The view that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) should ignore food prices while determining the policy rate has resurfaced again, with calls for lowering the policy interest rate, including by senior government functionaries. Given that early signs of spillover from food are beginning to emerge, a premature rate reduction could affect expectations and result in the generalisation of inflation. As the top edit points out, the RBI made the mistake of ignoring food prices in the early 2010s, resulting in inflation getting broad-based. A repeat will be best avoided, it says. Read it here
In other views:
Pranjul Bhandari shows how growth is normalising to more sustainable, more broad-based, and still strong levels. Read it here
The second edit says schemes to decongest Indian prisons have not worked. Read it here
Kavita Rao examines the systemic shift in the composition of income of non-financial companies in favour of passive incomes. Read it here