{"id":372470,"date":"2024-02-27T18:58:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T13:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/?p=372470"},"modified":"2024-03-04T17:12:09","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T11:42:09","slug":"its-the-economy-stupid-fixed-lines-soar-money-flies-people-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/subtext\/its-the-economy-stupid-fixed-lines-soar-money-flies-people-dont","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s the economy, stupid: Fixed lines soar, money flies, people don\u2019t"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We love India Data Hub\u2019s weekly newsletter, \u2018<\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/indiadatahub.substack.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This Week in Data<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019, which neatly wraps up all major macroeconomic data stories for the week. We love it so much, in fact, that we\u2019ve taken it upon ourselves to create a simple, digestible version of their newsletter for those of you that don\u2019t like econ-speak. Think of us as a cover band, reproducing their ideas in our own style. Attribute all insights, here, to India Data Hub. All mistakes, of course, are our own.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quick! What\u2019s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear \u201cIndia\u201d and \u201ctelecom\u201d in the same<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sentence?<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ll bet good money it has something to do with India\u2019s mobile revolution.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Of course not! It was\u2026 er\u2026 MTNL. That\u2019s a thing, right?<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Right. I <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">totally <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">believe you.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Buzz off. What\u2019s your point?<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Glad you asked!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s a curious bit of data from last week, at least if you think the future of telecom is a move towards<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">everything becoming wireless. And that is: after a protracted decline, fixed-line connections are now<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">growing rapidly.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Oh please. You mean, like, <\/b><b><i>landlines<\/i><\/b><b>? You\u2019re not serious.<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yep, landlines. But also, things like fixed broadband connections. Here\u2019s a quick snippet:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Telecom operators added 300,000 fixed-line connections in December. With that, they\u2019ve added a<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">total of 4.4 million connections in all of 2023: the highest in over a decade.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is part of a wider upsurge in the last three years, where they added a total of 12 million<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">connections. There are now over 30 million fixed-line connections in the country: the highest<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">there have been since 2012.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-372475\" src=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2374\" height=\"1558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-1.png 2374w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-1-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-1-1024x672.png 1024w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-1-768x504.png 768w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-1-1536x1008.png 1536w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-1-2048x1344.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2374px) 100vw, 2374px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Oh. So who\u2019s still buying fixed connections? People in some rural corner of nowhere?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hehe. Nope. People in Delhi and Mumbai.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look, I don\u2019t want to overstate the point. Mobile connections are still <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">overwhelmingly <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">popular. The<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">number of fixed-line connections in the country is ~3% of the number of mobile connections.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In places like Mumbai and Delhi, though, it\u2019s much closer to the 8-10% mark. Maybe they need<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> b<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">roadband connections for all the Netflix they\u2019re watching.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-372478\" src=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2366\" height=\"1565\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-2.png 2366w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-2-300x198.png 300w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-2-1024x677.png 1024w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-2-768x508.png 768w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-2-1536x1016.png 1536w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-2-2048x1355.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2366px) 100vw, 2366px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That number probably looks lower than it is, by the way. Think about it: how many mobile connections<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do you have at home? Three? Four? Five, even? Chances are you don\u2019t have more than one broadband, or<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landline. That\u2019s probably the case with every home. Those 8-10% fixed connections probably connect<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">20-30% of the populations of these cities.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And they\u2019re growing. Fast.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b>What\u2019s next? People are taking bullock carts instead of flying?<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I don\u2019t know about bullock carts, but they sure aren\u2019t flying.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Come again?<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yeah. The aviation sector\u2019s seeing some turbulence right now. In fact, it isn\u2019t soaring much higher than it<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was before the pandemic.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>P<\/i><\/b><b><i>uns<\/i><\/b><b>? Disgusting.<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Haha, yeah. Couldn\u2019t help myself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anyhow. Here\u2019s the news:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Domestic airlines haven\u2019t added too many flyers this January, with just 4% more passenger traffic<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">than January 2023. And it\u2019s not like too many people were flying last January either &#8211; the aviation<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sector was still trying to regroup after passenger traffic crashed (sorry, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sorry<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, I swear I\u2019ll stop<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">now) during the COVID-19 pandemic.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a sharp drop from December, when passengers were 8% higher than they were in <\/span>December 2022.