- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
India hikes interest rates 50 basis points to fight inflation
India's central bank on Wednesday hiked rates for a second time, as Asia's third-largest economy reels from galloping inflation in the wake of the Ukraine war.
The Reserve Bank of India raised its key repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.90 percent, a month after kicking off an aggressive monetary tightening cycle with a surprise 0.4 percentage point lift in May.
"The war in Europe is lingering and we are facing newer challenges each passing day," Bank governor Shaktikanta Das said in a televised address, pointing to higher food and fuel prices.
He added that inflation was a global problem but emerging economies were facing "bigger challenges", with market turbulence following monetary policy shifts in advanced economies.
India bounced back strongly from the coronavirus pandemic with one of the world's fastest growth rates, but is now grappling with rising costs as commodity prices skyrocket worldwide.
Consumer inflation has consistently overshot India's two-to-six percent target range in the first four months of the year, hitting an eight-year high of 7.79 percent in April.
"From the policy withdrawal perspective, the RBI in the last two months has moved quite aggressively and swiftly," Upasna Bhardwaj, senior economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank, said in a note.
But despite efforts to curb price pressures, inflation was likely to remain around seven percent for the foreseeable future, she added.
India's economy has seen sharp price increases across the board, including food and fuel.
Last month the government banned wheat exports to rein them in after a heatwave hit local crop yields.
Officials also capped sugar exports to safeguard supplies, and slashed duties on fuel and edible oils to buffer consumer spending.
India imports more than 80 percent of its crude oil needs, with its dependence growing as domestic production falls, and the country's 1.4 billion people have been hit with rising petrol costs.
Prices have risen sharply since Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, and economists estimate that a $10 per barrel increase in Brent crude increases consumer inflation in India by about 25 basis points.
The governor had extensively signalled Wednesday's move in advance, calling a half-percent hike a "no brainer" in a television interview on May 23.
India's 0.4 percent rate rise in May had caught markets by surprise, though economists supported the move as a necessary counterweight to inflation pressures.
F.Cardoso--PC