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RBI - Rajan - Fighting Inflation | Reserve Bank Of India | Inflation
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Fighting Inflation*
Thank you for inviting me. The Fixed Income
Money Market and Derivatives Association of India
(FIMMDA) has been playing an important role in the
Indian bond, money and derivatives markets. It has
been working with the Reserve Bank in various
capacities and has helped us address emerging
challenges. I thank all of you for that. The sessions in
the conference are all of current interest, and therefore,
I have chosen to speak on an issue, inflation, which is
of paramount relevance to fixed income markets.
As you know, the Reserve Bank of India was
constituted “to regulate the issue of Bank notes and
the keeping of reserves with a view to securing
monetary stability in India and generally to operate the
currency and credit system of the country to its
advantage”. Implicit in these words are the core
purposes of the RBI: to foster monetary and financial
stability conducive to sustainable economic growth,
and to ensure the development of an efficient and
inclusive financial system.
Note that the RBI is committed to getting the
strongest growth possible for India – there is no
difference between us and North Block on this. We
believe the best way we can foster sustainable growth
in the current situation, other than through developing
the financial sector, is through monetary stability – by
bringing down inflation over a reasonable period of
time. More specifically, we intend to bring CPI inflation
down to 8 per cent by January 2015 and 6 per cent by
There are a number of points here that need
elaborating. First, are we choosing to tackle inflation at
the expense of growth? Most people believe there is a
Inaugural speech by Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan, Governor, Reserve
Bank of India at FIMMDA-PDAI Annual Conference 2014, on
February 26, 2014 at Mumbai.
RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014
short run trade-off between growth and inflation. By
raising interest rates, the RBI causes banks to raise rates
and thus lowers demand; firms do not borrow as much
to invest when rates are higher and individuals stop
buying durable goods against credit and, instead, turn
to save. Lower demand growth leads to a better match
between demand and supply, and thus lower inflation
for the goods being produced, but also lower growth.
Relatedly, if lower rates generate higher demand
and higher inflation, people may produce more
believing that they are getting more revenues, not
realising that high inflation reduces what they can buy
out of the revenues. Following the saying, “You can fool
all the people some of the time”, bursts of inflation can
generate growth for some time. Thus in the short run,
the argument goes, higher inflation leads to higher
But as the public gets used to the higher level of
inflation, the only way to fool the public again is to
generate yet higher inflation. The result is an
inflationary spiral which creates tremendous costs for
the public. Therefore, economists have argued – and a
number of Nobel prizes have been given for the ideas
contained in the previous paragraphs – that the best
way for the central bank to generate growth in the long
run is for it to bring down inflation. Sooner or later, the
public always understands what the central bank is
doing, whether for the good or for the bad. And if the
public starts expecting that inflation will stay low, the
central bank can cut interest rates significantly, thus
encouraging demand and growth. Indeed, the reason
the Malaysian Central Bank can keep rates low today
to foster growth is because it has fought the battle
against inflation and convinced its citizens that, if need
be, it will smote the inflationary beast again if it rears
Put differently, in order to generate sustainable
growth, we have to fight inflation first. Let me also add
that greater public faith that inflation will be low will
add stability to our currency, and prevent the kind of
gyrations we saw last summer. Exchange rate stability
is centrally in business interests.
