RBI to leave key policy rates unchanged: CRISIL

CRISIL`s research report on Inflation

Defying the sharper than expected slowdown in GDP growth and a severe slump in private consumption demand, WPI inflation continued its upward march in August due to persistent supply shock from a weak rupee and food items. WPI-based inflation rose further to 6.1 per cent in August 2013 from 5.8 per cent in July (Figure 1). This is in contrast to CPI inflation which nudged down to 9.5 per cent in August. Non-food manufacturing inflation, (RBI’s preferred measure of core inflation) fell to 1.9 per cent in August from 2.4 per cent in July.

• Inflation measured through CRISIL Core Inflation Index (CCII) too fell to 2.6 per cent in August from 3.7 per cent in July.
• Surprisingly, the core CPI inflation remained at 8.2 per cent in August, almost similar to last month.

The fall in core inflation is the impact of weak demand, despite some pass-through of the sharp increases in input costs into final products to cushion margins. The month of August witnessed massive volatility and a sharp depreciation of the rupee. Rupee/US$ fell by nearly 11.5 per cent during August, 2013. This kept the inflation in the globally linked fuel category (petrol, naptha, aviation turbine fuel, bitumen, etc.) high in August. Double whammy from weak rupee and rise in the global crude prices due to escalation of Syrian conflict is largely behind this. Despite some strengthening, the rupee will remain significantly depreciated w.r.t last year keeping upward pressure on import component of inflation.

Our View: Last month, we had highlighted that there was an upside risk to inflation from the weak rupee. That risk has now materialised. Accordingly, we have revised upward the average WPI inflation forecast for this fiscal to 6.2 per cent from 5.3 per cent. Core inflation is low right now, but loosening of monetary policy to support growth runs the risk of creating a situation of high generalised inflation as the supply shocks persist. We expect RBI to leave interest rates unchanged on September 20 and also for the rest of the year.

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