Indian economy will navigate thru troubled waters: MPC’s Varma

Monetary policy is now restrictive, supply shocks have dissipated and prices of energy and commodities have corrected. I don’t believe that the geo-political situation will be significantly worse in coming months than what we experienced in the recent past - Jayanth R Varma, MPC member, RBI

New Delhi: The Indian economy has withstood all geo-political shocks in the last couple of years and it will also be able to navigate the uncertainties that lie ahead, RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Jayanth R Varma said on Sunday. Varma further said he expects a benign outcome in 2024 where inflation comes down and growth remains robust. “The Indian economy has withstood all these shocks (Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas war, rising oil prices, Houthi attacks) in the last couple of years and I do not believe that the geopolitical situation will be significantly worse in coming months than what we experienced in the recent past,” he told in an interview.

Moreover, Varma, a professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, said the continued slowdown in China has led to sharply reduced demand for energy and other commodities and this too has ameliorated the adverse effects of supply shock.