Modi’s Austerity Appeal Shows His Luck May Have Run Out

It is rare for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to admit that there’s trouble on the horizon. He has built his public image around success and security, reassuring his faithful voters that nothing out there in a troubling and dangerous world will be allowed to touch them as long as he is in charge. That is why it was startling when this weekend, he appealed to Indians to change their consumption habits in an attempt to insulate the economy from the fallout of the Gulf crisis.

Modi made seven requests of citizens: to work from home, use public transport, stop buying gold, cut down on cooking oil, avoid imported goods and trips abroad, and use less fertilizer. The markets were able to read the obvious message: The government is worried about the current account balance. Fuel, fertilizer, cooking oil, and vast amounts of gold are bought from abroad; unless the import bill is slashed, India might be looking at a balance-of-payments crisis. The rupee crashed to its weakest-ever level on Tuesday, trading at 95.63 to a dollar.