Free mobiles from the government

What an interesting concept - the recent newspaper articles are all focussing around the fact that the congress government is thinking of giving free mobiles to everyone in the country.. And ratching up a spend of rs 7000 crores.

At a time when the fiscal deficit of the country is balooning up and india is under threat of a rating downgrade - this is a complete retroactive step.

The growth in Indias economy has been downgraded to less than 6% ... When it was growing at a healthy 9% . The reforms and growth engines have actually stopped moving- almost coming back to a state of intertia ( reducing intertia is always so difficult).

Even in the IT industry , india has started losing the battle- large headwinds on most of the companies- the increments given this year is going to be quite low- companies like infosys have actually frozen all payhikes this year.

In this scenario, here are a couple of thoughts.
1. Be risk averse- very risk averse... In money and also in terms of your professional career. This is not the time to shift jobs to smaller companies. If you get an opportunity with a larger brand - then go for it.

2. Move away from equities- stay in debt for the next few months.
3. If investing in a house- be very careful and check the builders reputation.
4. Think of building skills which enhance your portfolio- ones which can help you stay relevant. Going back and doing a commodity job is a complete no no.

Its going to be interesting times.. With drought, a decelerating economy and no signs of a rate cut.

Stay focussed