Inflation has been above the RBI's quarterly projections in the bi-annual monetary policy report (MPR) in eight out of the last 10 quarters until September, while retail price rise exceeded the 4%-6% mandated target band since January. RBI's inflation projections in the MPR are based on its economic model but the extreme weather conditions have made food price volatility hard to predict, said economists.

The 15 states and UTs ranked in the aspirers category include Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Mizoram. The report ranks the states on the basis of their logistics ecosystem, highlights the key logistics-related challenges faced by the stakeholders and includes suggestive recommendations, according to the fourth LEADS (Logistics Ease Across Different States) 2022 report unveiled by the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

“The headwinds facing India’s economy are significant,” IMF India Mission Chief Nada Choueiri said in an interview to Kathleen Hays and Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television, referring to expectations of more policy tightening, and no end in sight to the war in Ukraine. “These are issues of concerns to us.”

This is the ninth straight month when retail inflation has remained above the RBI's comfort zone of 2-6%. The RBI will have to explain the reasons for not being able to bring it back within the tolerance band and the possible remedial measures to fix the problem to the government in a letter.

The build-up of positions in this segment of the market is forcing the RBI to spend more reserves to defend the rupee, one of the bankers said. The RBI's informal communication to local bankers is a step back from the directions it issued in June 2020, when it allowed banks operating from the International Financial Services Centre Banking Units to trade in the NDF segment.

The surprise move trapped nearly 1 million tonnes of rice that was moved to the ports or was in transit before the government made the announcement. The concession to allow exports against already issued Lcs will help traders as a lot of cargoes were trapped and buyers were requesting quick dispatch, said B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association.

"From India, there is a lot to learn. There is a lot to learn from some other examples around the world. We have examples from pretty much every continent and every level of income. If I look at the case of India, it is actually quite impressive," PTI quoted Paolo Mauro, Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF, as saying.

Buy-sell swap trades have ensured that systemic rupee liquidity, which would otherwise have shrunk as a fallout of spot-market dollar selling, remains adequate through the festive period.

The central bank has raised the key policy rate by a cumulative 1.9 percentage points in four successive reviews beginning May to 5.9%, above pre-pandemic levels. Last month, the RBI retained its inflation projection for FY23 at 6.7% while lowering the growth forecast to 7% from 7.2% estimated earlier. On March 31, 2021, the Centre retained the inflation target and the tolerance band for the next 5-year period - April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2026.