Macro-financial risk
2026-04-26
10 minute read
14 sources
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...