India’s central bank cut interest rates in the world’s fifth-largest economy on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs kicked in and policymakers warned of “challenging global economic conditions”.
India’s economic growth could slow by 20-40 basis points in the ongoing financial year due to the latest US tariffs, which would prompt deeper interest rate cuts by the central bank, analysts said.
India on Thursday reacted cautiously to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs with exporters saying the flat 27 percent on exports imposed on fifth-largest economy could have been far worse.
India’s retail inflation fell below 4 percent in February for the first time in six months mainly due to a decline in vegetable prices, giving the central bank room to cut rates further in coming meetings.
Indian exports are facing mounting pressure from aggressive trade policies by partners such as the United States and the European Union, a senior trade ministry official said on Tuesday.
India’s central bank cut interest rates Friday for the first time in nearly five years, as concerns over a growth slowdown in the world’s fifth largest economy outweighed inflation risks.
India’s growth trajectory is expected to pick up in the second half of 2024-25, driven by domestic private consumption and a sustained revival of rural demand, the central bank said in its monthly bulletin released on Tuesday.
Sugarcane yields in India are declining due to last year’s drought and this year’s excessive rains, which could reduce the country’s sugar production below consumption levels for the first time in eight years, farmers and industry officials said on Monday.
The Indian rupee fell on Tuesday as elevated US Treasury yields and broad strength in the greenback weighed on Asian currencies.
The Indian government could sell more wheat in the open market to control prices that have reached their highest in nearly eight months, the country’s food secretary said on Monday.
Apple is expected to gain a larger share of India’s smartphone sales, with the high-end iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models accounting for more of its shipments.
India’s merchandise trade deficit in August was wider than expected and stood at $24.16 billion, according to a Reuters calculation based on export and import data released by the government on Friday.
The Indian rupee weakened slightly on Friday, weighed by crude marking fresh year-to-date highs but the downside was likely capped by dollar selling orders and expected equity inflows.
The Indian rupee declined slightly on Thursday as the impact of equity inflows and some softness in Brent crude oil futures was more than offset by importer hedging and oil companies’ dollar demand, traders said.
India has no immediate plans to abolish the import duty on wheat, but it will reduce the limit on the number of stocks that traders and millers can hold, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra told reporters on Thursday.
Sugar output in Maharashtra, India’s top producing state, is likely to fall 14% in the 2023/24 crop year to its lowest in four years due to lower cane yields following the driest August in more than a century, industry and government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
India’s annual retail inflation eased to 6.83 percent in August from a 15-month high of 7.44 percent in July as food prices moderated, government data showed on Tuesday.
It is vital to increase quota resources for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before year-end, its chief, Kristalina Georgieva, said on Sunday, while urging members of the G20 bloc to deliver on a promise of $100 billion a year in climate funds.
