Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Tread carefully: On inflation

Tread carefully: On inflation

Price and growth trends need to be watched closely before raising interest rates

India’s latest inflation (मुद्रा स्फ़ीति, महंगाई) data present policymakers with a fraught (anxious/worried, distressed, agitated/panicky) choice: whether to respond to the latest acceleration (त्वरण, बढ़ना) in retail price gains to a five-month high with more sizeable (महत्वपूर्ण, बड़ा, पर्याप्त) interest rate increases, or pause the monetary (मुद्रा, वित्तीय, धन) tightening so as to allow fragile (weak, risky, unreliable, insecure) growth to gain more traction (संकर्षण, लोकप्रियता; स्वीकृति). Inflation figures (आकृति, आँकड़ा, संख्या) based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) show retail price gains on a resurgent trajectory (प्रक्षेपवक्र, मार्ग, दिशा) with food prices leading the charge. Vegetables and cereals (अनाज) were the biggest culprits (अपराधी, दोषी), with the prices of the former surging 18% from a year earlier and rising a substantial (संतोषजनक, महत्वपूर्ण, उल्लेखनीय) 2.6% from the preceding (के पिछले, पूर्व) month; staple (main, principal, major, primary, leading, foremost, most important) grains, including rice and wheat, climbed (चढना, बढ़ना) 11.5% from September 2021 and increased 2% from August levels. These two food items have a combined weight of 15.7% in the overall CPI and account for (के लिये उत्तरदयी होना, बनाना) more than a third of the food and beverages (a drink, such as tea, coffee, liquor, beer, milk, juice, or soft drinks, usually excluding water) category’s cumulative (संचयी, कुल, सामूहिक) weight. Rice prices have continued to rise in the face of (despite, notwithstanding, regardless of; when confronted with) a projected (योजना बनाना, परियोजना करना) 6% shortfall (deficit, inadequacy/deficiency; shortcoming/defect) in kharif output, the Government’s efforts to ease supply through export curbs (restriction, limitation) on non-Basmati rice notwithstanding (despite, in spite of, regardless of). Heavy rains at the monsoon’s tail end (the last part of something) have hit (affect badly) vegetable output, causing wholesale level prices to accelerate by an eye-watering ((of number, amount, value) so high, extremely large, very expensive (than what you expected and so it is painful/difficult (i.e. makes your eyes water)) 39.7% in September, with month-on-month gains alone exceeding 10%. The forecast (prediction, estimation, calculation, reckoning, expectation) for food prices, therefore, remains clouded (obscure, make unclear, confuse, muddle) with uncertainty (unpredictability, unreliability, riskiness/precariousness), at least in the short term, with the risks tilted (slant, incline, tip, bend) to the upside (positive, beneficial, advantageous (situation)).

The rupee’s continuing depreciation (devaluation, decrease in value) against the dollar has further roiled (to make irritated/annoyed; to make angry or irritable) the outlook (expectations, prospects, hopes, likely improvement) for price stability (no (drastic) change in the price of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. It implies avoiding both prolonged inflation and deflation), with imported inflation hard to counter (tackle, resist) through monetary measures (action, step, procedure). As RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra noted in the central bank’s (the banking regulator of a county’s banking system. (e.g. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of India)) Monetary Policy (monetary policy refers to the use of monetary instruments under the control of the central bank to regulate magnitudes such as interest rates, money supply, and availability of credit with a view to achieving the ultimate objective of economic policy mentioned in the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934) Committee meeting last month, that India is a ‘net commodity importer, with over a third of the CPI being imported’ complicates policymaking (the process of formulating policies, particularly in politics), especially when the terms of trade turn unfavourable (damaging, dangerous, destructive, ruinous). Also, with five of the six services categories registering sequential (happened in sequence/order/succession) inflation as well, it is hard to disagree with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’s argument that policy must be aimed at preventing price pressures from broadening. Still, with the latest private sector output trends in S&P Global’s survey-based manufacturing and services PMI data for September flagging (indicate, identify, point out; draw attention to) a renewed (re-established; prolonged, extended) slowdown (economic decline, recession, downturn, depression, slump), and a looming (appearing/emerging as a large/threatening one; imminent, impending, forthcoming, fast approaching) global recession (economic decline, slowdown, downturn, depression, slump) pointing to (indicate, suggest, signal, signify, denote, reveal) a decline in demand for India’s exports, the outlook for growth appears tenuous. Given (considering, taking into account, bearing in mind) that monetary policy affects real interest rates with a distinct lag (delay), it may be a difficult but wiser choice to heed (pay attention to, take into account, consider) the MPC’s dissenting voices of Ashima Goyal and Jayanth Varma and refrain momentarily from raising interest rates till the fog (a state of confusion; a state of unclearness/obscurity) of uncertainty lifts and a clearer picture (view) of price and growth trends emerges.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.inflation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मुद्रा स्फ़ीति, महंगाई
English Meaning - simply meaning “cost of living”; increase of price level of goods & services and vice versa decrease of currency value.

