airways was their first choice of travel, and for some it felt like a "home" in the sky.
Merger Of 10 Public Sector Banks:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a massive consolidation of public sector banks on August 30, 2019 - 10 public sector banks to be merged into four. The mega-merger were the Punjab National Bank, the Oriental Bank of Commerce and the United Bank to merge become the second-largest PSB while the Canara Bank and the Syndicate Bank will amalgamate to make the fourth-largest PSU bank entity.
Also in the series of mergers announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a briefing here, the Union Bank, the Corporation Bank, and the Andhra Bank will be merged to become the fifth-largest PSU bank and the Indian Bank and the Allahabad Bank merge to be the seventh-largest. Post consolidation, the number of PSU banks will come down from 27 to 12.
PMC Bank Crisis:
On September 24, 2019, the crisis at Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank) first came to light when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed curbs on the activities of the Mumbai-based banks for six months. The central bank also limited the amount a customer could withdraw from their account during the next six months — to Rs 1,000 at first, and later to Rs 25,000. RBI RBI had initially allowed depositors to withdraw a paltry Rs 1,000, followed by Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 and to Rs 50,000, but the customers demanded full access to all their accounts.
The PMC Bank crisis has claimed several lives till date and has resulted in high voltage protests in Mumbai. The scam broke after Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), a single borrower which accounted for 73 per cent of PMC's loan book, went bankrupt.
PMC Bank is a multi-state scheduled urban cooperative bank with operations in Maharashtra, New Delhi, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. With a network of 137 branches, it ranks among the top 10 cooperative banks in the country.
Onion Price Hike:
In November, price of onion, a quintessential vegetable for cooking food across the country, really made the citizens of the country shed tears as it has become difficult to afford it. The prices of onion which were hovering around Rs 80 per kg in the month of August and September have suddenly shot to Rs 100 to 120 per kilo as the end of November month is fast approaching.
There has been a four-fold rise in the onion prices during the last three months in the wholesale markets due to which the retail market has seen relative jump in the prices. Currently, the wholesale onion prices were quoted at Rs 37.50-112.50 per kg, an all-time high at Azadpur mandi in the national capital. In retail markets, onion was priced in Delhi and NCR at Rs 100-150 per kg on Monday. The traders anticipate a further hike in retail prices in the coming days.
The issue even made an uproar during the Winter Session in Parliament, where Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stroked a controversy after she said that she does not eat onion and thus, it does not matters to her. Several Opposition parties including Congress slammed the Finance Minister for her statement.