India: inflation up to 9,06%. Likely a rate hike next Thursday

Indian inflation reached 9,06% in May, exceeding both analysts' expectations (+8,74%) and the April figure (+8,66%). This increases the chances that the Reserve Bank of India will raise interest rates on 16 June for the tenth time in the last 15 months. If, as many expect, there were a new monetary tightening, it would be the confirmation of the intentions expressed last month by the governor of the central bank Duvvuri Subbarao who had said he was willing to further slow down Indian growth (+7,8%, the last quarter, the lowest figure of the last five) in order to curb the race in prices. Inflation is a deeply felt political issue in India where, according to World Bank estimates, three-quarters of the population lives on less than two dollars a day.