2.acceleration (noun)

Hindi Meaning - त्वरण, बढ़ना
English Meaning - increase, rise, surge.

3.sizeable (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - महत्वपूर्ण, बड़ा, पर्याप्त
English Meaning - substantial, significant, considerable, fairly large.

4.monetary (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - मुद्रा, वित्तीय, धन
English Meaning - fiscal, financial, money.

5.traction (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संकर्षण, लोकप्रियता; स्वीकृति
English Meaning - popularity; acceptance; grip, purchase.

6.figure (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आकृति, आँकड़ा, संख्या
English Meaning - statistic, number, total, amount.

7.trajectory (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रक्षेपवक्र, मार्ग, दिशा
English Meaning - track/course, route, path, direction, approach.

8.cereal (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अनाज
English Meaning - a grain or plants that produce it (for example-wheat, maize, rice & etc.).

9.culprit (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अपराधी, दोषी
English Meaning - the reason/cause of a problem.

10.substantial (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - संतोषजनक, महत्वपूर्ण, उल्लेखनीय
English Meaning - significant, considerable, sizeable, fairly large.

11.preceding (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - के पिछले, पूर्व
English Meaning - previous, prior, earlier.

12.climb (verb)

Hindi Meaning - चढना, बढ़ना
English Meaning - increase, rise, go up.

13.account for (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - के लिये उत्तरदयी होना, बनाना
English Meaning - constitute, form, make up, comprise.

14.cumulative (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - संचयी, कुल, सामूहिक
English Meaning - total, collective, aggregate.

15.project (verb)

Hindi Meaning - योजना बनाना, परियोजना करना
English Meaning - forecast, predict, estimate, calculate, gauge, reckon, expect.

16.tread (verb)

English Meaning - walk, step, stride, go.

17.fraught (adjective)

English Meaning - anxious/worried, distressed, agitated/panicky.

18.price gain (noun)

English Meaning - a general increase in the price of something.

19.tightening (noun)

English Meaning - an act of making something stricter/rigorous.

20.so as to (phrase)

English Meaning - in order to.

21.fragile (adjective)

English Meaning - weak, risky, unreliable, insecure.

22.Retail or Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation (noun)

English Meaning - The change in the price index of the basket of consumer goods and services over a period of time is referred to as CPI-based inflation or retail inflation.

23.resurgent (adjective)

English Meaning - rising again; increasing or reviving after a period of little activity/dullness.

24.lead the charge (phrase)

English Meaning - at the forefront; in a leading position.

25.surge (verb)

English Meaning - increase or rise suddenly.

26.staple (adjective)

English Meaning - main, principal, major, primary, leading, foremost, most important.

27.beverage (noun)

English Meaning - a drink, such as tea, coffee, liquor, beer, milk, juice, or soft drinks, usually excluding water.

28.in the face of (phrase)

English Meaning - despite, notwithstanding, regardless of; when confronted with.

29.projected (adjective)

English Meaning - predicted, estimated, calculated, reckoned, expected.

30.shortfall (noun)

English Meaning - deficit, inadequacy/deficiency; shortcoming/defect.

