MUMBAI: Reserve Bank of India’s Deputy Governor, Poonam Gupta, has responded to recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) comments questioning the quality of India’s growth data and classifying the Indian rupee’s exchange rate regime as a “crawling peg” within a managed float system.On the concern regarding data quality, Gupta said that the IMF’s critique is more procedural than substantive. “The point that they’re making on what is perceived to be the quality of our statistics is a very limited one,” she said, emphasizing that the IMF’s taxonomy focuses on whether statistical data submissions have gaps that affect surveillance and not on disputing the inherent quality or “sanctity of the numbers” themselves.
She highlighted that the IMF assigned high reliability grades, either A or B, to most Indian data series, including inflation and fiscal accounts, with only a C rating given to national accounts due to issues linked specifically to base year revisions rather than data integrity. The base year for India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures retail inflation, is being revised to 2024 from the current 2012. The new CPI series with the revised base year is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2026Gupta underlined, “It’s about a base which has been perceived to be dated with this revision, I think they would be satisfied on this count, “she saidRegarding the IMF’s classification of the Indian rupee’s exchange rate regime, Gupta offered context on the broader global framework. She noted that the IMF categorizes exchange rate regimes broadly into fixed, floating, and managed float systems, with only a few countries maintaining fixed rates and most advanced economies adopting free-floating rates. “India practices a managed float, which means the RBI tries to curb undue volatility on each side of a reasonable level,” she said. Observing the past six months, the IMF found India’s exchange rate volatility to be contained within their expected range, leading them to assign a sub-classification of “crawling peg.” Gupta said, “I would not read much into it. It’s just based on cross-country comparison of India having this much volatility compared to some other countries.” She reinforced that India remains firmly in the managed float category like most emerging markets.Opposition leaders have sharply criticized the government by citing the IMF’s ‘C’ grade for India’s national accounts statistics, portraying it as evidence of unreliable GDP data amid claims of robust growth. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh highlighted the irony of the recent 8.2% Q2 FY26 GDP figure, stating on X, “It is ironic that the quarterly GDP numbers have been released very soon after an IMF report gave the second-lowest grade of C to India’s national accounts statistics.” He argued that such high growth lacks sustainability without renewed private investment momentum, pointing to stagnant Gross Fixed Capital Formation and an “unrealistically low” GDP deflator of just 0.5%, which contradicts household inflation experiences.Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram amplified the attack, demanding accountability via Facebook: “Government must explain why the IMF in its annual review of India’s national accounts gave it a C grade.”
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