India's Heat Is Now a Better Predictor of Food Prices Than Rain.

HSBC Holdings PLC; HEAT waves (Meteorology); FARM produce prices; RAINFALL; INFLATION forecasting; CLIMATE change

According to a report by HSBC Holdings Plc, tracking rising temperatures is now a more reliable way of predicting food inflation in India than traditional methods based on rain patterns. The correlation between extreme heat, worsened by climate change, and the price of agricultural commodities in India has increased over the past decade. Inflation in India remains high, largely due to volatile food costs, and the Reserve Bank of India has kept its policy rate steady as a result. While temperatures are expected to drop after the summer heat wave, HSBC warns that rising temperatures could pose a significant challenge to managing inflation in the long term. [Extracted from the article]

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