Fuel prices, and inflation likely to rise with rupee’s all-time fall: Akash Jindal, renowned economist

The depreciation of the rupee against the U.S. dollar will directly increase the inflation in the country. We import 80 per cent of our crude oil and 55 per cent of cooking/edible oil, which are likely to become costlier in the coming days, observes renowned Indian economist Akash Jindal. The observation from the expert comes hours after fresh reports claimed that the rupee depreciated 44 paise and slipped below the 81-mark against the U.S. dollar for the first time in early trade on September 23, 2022. 

On September 23 (Thursday), the rupee tumbled by 83 paise – it’s the most single-day loss in nearly seven months, and closed at an all-time low of 80.79 against the U.S. dollar. The experts have concluded that the escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine and rate hikes by the U.S. Fed has compromised the rupee. In a candid conversation with The Quotes, Mr Jindal noticed that the fall of rupee against the dollar brings good news for all those Indians (NRI) who are staying abroad and send remittances to India.

“That’s a small benefit, but we can see that negative repercussion completely outweighs the positive aspects,” added Mr Jindal.

Stressing about RBI’s plan of action, Akash Jindal believes that India’s central bank and regulatory body for regulation of the Indian banking system, has a daunting task ahead of them. “RBI has to control inflation and simultaneously ensure positive growth trend. I would suggest RBI should increase the interest rate as liquidity will be tightened, and demand will be compressed, automatically reducing inflation. But compressing the demand will eventually slow down production, directly affecting the country’s growth. So, RBI has to walk on a very tight rope,” claimed Mr Jindal.

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He further claimed that looking at the current global scenario – growing inflation all around, the U.S. increasing the interest rates and Russia planning to escalate the war with Ukraine, RBI will choose to increase the interest rate to reduce inflation. But that would largely affect the growth of the country and unemployment as well. “Two years of CORONA has caused a massive jolt to the collective growth of countries. While the economy was coping with the battering of COVID, the Russia-Ukraine war sparked a massive recession in the world. Perhaps, I am likely to expect RBI to increase the interest rate to reduce inflation,” said Mr Jindal.

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