While this may lead to a collapse in demand and bring inflation down quickly. however. If we think inflation is so important. All we have done thus far is to adopt the reasonable suggestion of the Patel Committee that we focus on CPI inflation rather than WPI inflation as our primary objective. We do believe. But what about industrialists who tell us to cut rates? I have yet to meet an industrialist who does not want lower rates. if we do raise policy rates substantially. The Patel Committee report is out there for public comments and debate. Inflation is placing a floor on deposit rates. therefore. and the inflationary spiral gains momentum. we believe the rate is appropriately set. and once we collect and analyse comments. ideally. many people form expectations simply by extrapolating the most recent or most salient experience they have. If people believe we are serious about inflation. All this said. A more important source of our influence today. So we also need to take advantage of the current episode of food price disinflation to bring down expectations – yet another reason for acting now. while being prepared to do what is necessary if the economy deviates from the projected inflation path. and will start influencing demand. will cut their lending rates. CFSR. First. it will cause significant damage to the economy – remember the severe recession Volcker’s Fed brought about and the Savings and Loan Crisis that followed? A developing country is not in the same resilient position as the United States. Then there are those who believe we are moving too independently. it would be good for the medium term inflation target to be set by the executive or the legislature. including financial stability? Of course not! Medium term flexible inflation targetting means that the monetary policy RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014 . given her high inflationary expectations. we will take an internal view and then start deliberations with the Government. the Government should leave the technocrats in the central bank to do their job. we don’t believe the primary factor holding back investment today is high interest rates. we have to start today.SPEECH If we have to bring down inflation. we do not believe the policy rate is at a level where it can affect demand. The Patel Committee has also suggested a time horizon to glide down to 6 per cent inflation that seems doable without extreme hardship. Currently. one way or the other. that as inflation comes down because of the weak economy and strong food production. even if we cut rates. The reason is that the depositor. This is why we have raised interest rates 3 times since September. Finally. Of course. whatever the level of rates. banks will also have to raise rates to 12 Fighting Inflation match us. Rather than administer shock therapy to a weak economy. once the central bank’s objective is given. Let us turn from answering those who want us to go slow to those who want us to do more. which are paying higher deposit rates. If the eventual decision of the Government. why don’t we “do a Volcker” and try and bring down inflation quickly by raising rates sky high? Of course. the policy rate will become a stronger influence on bank interest rate setting. Second. does the Patel Committee intend to turn the RBI into inflation “nutters” focussed on bringing down inflation to the exclusion of all else. is to adopt the recommendations of the Mistry. and thus on lending rates. and their expectations of inflation start coming down. presumably based on advice from the Reserve Bank and other experts. we don’t believe banks. inflation will also come down. As of now. international experience suggests that. FSLRC and the Patel Committees. will not settle for less than the rates banks are paying her. We cannot wait till the public’s expectations of inflation get more entrenched. is expectations. therefore. and focus on some form of an inflation objective. in consultation with the Reserve Bank. But will a lower policy interest rate today give him more incentive to invest? We at the RBI think not. and the operational target fixed. the RBI prefers to dis-inflate over time rather than abruptly.
6 per cent in the index. which has a weight of 47. but at a milder pace than the significant relative increase in food prices. Role of food prices in the high inflation experience of recent years Headline inflation measured by the new CPI has remained in double digits during April 2012 to January 2014. has contributed the largest share of headline inflation (Chart 1). averaging 10 per cent over this period. edging down to 9. Bringing that down is centrally within the RBI’s ambit. inflation. Food inflation itself has stayed in double digits throughout this period. That means it may be willing to overlook temporary inflation spikes (such as. while “non-targetters” like the Fed target inflation in all but name. this has not been reflected in a softening of food prices. as well as too low. Growing prosperity and dietary shifts Data on household consumption expenditure show that the share of food in overall consumption has been declining during the last decade (Chart 2). barring reversals in 2009-10 and 2012-13. how do you expect to bring it down through the policy rate? The simple answer to such critics is that core CPI inflation. I want to present one more issue that has many commentators exercised – they say the real problem is food inflation. In other words. reflecting the high inflation in services. 13 . including putting a numerical target to its goal of price stability. Let us try and understand why. But I will argue that policy is not irrelevant even in controlling food inflation.SPEECH Fighting Inflation committee focusses on inflation over the medium term. A number of emerging markets have adopted some form of targetting. This suggests that demand is relatively less elastic to price changes. In the remaining time.9 per cent only in January 2014. Food inflation. though clearly. the Government also has an important role to play. the monetary policy committee will not put on blinkers and see just the inflation number. this November’s inflation numbers) but also raise rates when sustained low interest rates and low inflation increase threats to financial stability – because a financial crisis could lead to deflation. being concerned about too high. has also been very high. RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014 1. 2. Why are food prices high? Although domestic production has increased steadily. which excludes food and energy.
