RBI & IMF URGE REFORMS, STEADY BORROWING, PRICE STABILITY

RBI flags fiscal-monetary teamwork on inflation; IMF urges reforms and discipline; bond auction fully subscribed even as global uncertainty lingers.

- ‘AGENCIES

RBI: Fiscal-monetary coordination and a 4.4% Centre deficit path kept inflation in check; rupee managed for orderly moves. FX lens: Dollar ~10% off peak; rupee's smaller rise reflects tariffs and outflows-volatility curbed, markets deep. IMF push: Regulatory cleanup, rebuild buffers, fix global imbalances; "think the unthinkable" on future shocks and AI risks. Bond signal: G-sec auction fully subscribed-Rs18,000cr 2030 (6.1252%), Rs12,000cr 2074 (7.1782%); no devolvement.

India’s macro playbook—tighter fiscal discipline paired with close monetary-fiscal coordination—has helped contain inflation without stalling growth, even as tariffs, commodity volatility and a choppy dollar cycle tested emerging markets, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said during an IMF Annual Meetings conversation with Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department.

Malhotra framed India’s response as a joint effort across the fiscal and monetary arms. “A coordinated effort with the fiscal authorities, identifying what the pressure points are, both on the demand side and supply side, and this coordinated action really helped us,” he said. He credited fiscal consolidation at both Union and state levels for macro stability: the Centre's deficit is “projected... to be down to 4.4% of GDP,” while combined public debt of Centre plus states is “amongst the lowest, amongst the large debt economies... only Germany has lower public debt levels,” he noted.