Challenges ahead for Indian Monetary Policy

The much expected rate cut by RBI did not happen. In the midst of all the all sorts of speculation, RBI has adopted a policy of wait and watch for the time being. So what’s there left in Indian market in coming days? The impact of differential interest rate is going to have diverse effect. The following heads could be one way to summarize the future move.

More inflow of dollar is expected in the coming months and the huge capital inflow will further complicate the monetary policy. Rupee has already appreciated by almost 12.3% against dollar in last year and further gain could worsen the plight of export industry. Textile industry has already lost more than 50,000 jobs the issue needs to be addressed soon.

We witnessed the lowest inflation of last 5 years in December 2007, but the wholesale price index rose 3.93% in the week ended January 19. This inflation was highest in the last five months. The huge capital inflow in the market from outside is expected to put pressure on inflation. The petroleum price hike also seems imminent and this going to further accelerates inflation. RBI’s stand on keeping the interest rate intact reflects that curbing inflation is of highest priority at this point of time.

Large capital inflow has increased the liquidity in the market and monetary policy has got complicated, RBI needs to be flexible to act on each and every global clue to keep the interest of one and all.

Economic Fundae - Exchange Rates

In any system it pays to standardize. Essentially this is been the case in every development over the years. We have always tried to find new opportunities in standardizing processes which will improve efficiency.

This can also be seen in the international trade, where people had looked into ways of standardizing the exchange of goods and service. We need to go back to history to see how gold standard worked and what lead to the Bretton Woods system. Much of our worries about raising rupee against dollar dates back to one of greatest move in history by the then President Roosevelt abrogated contracts in which payment was specified in gold.

This system in simple terms made countries to settle their internaional balances in U.S dollars, while the U.S. government redeemed other central banks holdings of dollar for gold at a fixed exchange rate of $35 per ounce. This system came to an end when U.S government was no longer able to redeem dollar for gold in 1971.

Now another question emerges as we probe further into the currency maintained by a country. How will the country decide on their currency?. What should be the growth rate of the currency?. What should be the quantity of the currency?

Gold standard served two purpose, one the domestic standard trying to determine the currency quantity and the rate of growth of money supply. This worked in tandem with the world's gold stock.

Next Gold also provided a standard for the international exchange. Consider the scenario in which U.S fixed the price of gold at $20 per ounce, and the U.K government fixed it at £4 per ounce, then the exhcnage rate equalled $5 per pound. This is called as the fixed exchange regime.

After 1971, we have the floating exchange rate. This works in a simple rule that the central bank of a country will not intervene in the rates set by the market. Hence the demand for a particular currency helps in determining the rates. This demand is because of the larger acceptance of the goods and services of a particular country.

Lets understand the rules of the floating exchange rates more and its interaction with the interest rates and inflation in the subsequent articles.

Rupee appreciation and its after-effect

The rupee has witnessed around 12% appreciation last year, the most since at least 1974. On 16’th Jan 2008, it was quoting at 39.068 per US dollars (USD) against 44.28 at the end of 2006. The strong economic fundamental is one of the major factors for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The appreciation got further strengthened by the sub-prime crisis in US. The sub-prime crisis in US led to fall in US market and investor started taking their money out. They looked for the best market to invest and found Indian market more attractive. According to Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the net investment in India by FII was 19.53 bn USD in 2007 as compared to 8.87 bn USD in the year 2006, a 120% increase in the FII inflow. As per the data from commerce ministry, Foreign direct investments through august last year totaled $12.9 bn USD as compared to $11.1 bn for the whole of year 2006. This high inflow of money from the international market has increased the demand of rupee significantly and that has propelled the sudden surge in value of rupee against dollars. This could have impact on various aspects including trade, inflation and government policy as well.

International Trade:

The strengthening of rupee has made import attractive while it has severely impacted the export. Export growth slowed down to an average 17% till Oct, 2007 from 21.3% a year earlier. The current account (Account for export and imports) deficit widened in the three months through September to $5.5 bn, while the capital-account (Account for FDIs , FIIs and overseas borrowings) surplus more than doubled in the quarter to $34.75 bn. IT business is one of the worst hit industries with all the companies showing slump in growth. These companies have sought for government interference, which is yet to be addressed.

Petroleum Prices:

The soaring crude oil prices has always been a cause of concern for India oil companies with no say in the domestic pricing of petroleum products. The $100 per barrel crude oil would have left government with no other choice except increasing the oil price, which no government will be willing to do when hardly a year is left for the Lok Sabha election. The appreciation in rupee has helped government to compensate the high oil price to some extent.

Impact on Inflation:

January 2007 witnessed the highest inflation in last 3 years because of increased demand for pulses and general goods with supply constraints. The appreciation in rupee made import cheaper and hence decreased price, which led to decrease in inflation to almost 5 years low in December, 2007.

As the full impact of subprime is yet to be amortized and expected further cut in Federal Reserve interest rate, the rupee is expected to further appreciate to 38 per dollar by the end of this year.