Russian oil import conundrum, RBI squeezes short-sellers

President Trump's comments this week that Prime Minister Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia have been denied by India's Ministry Of External Affairs. The latest data show that Russia's seaborne crude exports to India have indeed dropped, but there are reasons to think this overstates the true extent of the fall. Meanwhile, the RBI appears to have aggressively intervened in the FX market this week. We think that's an attempt to squeeze out short-sellers rather than a sign that the central bank is fundamentally concerned about rupee depreciation.