India better placed to handle US tariffs

Most of the forecasts now for the global GDP growth rate have come down by at least 20-30 basis points

- Shayan Ghosh

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 6%—its second rate cut this year—thanks to its benign inflation outlook (4%, down from 4.2%). The central bank, however, lowered its India GDP growth forecast for this financial year to 6.5% from 6.7%.

Announcing the decisions on Wednesday, RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra also said India was better placed to handle US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs since the domestic industry's dependence on US exports was smaller than that of other nations.

Here are Malhotra's responses on some key issues:

Most of the forecasts now for the global GDP growth rate have come down by at least 20-30 basis points (bps). Not only for this year but even for next year.