14 Fighting Inflation Other Possible Causes of High Food Price Inflation a. based on a variety of factors including primarily the cost of production and RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014 . particularly in rural areas (Chart 3). There has also been a distinct shift in dietary patterns towards protein-rich items and other high value foods (Chart 4 and Chart 5). The minimum support price is set by the Government on the recommendations of the Commission for Agriculture Cost and Prices (CACP). in turn. per capita food consumption in real terms has increased. These items.SPEECH Despite the decline in overall consumption share. Minimum Support Price One obvious cause for higher food price inflation that analysts have pointed to is higher minimum support prices (MSP). have been contributing significantly to overall food price increases in the recent period.
this is just what is needed. This suggests an appreciable improvement in terms of trade for agriculture.Fighting Inflation price trends in the market (domestic and international). The crops covered under MSP constitute more than a third of the category ‘primary articles’ in the WPI. engineered by the rise in MSPs. If the idea is to get more food production to meet the rising demand we documented. In Chart 7 (a). for key crops the rate of price inflation seems to relate to the increase in MSP in recent years (Chart 6). RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014 SPEECH Another way of saying this is that there has been a shift in the relative price of agricultural commodities. and have sometimes directly set the market price when increases have been substantial. Since minimum support prices are intended to be a floor for market prices. we plot the ratio of WPI of food to WPI of non-food items. 15 .
indicating that the gains from MSP increases have not accrued to the farm sector in full measure on account of rising costs of inputs. it has remained flat. Both these explanations RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014 .SPEECH But when we look at the ratio of changes in input cost over the changes in the output price of agricultural commodities received on the basis of CACP data. Another could be that since rice and wheat are the primary food commodities procured at the MSP. What could explain this? 16 Fighting Inflation One explanation could be that MSPs also drive input costs. so increasing MSPs is like a dog chasing its tail – it can never catch it. and too little of other needed commodities. production is distorted towards rice and wheat. leading to a suboptimal production mix by farmers – too much rice and wheat. This may indicate why production growth has not been stronger.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) A sharp pickup in rural wages was seen after the rural employment guarantee program (assuring 100 days of employment to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work) was enacted. econometric tests suggest causality has flowed from wages to prices. per cent) 2004-05 to 2007-08 2008-09 to 2012-13 7.7 1. RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014 workers are at subsistence wages.3 12. c.8 19. For example. and indeed.5 2.2 8. Rural Liquidity and Credit There has been an increase in liquidity flowing to the agricultural sector. underscoring the role of rural wages as a major determinant in food price increases. From 2007 onwards.7 5. and there is some evidence for this before 2007. but careful econometric studies suggest that it accounts for only a small fraction of the rural wage increase. Prices of agricultural inputs. Ministry of Labour. It is useful though. That said.3 1. to look at the details of the cost increases. any effect is waning (Chart 9). Perhaps the most significant increase has been in rural wages. as well as 17 . both from land sales.0 8. higher food prices do drive rural wages higher.2 11. So why has rural wage growth been so strong? b. Because so many Indian Table 1: Increases in Select Farm Input Prices (Annual average. including wages.4 7. the indexation of MGNREGA wages suggests its effects in pushing rural wage inflation will not disappear entirely. MGNREGA may have contributed to the bargaining power of rural workers.6 6.2 4.4 17.5 10.3 3. have recorded a sharp increase during 2008-09 through 2012-13 in comparison with the preceding five years (2004-05 to 2007-08) as shown below (Table 1). wage increases have accounted for the largest share of increase in paddy input costs (Chart 8).3 Food Articles Fertilisers and Pesticides Fodder Gola (Cattle Feed) High Speed Diesel Electricity (Agricultural) Tractors Wages (Average) Source: Ministry of Commerce.SPEECH Fighting Inflation would suggest the need for more moderation as the Government sets the MSPs in coming months. however. Nominal rural wages have grown at a sharp pace during the last five years.
