TLI Staff
New Delhi: The 25 basis points increase in policy repo rate is on expected lines considering that core inflation remains a concern even as both retail and wholesale inflations have shown downward trend, said EEPC India Chairman Arun Kumar Garodia.
“While it is paramount to keep inflation in check, the priority now should be on giving strong thrust to exports to drive economic growth,” he said reacting to RBI’s bi-monthly monetary policy.
Garodia said that higher public spending proposed by the Union Budget for FY24 would certainly keep the growth momentum going but weak exports could take the shine off.
He said that the engineering goods exports suffered year-on-year decline for the sixth straight month in December 2022 and the pace of decline also accelerated.
“In view of the impending global downturn and its impact on trade, the engineering goods sector needs support. The high interest rate could significantly affect the competitiveness of engineering exporters in the international market and therefore it is imperative to provide export finance at reasonable rates,” said EEPC India chief.