Volatility in the rupee and stock markets short-lived: PHD Chamber

New Delhi: While expressing confidence in the Indian economy, Dr D K Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a press statement issued here today that the volatility in the rupee and stock markets is short lived and is majorly driven by the spread of Coronavirus disease (COVID) in many countries.

The markets are expected to stabilize as fundamentals of Indian economy are strong enough to withstand the external shocks on the back of robust economic reforms undertaken by the Government during the last many years, said Dr D K Aggarwal.

The rupee is currently hovering near 74 against dollar, we are hopeful that rupee will strengthen and stabilize, said Dr Aggarwal.

India’s economic resilience has strengthened during the recent times on account of factors such as improving FDI inflows, forex reserves and several measures undertaken to boost up investment sentiments in the economy, added Dr Aggarwal.

India attracted FDI inflows of more than USD 51 billion during April to December 2019-20, he said.

Forex reserves have improved significantly to about USD 481 billion as on February 28, 2020 as against around USD 399 billion as on February 22, 2019.

There are lot of positives for the markets during the last few months such as significant cut in corporate tax rates, large scale investment plans for the infrastructure sector, higher allocations for agriculture and rural development in the Union budget 2020-21, abolition of DDT, rationalization of tax structure, among others. These announcements will have a strong positive impact on the markets in the coming times, said Dr Aggarwal.

At this juncture, we need to boost our domestic consumption demand and domestic capacities to mitigate the likely impact of Coronavirus on global trade, said Dr Aggarwal.

Going ahead, it would be crucial to strengthen the economy from the grassroots and enhance our competiveness to increase our presence in global exports particularly increase in our volumes towards our top export destinations, said Dr Aggarwal.