We are much better off..

"While it doesn't spell out the dreaded term 'stagflation' ," the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "has sharply cut its global growth forecast - from 6.0 percent in 2021 to 3.2 percent in 2022 and 2.7 percent in 2023." pipanews.com. "At first glance, India is in a better position." But "Higher crude oil and fertilizer prices will drive up domestic inflation; The global recession will hurt exports, drag down domestic growth and worsen the trade deficit; A stronger dollar will put pressure the rupee's exchange rate, which will likely result in depleting our foreign exchange reserve and reducing our ability to import goods." The government will have to spend more on subsidies which "will worsen the economic condition of the government". "Driven by rising food prices, India's retail inflation accelerated to 7.41% in September," while "Core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, was estimated at 6.07-6.1 percent". Mint. "Meanwhile, industrial growth, as measured by the Index of Production (IIP), contracted 0.8% in August as compared to 2.4% in July." "The IMF predicted that India's current account deficit will be 3.5% and that is way over the danger mark of 3% and well above what the RBI predicts," said Mythili Bhusnurmath. And, "India has been experiencing jobless growth over the past many years and this is not a recent phenomenon." In its zealous belief that a low interest rate will help stimulate growth by encouraging borrowing, the RBI has sold $110 billion in a desperate attempt to jack up the exchange rate of the rupee and thus arrest imported inflation. ET. Foreign exchange reserves fell to $532.66 billion in the week ended 30 September. That was long ago. Since then, the rupee slumped to 82.69 against the US dollar, BS, but is trading at 82.31 this morning. xe.com. We will know the cost in coming days. High inflation hurts the poor and low interest rate helps the rich. While the US Federal Reserve has raised its interest rate by 300 basis points since March, AA, the RBI has grudgingly raised its repo rate by a cumulative 190 basis points, thus lagging way behind the Fed. TOI. While soaring prices have forced rural customers to restrict spending on essential items like "cooking oils, laundry products, biscuits and chocolates, as well as personal hygiene products", BS, "The pandemic has not impacted affluent consumers' income levels in the country is clear from the fact that the top 20 percent of the population account for the bulk of discretionary consumption - 59 percent in rural areas and 66 percent in urban areas." ET. While sales of passenger vehicles (cars) have grown by 9.71% in September compared to the same month last year, sales of two-wheelers have grown by 9% and tractor sales have fallen by 1.5%, showing the widening gap between the upper and poorer classes. India Today. The current account deficit (CAD) has already reached 2.8% of GDP at $23.9 billion. TOI. Affluent spending will only increase imports of luxury products and CAD. Are the government and RBI losing control? Hope not.