Andy Mukherjee

How soon will the Reserve Bank of India raise rates and how high will it have to take them? Those have become urgent questions for bankers in Mumbai after elevated energy-import costs pushed the rupee to a record low Thursday.

The Reserve Bank of India under Governor Sanjay Malhotra has managed to avoid raising rates for a while, but with pressure from forex markets mounting, it may have to tighten credit. The central bank may face bigger problems later if it puts off rate hikes for too long.

It took him 12 years, but Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally brought the world’s most-populous nation to the precipice of an all-powerful, one-party state.

The rivalry for the money of choice in the 21st century is heating up. Now that the regulatory stalemate in the US over whether exchanges should reward stablecoin users is nearing a resolution, China may promote its digital yuan in emerging markets that are most likely to get dollarized.

Such a blatant abrogation of individual voting rights is a first in the Indian republic's 76-year history.

A US-Iran peace deal will be cheered by governments around the world. But in India, critically dependent on the Strait of Hormuz for everything from cooking fuel to fertilizers, an end to the energy squeeze of the last three months will only bring short-term relief. That’s because the Middle East crisis has exacerbated a different kind of shortage in the world’s most-populous nation — of capital and ideas. Neither gap will get plugged any time soon.

The rivalry for the money of choice in the 21st century is heating up. Now that the regulatory stalemate in the U.S. over whether exchanges should reward stablecoin users is nearing a resolution, China may promote its digital yuan in emerging markets...

Money is leaving India at an alarming pace. Investment flows from overseas have dried up just as the Iran war has exploded the trade deficit. The rupee has taken a thrashing; official reserves are getting drained. A policy package to ward off a full-fledged currency crisis is on its way. Or at least that’s the market expectation, though there is considerable disagreement over exactly what should be in it.

MONEY is leaving India at an alarming pace. Investment flows from overseas have dried up just as the Iran war has exploded the trade deficit.

India has announced a raft of measures to revive global confidence in the sagging rupee. The best thing about the package announced Friday is what’s not in it: capital controls.