Swati Bhat

Fortifying India's macroeconomic fundamentals is the best shield against elevated global uncertainties, a deputy governor of the country's central bank said in New York on Monday.

Aggregate demand in India is likely to shrug off the temporary slowdown in momentum seen in the second quarter as festive demand picks up pace and consumer confidence improves, the central bank said on Monday.

A sharp jump in India's retail inflation for September has prompted several economists to push back domestic rate cut bets to the first-half of 2025 from early December, with some citing growth as a bigger factor that could determine the timing of an interest rate reduction.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday as widely expected, but changed its policy stance to "neutral", opening the door for rate cuts as early as December.

India's central bank is likely to keep rates steady on Wednesday, with a small number of investors betting on the probability of a change in stance to neutral, opening the door to rate cuts as economic growth slows and global rates ease.

India's newly-appointed monetary policy committee members may see at least one dissenter calling for a rate cut when the group meets next week, several economists said in separate research notes this week.

JPMorgan , the largest bank in the U.S., is bullish on India and Japan within Asia but is also keen to allocate resources towards Southeast Asia, which is benefiting from the "China Plus One" strategy, a top official at the bank said.

India's Vodafone Idea on Sunday concluded a $3.6 billion deal with mobile and network manufacturers Nokia , Ericsson and Samsung for supply of equipment over a period of three years, it said in a statement to exchanges.

Moody's raised India's growth projection for 2024 and 2025 citing signs of improving rural demand, while Fitch affirmed the country's sovereign credit rating, the agencies said in separate releases on Thursday.

Headline inflation impacts Indians directly and should be retained as the target for monetary policy rather than switching to core inflation, external members of the central bank's rate panel told Reuters.