SPEECH Fighting Inflation from a rise in agricultural credit (Chart 10). now accounts for less than 18 wages (due to scarcity). 50 per cent (Chart 11 and Table 2). RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014 . employment in 1999-2000. particularly construction. Labour shifting to Construction Agriculture. More loans to agriculture have fostered substantial private investment in agriculture. This would have the effect of pulling up rural labourers’ d. which accounted for 60 per cent of total The labour force has been moving from agriculture to non-agriculture sectors. especially in the labour supplying states. Total agricultural labour declined from 259 million in 2004-05 to 231 million in 2011-12. but may also have pushed up rural wages.
to contain food inflation and get a strong increase in food production. RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014 In sum then. primarily rural wage inflation. Female participation One of the more interesting possible explanations for the rise in rural wages is the changing female participation in rural markets. however. wages elsewhere also go up. If. Also. we need to i. Source: NSSO and 12th Plan Document e. iii. the necessary shift in relative wages to keep agricultural work attractive will not take place. mining and quarrying. higher prosperity could lead to greater investment in educating girls (for the age group 10 to 24) again leading to lower participation in the workforce. Contain the rise in wages elsewhere so that relative wages in agriculture can rise without too much overall increase in wages. electricity and water supply. To summarise Table 2: Sector-wise Share in Employment (Per cent) Sectors 19992000 2004-05 2009-10 2011-12 Agriculture 60 57 53 49 Secondary sector excluding construction* 12 13 12 14 4 6 10 11 24 25 25 27 100 100 100 100 Construction Services Total *Includes manufacturing. or MGNREGA. Some of that is an increase in real wages. when we examine food inflation. a substantial portion stems from an increase in food production costs. Allow food prices to be determined by the market and use minimum support prices to provide only 19 . Also. Contain any unwarranted rise in rural wages as well as the rise in other agricultural input costs (though not through subsidies) so that the farmer gets a higher return. and we will continue to have a wage spiral. Improved living standards could lead rural families to withdraw women from the labour force (Chart 12). some of the agricultural wage growth may be because of more liquidity flowing into rural areas. The female participation rate is down in all the age categories. Somewhat paradoxically. education. away from construction. needed to attract labour to agriculture. ii.SPEECH Fighting Inflation 3. household work.
and monopoly power of middlemen (amend APMC Acts). despite food being an important component of the CPI.  Higher agricultural commodity prices should have incentivised farmers to produce significantly more. This means limiting the pace of MSP increases going forward.  They have. and do not intervene in limiting exports or imports. which are an important part of the CPI index) is far less controversial. irrigation. Indeed.  Monetary policy is an appropriate tool with which to limit the rise in wages. Improve farm productivity through technology extension.  As prosperity has increased the demand for food. though a recent pick up is of concern. services prices. but not enough. with the slowdown in the urban economy.SPEECH Fighting Inflation a lower level of support so that production decisions do not get distorted or the price wage spiral accentuated. number. Reduce the wedge between what the farmer gets and what is paid by the household by reducing the role. given that it has to rise relative to other wages to attract labour into agriculture. v. Let me emphasise that the RBI welcomes rural prosperity and wants to help increase rural productivity through appropriate credit and investment. But recent inflation has not helped strengthen the hand of the farmer. moderating. monetary policy has a direct role in (i) and (ii) by slowing the demand for labour and by anchoring inflation expectations and thereby moderating wage bargaining. so the fight against inflation is also in the farmer’s interest.  The slowdown in rural wage growth may be partly the consequence of tighter policy limiting wage rise elsewhere. 20 RBI Monthly Bulletin March 2014 . such moderation should feed through to domestic food prices – provided we do not intervene to prevent the feed-through of global prices. our food prices have largely caught up with global prices (we were the world’s largest rice exporter last year). as well as by improving logistics. we have needed more food production (or imports). To conclude. especially urban ones. Part of the reason may be that farmer earnings are being eaten away by higher costs. there is some evidence now that rural wage growth is slowing (Chart 13). most important of which is wages. etc. wages elsewhere should not rise as much. Given that global food prices have been To sum up. iv.  To limit the rise in rural wages. Note that of these steps. monetary policy’s effectiveness in containing other price and wage increases (such as. Finally. the RBI believes its fight against inflation will have traction. • Of course.
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