31.kharif sowing/crops (noun)

English Meaning - monsoon crops; seeds sowing in the beginning (Jun) of the monsoon and harvesting at the end of the season (Oct) in the South Asia.

32.rabi sowing/crops (noun)

English Meaning - winter crops; seeds sowing in the beginning (Nov) of the winter and harvesting at the end of the season (Apr) in the South Asia.

33.curb (noun)

English Meaning - restriction, limitation.

34.notwithstanding (preposition)

English Meaning - despite, in spite of, regardless of.

35.tail end (noun)

English Meaning - the last part of something.

36.hit (verb)

English Meaning - affect badly.

37.eye-watering (adjective)

English Meaning - (of number, amount, value) so high, extremely large, very expensive (than what you expected and so it is painful/difficult (i.e. makes your eyes water).

38.month-on-month (adjective)

English Meaning - used to compare data for one month with that in previous months.

39.forecast (noun)

English Meaning - prediction, estimation, calculation, reckoning, expectation.

40.cloud (verb)

English Meaning - obscure, make unclear, confuse, muddle.

41.uncertainty (noun)

English Meaning - unpredictability, unreliability, riskiness/precariousness.

42.tilt (verb)

English Meaning - slant, incline, tip, bend.

43.upside (noun)

English Meaning - positive, beneficial, advantageous (situation).

44.tilt the balance (phrase)

English Meaning - to change the balance of a situation, so that one side is gaining advantage.

45.depreciation (noun)

English Meaning - devaluation, decrease in value.

46.roil (verb)

English Meaning - to make irritated/annoyed; to make angry or irritable.

47.outlook (noun)

English Meaning - expectations, prospects, hopes, likely improvement.

48.price stability (noun)

English Meaning - no (drastic) change in the price of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. It implies avoiding both prolonged inflation and deflation.

49.counter (verb)

English Meaning - tackle, resist.

50.measure (noun)

English Meaning - action, step, procedure.

51.central bank (noun)

English Meaning - the banking regulator of a county’s banking system. (e.g. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of India).

52.monetary policy (noun)

English Meaning - monetary policy refers to the use of monetary instruments under the control of the central bank to regulate magnitudes such as interest rates, money supply, and availability of credit with a view to achieving the ultimate objective of economic policy mentioned in the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

53.The monetary policy committee (MPC) (noun)

English Meaning - it is a six-member panel that is expected to bring “value and transparency” to rate-setting decisions. It will feature three members from the RBI — the Governor, a Deputy Governor and another official — and three independent members to be selected by the Government. The MPC will meet four times a year to decide on monetary policy by a majority vote.

54.policymaking (noun)

English Meaning - the process of formulating policies, particularly in politics.

55.unfavourable (adjective)

English Meaning - damaging, dangerous, destructive, ruinous.

56.sequential (adjective)

English Meaning - happened in sequence/order/succession.

57.Inflationary/price pressures (noun)

English Meaning - the demand and supply-side pressures that can cause a rise in the general price level; cost-push inflation, hot-economy, deficit finance.

58.S&P Global Inc. (noun)

English Meaning - an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial information and analytics; S&P Global, Inc. engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Ratings, Market Intelligence, Platts and Indices.

59.Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) (noun)

English Meaning - Purchasing Managers’ Index or PMI is an economic indicator, which is derived after monthly surveys of different companies. The index shows trends in both the manufacturing and services sector. The index helps in determining whether the market conditions, as seen by purchasing managers, is expanding, contracting or staying the same. It is used to provide information regarding the current and future business conditions.

60.flag (verb)

English Meaning - indicate, identify, point out; draw attention to.

61.renewed (adjective)

English Meaning - re-established; prolonged, extended.

62.slowdown (noun)

English Meaning - economic decline, recession, downturn, depression, slump.

63.looming (adjective)

English Meaning - appearing/emerging as a large/threatening one; imminent, impending, forthcoming, fast approaching.

64.recession (noun)

English Meaning - economic decline, slowdown, downturn, depression, slump.

65.point to (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - indicate, suggest, signal, signify, denote, reveal.