Keeping an eye on rupee & Fed policy, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that while the domestic market and India’s macroeconomic fundamentals are fairly well-rooted, the government continues to monitor external factors such as the US Fed interest rate policy and the currency exchange rate. “Our growth rate, which has the comfort of a wide domestic captive market and also the bulk middle class, which has the purchasing power to give us comfort, is certainly one of the factors necessary for our growth. The others, I would think, are challenges from outside,” she said.

Participating in a debate organised virtually by the India Global Forum, Sitharaman said investors “need not be jittery at all” about the outcome of general elections due in April-May 2024.

“…keeping their (investors) fingers crossed is normal and I can understand that. But, here I am and also, there are several people who are observing the Indian economy, observing the political environment, observing the ground level realities and the situation as it prevails today; Prime Minister Modi is coming back and coming back with a good majority,” she emphasised.

Earlier in the day, S&P Global Ratings raised India’s growth forecast for this fiscal year to 6.4% from 6%.

Sitharaman noted that indicators within India are comfortably placed because of stable policies and predictable tax domains, but there are challenges in the form of weakening consumption in the West.

“Consumption is falling in many Western economies; it affects me because our exports are so dependent on the European market or the advanced economies’ market, where demand is falling and exports will be adversely affected,” she said. The finance minister noted that the continued high interest rate regime followed by the US Fed and inflationary pressures in most of the Western economies has a bearing on the flow of foreign investments into India, and the exchange rate, particularly for the Indian rupee versus the US dollar. This, she said, is another factor on which the government has to keep a continuous watch.