India hikes rates 50 basis points to fight inflationAFP, MUMBAI, IndiaIndia’s central bank yesterday hiked rates for a second time, as Asia’s third-largest economy reels from galloping inflation due to the war in Ukraine. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised its key repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.9 percent, a month after launching an aggressive monetary tightening cycle with a surprise 0.4 percentage-point lift. “The war in Europe is lingering and we are facing newer challenges each passing day,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in a televised address, pointing to higher food and fuel prices. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das speaks at a news conference in Mumbai, India, yesterday. Prices have risen sharply since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, and economists estimate that a US$10 per barrel rise in Brent crude would increase consumer inflation in India by about 25 basis points.
