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MPC minutes highlight divergence of views The MPC minutes of the RBI’s policy meeting from earlier this month – in which the pace of tightening slowed to a 25bp hike , taking the repo rate to 6.50% – confirm that there are significant differences of …
24th February 2023
In a crowded field given the FY23/24 Union Budget and the RBI’s more-hawkish-than-expected policy announcement, the Adani short-selling crisis has been the main story over the past month. So far at least, there are few signs of broader contagion. Foreign …
21st February 2023
Food price inflation may be overstated The consumer price data for January released this week proved something of a nasty surprise , with the headline rate jumping unexpectedly sharply to 6.5% y/y, pushing it above the ceiling of the RBI’s 2-6% target …
17th February 2023
If it isn't already, India will soon be the world’s most populous nation. But this doesn’t mean that policymakers can simply wait for the economic benefits to arrive. The key to unlocking India’s demographic potential is to develop the manufacturing …
15th February 2023
Chances of another rate hike have just risen The unexpectedly large jump in headline consumer price inflation in January to 6.5% y/y is a clear challenge to our view that the hiking cycle is at an end. Further signs of the economy coming off the boil and …
13th February 2023
RBI still cautious on inflation Though the RBI slowed the pace of tightening with a 25bp hike to the repo rate (to 6.50%) this week, the tone of the communications was more hawkish than we had anticipated. The slight rise in the 10-year bond yield …
10th February 2023
The Adani saga hasn’t done much to reduce the comparatively stretched valuation of India’s stock market. In our view, that means there is still scope for it to underperform over the long run. India’s stock market generally avoided the sell-offs seen in …
9th February 2023
The RBI further slowed the pace of monetary tightening with a 25bp hike to the repo rate (to 6.50%) today and, though it has left the door ajar for further tightening, the softer growth outlook and improvement in the inflation picture suggests to us …
8th February 2023
RBI’s tightening cycle is probably at an end The RBI further slowed the pace of monetary tightening with a 25bp hike to the repo rate (to 6.50%) today and, though it has left the door ajar for further rate hikes, the softer growth outlook and improvement …
While some of the measures unveiled in the FY23/24 Union Budget are geared towards shoring up popular support ahead of next year’s general election, there is a clear long-term focus too. The projected jump in capital expenditure, cuts to import duties on …
3rd February 2023
Spill-overs from the Adani crisis limited, for now Though the FY23/24 Union Budget provided some respite, the short-seller attack on the Adani Group following the publication of a report by US-based Hindenburg Research alleging “brazen stock manipulation …
MPC to mark end of tightening cycle with 25bp hike to repo rate (to 6.50%) next week Slower growth and inflation could mean MPC is laying groundwork for cuts before long Rate cuts to materialise in early 2024, sooner than consensus expects With …
2nd February 2023
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman appears to have successfully demonstrated her long-term commitment of reining in the fiscal deficit while still providing support to the economy in today’s FY23/24 Union Budget announcement. There is a chance of fiscal …
1st February 2023
Indian manufacturing remains resilient India’s manufacturing PMI showed signs of moderation in January after defying gravity for several months previously. It should drop further over the coming months as the economy comes off the boil. The manufacturing …
For watchers of India’s economy, next week is one of the most significant of the year as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivers the Union Budget for FY23/24 on Wednesday. Ahead of the announcement, the fiscal position looks pretty healthy. The …
27th January 2023
We held a Drop-In today to discuss the big economic and financial market development across Emerging Asia. (You can see an on-demand recording here .) This Update answers several of the questions that we received, some of which we couldn’t answer during …
26th January 2023
More signs of a growing electronics ecosystem We argued at the end of 2022 that one of the key developments for investors to look out for this year was signs of a growing electronics ecosystem in India. We are only three weeks into the new year but there …
20th January 2023
India has historically remained unaligned geopolitically but we made the case last year that, in a fracturing global economy , it was more likely to lean towards a US-led bloc and away from a China-led bloc. Events over the past month have strengthened …
18th January 2023
Wholesale inflation drops for the sixth month in a row The drop in Indian wholesale price inflation for the sixth month in a row in December further reinforces our view that the MPC will draw the tightening cycle to a close after one more rate hike in its …
16th January 2023
Rupee settlement mechanism to see limited use It has been a relatively quiet start to the year on the economic front in India but a speech over the weekend from RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has garnered attention. Among the highlights, Governor Das struck …
13th January 2023
Drop in headline inflation suggests end of tightening is imminent The further easing in headline CPI inflation in December to a 12-month low of 5.7% y/y supports our view that the tightening cycle is in its final throes. We expect just one more hike in …
12th January 2023
PMIs increasingly at odds with hard data The PMI surveys for December released this week suggest that India’s economy was firing on all cylinders at the end of 2022. Both the manufacturing and services measures hit multi-month highs (see Chart 1), while …
6th January 2023
Strong PMI readings at odds with the hard activity data India’s manufacturing and services PMI readings rose to multi-month highs in December but are at odds with the hard activity data that point to a slowdown in domestic and external demand. India’s …
4th January 2023
India’s current account deficit is likely to have widened to 3% of GDP in 2022, the largest in a decade. We expect the deficit to narrow slightly in 2023 as commodity prices ease and domestic demand comes off the boil. While this still leaves the rupee …
3rd January 2023
Will policy loosening come onto the agenda? A s we explained in our Outlook for Q1 2023 , the hiking cycle that has dominated the discourse for much of 2022 is likely to come to an end early next year. The question then is, when will thoughts turn to …
