Indian economy well placed to deal with challenges, says Das

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the Indian economy was well-placed to deal with the current challenges.

“Indian economy has remained resilient and it is well-placed to deal with the challenges emanating from the geopolitical developments,” Mr. Das said while replying to a question by The Hindu at the post-policy press conference, as to where India stood vis-a-vis the global economy. “The banking sector remains resilient and strong. Overall, the macroeconomic numbers also broadly look alright,” he added.

He said despite the depreciation of the Indian rupee, so far it has been among the better-performing currencies in its peer group in emerging market nations and others.

“The fiscal deficit [target] which was there in the Budget for the last year has been achieved. So, overall Indian economy continues to be in a resilient position. The recovery is getting traction and it is reflected in the sense that capacity utilisation has improved. The disbursal of bank credit is also picking up. Rural and urban demand are also showing signs of further improvement and that is how we stand today.”

He added that the RBI expected the current account deficit to remain at a sustainable level and that the normal flows “will enable us to meet the financing of the current account deficit”.

Recently, JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon had reportedly said of the global economic situation that a “hurricane is right out there down the road coming on our way.” And, Telsa CEO Elon Musk spoke about his “super bad feeling” about the economy while announcing a 10% job cut at his electric car company.

Mr. Das himself had in April observed that tectonic shifts were happening following the pandemic and on account of geopolitical tensons.