
India is paying for a war it isn't fighting. Brent is near $115 today. India imports about 85% of its oil, so every spike lands straight on the rupee. The rupee closed at 95.28 today, about 2% off its record low of 96.97 from May. Reserves are down from a record $785B in early September to around $726B, because RBI keeps selling dollars to defend it. Tonight the Fed decides at 11:30 PM IST. If Warsh sounds hawkish, the dollar gets stronger, and the rupee pays for that too. Petrol, EMIs, imported phones and your crypto buys all run through this one number.