23rd December 2022
The government’s reform agenda struggled for momentum in 2022 as key state elections (notably in Uttar Pradesh in March and Gujarat in December) dominated the calendar, and surging food and fuel prices set a tricky political backdrop. But the results of …
20th December 2022
Rise in lending rates has further to run D ata released this week reinforce our view that domestic demand is softening. Industrial production dropped by 4% y/y in October – our in-house adjustment points to a similar-sized drop month-on-month. And …
16th December 2022
This is part of a series of reports outlining our key macro and market calls for 2023. Click here to view the full series. Our latest EM Outlook can be found here . EMs will experience one of the broadest slowdowns in GDP growth in 2023 since the 1990s. …
15th December 2022
Wholesale inflation drops to 21-month low The fall in Indian wholesale price inflation to a 21-month low in November chimes with the sharper-than-expected drop in headline consumer price inflation released earlier this week. We maintain our view that the …
14th December 2022
Sharp drop in headline inflation may hasten end of tightening The sharper-than-expected drop in headline CPI inflation in November (to 5.9% y/y) pulls it below the ceiling of the Reserve Bank’s 2-6% target range for the first time in almost a year. We …
12th December 2022
BJP win in Gujarat could boost reform agenda The incumbent BJP, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, secured a massive victory in the state election in Gujarat. The results announced on Thursday showed that it increased its assembly …
9th December 2022
Overview – The RBI has slowed the pace of rate hikes and is likely to call a halt to tightening in early 2023. As the economy weakens, rate cuts could come onto the agenda by late next year and materialise in early 2024, several months sooner than the …
8th December 2022
The RBI slowed the pace of monetary tightening with a 35bp hike to the repo rate (to 6.25%) and, with headline inflation set to ease further and growth entering a softer patch, we think the central bank will call a halt to tightening in February. Further …
7th December 2022
RBI slows the pace of tightening The RBI slowed the pace of monetary tightening with a 35bp hike to the repo rate (to 6.25%) and, with headline inflation set to ease further and growth entering a softer patch, we think the central bank will call a halt to …
Valuations may stall equity outperformance India’s Sensex hit a fresh record high of 63,000 this week (see Chart 1), continuing its remarkable performance over the past few months in the context of the sell-off in equities elsewhere in the world. The …
2nd December 2022
Indian manufacturing continues to buck the regional trend India’s manufacturing PMI edged up in November and continues to buck the weaker regional trend. The survey also indicates that price pressures are easing, reinforcing our view that the RBI is now …
1st December 2022
Economy holds up in Q3, but higher rates now taking a toll While base effects caused a sharp slowdown in headline GDP growth in India in Q3 (Q2 of FY22/23), growth held up well in quarter-on-quarter terms. However, there are signs in more timely activity …
30th November 2022
Pace of tightening to slow as growth comes off boil and inflation passes the peak 25bp hike to repo rate likely next week, and cycle to draw to a close by early-23 Rate cuts could come onto the agenda by late next year With inflation having passed the …
29th November 2022
Manufacturing powerhouse takes to the polls We’ve previously written at length about why state elections in India matter for economic policy . The upcoming vote in Gujarat – due to take place between 1 st and 5 th December with results expected on the 8 …
25th November 2022
The RBI has hiked interest rates by 190bps since May and, while that is relatively benign compared to the moves seen in many other EMs, this tightening is now feeding through to the economy. Purchases of big ticket items such as passenger vehicles have …
21st November 2022
Domestic demand coming off the boil Recent data paint a mixed picture of the state of domestic demand. On the one hand, survey evidence remains relatively upbeat. The PMI readings for India have recently held up much better than in most other EMs and …
18th November 2022
Prices pressures are moderating in earnest The substantial falls in both headline consumer and wholesale price inflation in October reinforce our view that the Reserve Bank will slow the pace of monetary tightening in its next scheduled policy meeting in …
14th November 2022
Industry rebounds, but headwinds growing Industrial production in India rebounded strongly in September, but we don’t expect this strength to last. Higher interest rates and the slowdown in global demand look set to weigh heavily on the sector over the …
11th November 2022
Power sector appears to be managing coal better Power shortages just over a year ago prompted a push by the government to shore up coal supply. Among the changes was a revamp of benchmarks for the stocks of coal that power stations should hold. …
While mobile and other digital payment methods are still used less in India than in many EMs, the rapid expansion initially triggered by the pandemic has continued over the past year. A well-developed payments infrastructure should support continued …
9th November 2022
Recent data tell a conflicting story about the health of India’s export sector. The new export orders component of the manufacturing PMI released this week rose to 56.6. It has only been higher on one occasion since the start of 2015 . By contrast, the …
4th November 2022
The RBI’s out-of-cycle meeting today concluded with no decision on interest rates. That’s no surprise – it was called for administrative reasons, rather than as a response to changing economic conditions. We believe that further tightening will still be …
3rd November 2022
Manufacturing activity remains resilient India’s manufacturing sector appears to have bucked the weaker regional trend, with an increase in its PMI last month. There was nothing in today’s release to dissuade the RBI from further tightening. The …
1st November 2022
The RBI announced this week that it will hold an “additional” MPC meeting on Thursday 3 rd November. It’s not unusual for the committee to convene between scheduled meetings (the next meeting was due to take place in early December). Indeed, “emergency” …
28th October 2022
Since independence, India has preferred to stay unaligned geopolitically. But in a fracturing global economy, the security and macroeconomic benefits of leaning towards the US – and away from China – may prove too compelling for India to remain on the …
24th October 2022
