NEW DELHI – The Center is ready to take more policy measures to help insulate the economy from the negative impacts of conflict in West Asia, and will work to phase them out gradually rather than making hasty announcements.These steps will focus on ensuring the availability of sufficient goods, raw materials, inputs and finished products to meet domestic needs, while seeking to provide stability to the Indian currency and foreign exchange flows.“More steps will be announced. We will respond with further measures when appropriate,” one of the officials said.In the past six years, starting with COVID-19, the government has had to deal with multiple challenges, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and disruptions in sea routes after the hostage crisis in Israel, and the government has chosen to respond in multiple ways.
Unlike Covid, when the government and the RBI put together a series of measures and announced them in batches, the response this time has been to address issues as they arise.Only this week, apart from coordinated policy measures taken by the government and the Reserve Bank of India to increase external investment in government bonds and other instruments, the Center approved a package for airlines to protect them and oil companies from the impact of rising crude oil prices.
Concerns regarding petrochemical and cotton supplies have also been addressed, and at present there are not many issues in manufacturing, government officials said. In the case of exports, where the package was announced, the first two months of the current fiscal year are said to have witnessed double-digit growth, although the trade deficit remains a cause of concern, given the rise in oil and gold prices. “We are monitoring the matter closely and things seem to be going well this quarter,” an official said.Moreover, the Center will have to deal with the subsidy issue in the coming months as it is likely to upset its financial accounts due to rising prices of fertilizers and cooking gas cylinders for households.