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-372479\" src=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2368\" height=\"1568\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-3.png 2368w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-3-300x199.png 300w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-3-1024x678.png 1024w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-3-768x509.png 768w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-3-1536x1017.png 1536w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-3-2048x1356.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2368px) 100vw, 2368px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want a better sense of things, look at how little the industry has grown since the pandemic. The<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chart above should give you a snapshot.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It compares the last year or so against 2019 and early 2020. Even though four years have passed in<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> b<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">etween, there\u2019s been very little difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Moreover, the difference is <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dropping<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Midway through 2023,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> p<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">assengers were still a respectable ~10% higher than in 2019. This January, in contrast, passenger traffic<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> b<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">arely budged from where it was in January 2020, inching upwards by less than 3%.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Foreign money is leaving the country!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What!? Should I feel happy? Scared? <\/b><b><i>Angry<\/i><\/b><b>?<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hey, I\u2019m just trying to tell you what happened. This isn\u2019t a news channel, after all. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But here\u2019s what you should know:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are two ways you can invest in a country. There\u2019s a simple way: you take a punt on its capital<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">markets. You buy stocks, bonds, or something similar, and see where they go. You aren\u2019t trying to get<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your hands dirty or make something &#8211; you\u2019re just along for the ride. Much like you might be in the capital<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">markets of your own country. This is called \u2018<\/span><b>foreign portfolio investment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(FPI).<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s also a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hard <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">way. You put in serious money for the long haul. You see a country as a good place to<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do business, and so, you roll up your sleeves and dive in. You buy up a big piece of a company, or if<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you\u2019re very brave, you start a business from scratch, and then get involved in running it. This is \u2018<\/span><b>foreign<\/b> <b>direct investment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(<\/span><b>FDI<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s the latter that\u2019s come down massively.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Yeah, I forgot that you\u2019re boring. Anyway, what\u2019s going on?<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two things:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One, there\u2019s less FDI coming in. After going up for five straight months, the total FDI coming<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">into the country in December &#8211; at US$ 4.5 billion &#8211; was 30% less than in December 2022. See the<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">graph below for a clearer picture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two, a lot of FDI from before is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">leaving <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the country. A total of US$ 6 billion left the country in<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">December.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In all, more FDI money has left the country than has entered it in the month. This is the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">very first time <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has happened since the RBI started keeping track back in 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-372480\" src=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2372\" height=\"1573\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-4.png 2372w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-4-300x199.png 300w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-4-1024x679.png 1024w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-4-768x509.png 768w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-4-1536x1019.png 1536w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-4-2048x1358.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2372px) 100vw, 2372px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Very first time? Ok, I\u2019m scared now.<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hey, don\u2019t be. This is just a single month. Fluctuations like this can happen for many reasons: including<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that people are just put off by the idea of investing, these days. After all, the global economy has taken<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">some bad hits off late.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s a trend you should think about, though: a lot of FDI has <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">generally <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">been leaving the country.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2019, an average of US$ 1.7 billion in FDI was exiting India every month. In 2023, that\u2019s jumped up to<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">US$ 3 billion. Although December saw a massive spike in outflows, even in the long term, FDI is leaving<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India at a faster rate.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As more FDI leaves the country, we\u2019ll need to find ways to get more FDI simply to stay where we are. Or,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">we give investors a reason to stick around. Whichever.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/unnamed-file.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-372481\" src=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/unnamed-file.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2361\" height=\"1564\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/unnamed-file.png 2361w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/unnamed-file-300x199.png 300w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/unnamed-file-1024x678.png 1024w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/unnamed-file-768x509.png 768w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/unnamed-file-1536x1017.png 1536w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/unnamed-file-2048x1357.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2361px) 100vw, 2361px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s not just foreign capital, though. Indian money is leaving the country too.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Let\u2019s rewind. What does that even <\/b><b><i>mean<\/i><\/b><b>?<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sure. Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Indian Rupee is not fully \u2018convertible\u2019. That is, you can\u2019t simply convert your Rupees into foreign<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">currencies, or use them up for foreign transactions. At least not beyond a strict limit.