Where the math is defensible.
Long-form research on live enterprise decisions. Publication is selective. Every number traces to a named source. No takes without evidence.
India RBI Pivot 2026: Inflation Glide, Malhotra Easing Cycle, and the JPM GBI Bond Re-rating
Sanjay Malhotra inherited the repo rate at 6.50 percent on December 11, 2024 and delivered the first rate cut since May 2020 on February 7, 2025. With CPI at 3.61 percent in February 2025, USD 25 to 30 billion of JPM GBI EM index inflows reshaping the bond bid, and INR pinned at record lows, the question is no longer whether India eases, but how far the curve and the rupee allow it to go.
On December 11, 2024 Sanjay Malhotra succeeded Shaktikanta Das as the 26th RBI Governor, replacing the architect of the 2020 to 2024 inflation regime at the moment headline CPI peaked at 6.21 percent in October 2024 on a tomato, onion, and potato shock. By February 2025 the food spike had reversed with the kharif harvest, headline CPI fel...
Food-shock propagation in 2026: from CPI to political risk
A 25 percent move in wheat, rice, or sugar in 2026 reaches household budgets in eight import-dependent countries within 90 days, blows out fiscal subsidy lines within six months, and shows up as street pressure inside a year. The propagation chain is mappable.
A 2026 food shock has three plausible origins: a Black Sea wheat disruption, an Indian rice export ban extension, or a Brazilian and Indian sugar squeeze tied to ethanol diversion and cane yield loss. Each origin moves through the same five-stage chain: futures markets, freight and FX, landed import prices, domestic CPI, and fiscal subsid...