Gavaskar or Sehwag?

"I remember in the 70s when Sunil Gavaskar was at his peak you think that he is playing a very slow game but suddenly you find he has scored a century," said Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Shaktikanta Das. Similarly, "over a time horizon if you see the Reserve Bank has been acting steadily". We just pray that the inflation rate does not reach a century. "Comments by members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) indicate that controlling inflation is the top priority and more rate hikes are on the cards, but the extent of the rate hikes will be lower than earlier expected, economists said." ET. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha compares 15 large economies with two sets of numbers. "The first shows how inflation in 2022 in these countries will differ from inflation in 2019, the last year before the pandemic struck." "The second set of numbers compares what gross domestic product (GDP) at constant prices in each country would have been if their economy has continued on its pre-pandemic path versus the actual GDP at the end of this year." India's inflation rate was 4.5% in 2019 and is 7.3% in 2022, while the trend GDP in 2022 was expected to be Rs 184.58 trillion but is actually much lower at Rs 159.76 trillion. A committee headed by former RBI Governor Urjit Patel recommended that real interest rate should be higher than the rate of inflation but, in fact, interest rate is grossly below the rate of inflation at 5.4%, after a 50 basis points hike this month. AP. Das is pleased that he is playing like Gavaskar but he should be playing more like Virender Sehwag who had the third highest strike rate of 82.23 in Test Matches. cricketweb.net. That is because inflation rate in the US was 1.8% in 2019 and is 8.3% in 2022, while its trend GDP was expected to be $20.12 trillion but is slightly higher at $20.14 trillion. The Federal Reserve in the US raised its Funds rate by 25 basis points (bps) in March, by 50 bps in May and then by 75 bps in June. US Today. Then followed it up with another 75 bps hike at the end in July. CNBC. The next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is on 20-21 September. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is to speak at Jackson Hole on Friday at which he is expected to give an indication on the scale of further monetary tightening. Market Watch. That's where the rupee comes in. Aggressive tightening by the Fed will strengthen the value of the dollar against the rupee and increase cost of imports. "Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Bloomberg on Monday that OPEC+ could cut oil output as markets are currently experiencing 'schizophrenia'." BI. In fact, "OPEC+ produced 2.892 million barrels per day (bpd) below their targets in July." Reuters. Further cuts could push oil prices higher and our inflation rate with it. As retired IAS officer Das would have an armor plated pension with 38% Dearness Allowance plus a hefty salary as Governor of RBI, but poor people don't. And most Indians are poor.