RBI Governor Says Will Need to Act If Price Pressures Get Entrenched: Bloomberg

Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra warned that policy action may be required if inflationary pressures become entrenched amid rising crude oil prices and supply-side disruptions linked to the ongoing West Asia conflict, a Bloomberg report said.

Speaking at a conference hosted by the Swiss National Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Malhotra said the Reserve Bank of India was willing to look through inflationary pressures if they prove temporary, while stressing that the central bank was becoming increasingly “data dependent” and assessing developments on a meeting-by-meeting basis, the report said.

He added that although India operates under a flexible inflation targeting framework, monetary policy alone may not be sufficient during periods of large supply shocks, making fiscal coordination equally important.

India’s retail inflation rose to 3.48% in April from 3.40% in March, even as the government absorbed part of the increase in global crude oil prices through lower excise duties and support from state-run fuel retailers. The RBI has projected inflation at 4.6% and growth at 6.9% for 2026–27, although economists expect rising energy prices and supply-chain disruptions to weigh on both growth and inflation in the coming quarters.