Indian Economic Review最新文献

In this paper, the relationship between nominal interest rate and inflation is analyzed based on Fisher Effect (FE) theory. As per FE theory, the difference between nominal interest rate and expected inflation is equal to real interest rate. The theory proposes that a rise in expected inflation can lead to positive impact on nominal interest rate when the real interest rate is constant. For analyzing FE, the inflation rate measures based on Core index, Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) are considered. As per rational expectation hypothesis, the one-period-ahead inflation rate is considered as expected inflation (eInf). The interest rates (IR) associated with call money, treasury bills of 91- and 364-day maturities are considered. The study uses ARDL bounds testing approach and Granger causality test for analyzing the long-run relationship between eInf and IR. The study finds evidence for presence of cointegrating relationship between eInf and IR in India. Contrary to FE theory, the long-run relation between eInf and IR is found to be negative. The extent and significance of long-run relationship varies depending on measures of eInf and IR considered. Along with cointegration, the expected WPI inflation and interest rate measures also exhibit Granger causality in at least one direction. Although, the cointegration is not observed between expected CPI and IR, there exists Granger causality between these variables. This increasing disconnect between eInf and IR could be attributed to adoption of flexible inflation targeting framework, pursual of additional objectives by monetary authority, different sources and types of inflation, etc.

In an emerging market economy (EME) that depends largely on bank-credit, it is important to decipher whether supply-side or demand-side factors are responsible for a sluggish credit growth phase. A formal empirical analysis using Indian data and a disequilibrium model suggests that demand side factors have majorly contributed to the credit slowdown during the post-GFC period and prior to the pandemic. This could be because of adequate supply of funds, and several concerted policy actions taken by the regulatory authorities to mitigate concerns over the asset quality risks. In contrast, lower investment demand and global supply side bottlenecks have often contributed to demand side weaknesses, suggesting the need for strong policy support to uphold credit demand.

We investigate how the bond market responded to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy actions undertaken since the start of the pandemic. Our approach involves combining a narrative analysis of the media coverage together with an event-study framework around RBI's monetary policy announcements. We find that the RBI's actions early in the pandemic were helpful in providing an expansionary impulse to the bond market. Specifically, long-term bond interest rates would have been meaningfully higher in the early months of the pandemic if not for the actions undertaken by the RBI. These actions involved unconventional policies providing liquidity support and asset purchases. We find that some of the unconventional monetary policy actions had a substantial signaling channel component where the market perceived the announcement of an unconventional monetary policy action as representing a lower future path for the short-term policy rate. We also find that the RBI's forward guidance was more effective in the pandemic than it had been in the couple of years preceding the pandemic.