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s part of India\u2019s attempts at keeping the Rupee strong. We briefly touched on this <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">last week<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here\u2019s a quick recap: the more that Rupees are spent internationally &#8211; whether to buy foreign products or<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> j<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ust other currencies &#8211; the more Rupees are supplied to international markets. And when they\u2019re easily<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">available, they lose value.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The RBI doesn\u2019t want the Rupee to lose value, because that makes it harder for us to buy the things we<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">really need. This is why it limits how many Rupees an Indian resident can spend abroad. It\u2019s put together<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a \u2018<\/span><b>Liberalised Remittance Scheme<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u2019<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(<\/span><b>LRS<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) which allows you to send out Rupees worth US$ 2.5 lakh in<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a year without running into hassles. Need to send more? Well, now you have to fill forms and deal with<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> b<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ureaucratic hurdles, which makes the whole thing a lot more painful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s not all. When you send out any more than \u20b9 7 lakh under the LRS, your bank cuts some of it as<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018<strong>T<\/strong><\/span><b>ax Collected at Source<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(<\/span><b>TCS<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). That\u2019s counted as part of your income tax payment for the year. This cut<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">used to be 5%, but with last year\u2019s budget, it\u2019s jumped up to 20%.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So it\u2019s become rather difficult for ordinary people to send Rupees abroad. And yet, they\u2019re doing so more<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">than ever.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>That sounds unusual\u2026<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is. Most people thought <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">less <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">money would go out this year. That simply didn\u2019t happen. Get this: last<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">December, 16% more Rupees left the country under the LRS than in December 2022.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Where\u2019s all this money going, though?<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, foreign trips!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People are pulling out <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">far <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more money for foreign trips than before. Last December, the amount of money<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sent out under the LRS grew by 36% against December 2022. That\u2019s a total of US$ 1.5 billion. At this<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rate, we\u2019ll be spending something like US$ 20 billion on just foreign trips this year.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-6.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-372482\" src=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-6.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2369\" height=\"1557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-6.png 2369w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-6-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-6-1024x673.png 1024w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-6-768x505.png 768w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-6-1536x1010.png 1536w, https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/twid-img-6-2048x1346.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2369px) 100vw, 2369px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s not like the TCS hike hasn\u2019t worked at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s worked where you actually need to shell out more than \u20b9 7 lakh. You need that sort of money when<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you\u2019re investing abroad, for instance. The LRS going into foreign investments has dropped over the last<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">year.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But our wanderlust is making us spend smaller amounts more often, and that\u2019s why a lot of Indian money<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is leaving the country.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s all for the week, folks. Thanks for reading.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019ll be plenty more next week, with a whole lot of GDP data coming in.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a long decline, fixedline connections are up. Aviation is still reeling from the pandemic. FDI is leaving the country, as is money under the LRS scheme. And more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242542,"featured_media":372472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[532],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-372470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-subtext"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.5 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>It\u2019s the economy, stupid: Fixed lines soar, money flies, people don\u2019t &#8211; Z-Connect by Zerodha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a long decline, fixedline connections are up. Aviation is still reeling from the pandemic. 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And more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/subtext\/its-the-economy-stupid-fixed-lines-soar-money-flies-people-dont\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Z-Connect by Zerodha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/zerodha.social\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-27T13:28:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-04T11:42:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/economy-Subtext-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pranav\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@zerodhaonline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@zerodhaonline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pranav\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/subtext\/its-the-economy-stupid-fixed-lines-soar-money-flies-people-dont\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/subtext\/its-the-economy-stupid-fixed-lines-soar-money-flies-people-dont\",\"name\":\"It\u2019s the economy, stupid: Fixed lines soar, money flies, people don\u2019t &#8211; Z-Connect by Zerodha\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/subtext\/its-the-economy-stupid-fixed-lines-soar-money-flies-people-dont#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/subtext\/its-the-economy-stupid-fixed-lines-soar-money-flies-people-dont#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/economy-Subtext-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-27T13:28:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-04T11:42:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zerodha.com\/z-connect\/#\/schema\/person\/01e659a83a429879f3e0f8f86a76c0fe\"},\"description\":\"After a long decline, fixedline connections are up. 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