Articles by Sunanda Sen

The BRICS summit held in October 2016 suggested the possible use of local currency in intra-BRICS trade to lower costs. This article extends this idea and proposes a scheme for setting up a clearing account in local currencies of the BRICS countries. It contends that such a step will provide avenues for generating additional demand within the region while cushioning the member countries against shocks from exchange rate volatility.

The recent downslides in China's financial account balance, bringing to a close the "twin surpluses" and initiating, after a long time, a modest slip in the stock of offi cial reserves, reflect a reversal in the state of expectations relating to the future of the Chinese currency.

Restructuring, cost-cutting and other associated trends in Indian industry in recent years have had a major impact on workers in organised industry in India. This article presents the results from a primary survey conducted during 2004-06 in pockets of Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

State directives to banks in China on the disbursement of credit and incentives offered by the state to provide facilities for industry have worked as an incentive for foreign investors. A large part of these FDI inflows is related to the success of China in having a ?guided financial market?. The benefits of these inflows, in the process, are reaped by both industry and finance, as opposed to a situation of finance-led growth alone, where speculation dominates the financial flows. In China, regulatory institutions in the area of banking, securities and insurance are given wide-ranging powers thus keeping a close vigil on the functioning of both finance and industry.

Trade and Development Report 2000: Global Economic Growth and Imbalances, UNCTAD, New York and Geneva, September 2000.