Das’ legacy of stability

The outgoing pro-reformist RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das leaves a legacy of stability and consistency in monetary policy in the most difficult and challenging times of Covid and geopolitical turbulence consequent upon trade and tariff war of the US and China. The persuasive approach and pre-emptive policy decision-making with immediate action marked the success story of the outgoing RBI Governor. Issuing perfunctory warnings and advisories was not his work culture. The new RBI Governor, Sanjay Malhotra, is already at the helm of economic affairs and is fully conversant about how the economic policies of the government and the RBI move and work at the ground level.

Vinod Johri

Delhi

Growth and inflation

Striking a balance between growth and inflation management has always been a tightrope walk. Hopefully, the new RBI Governor masters the art of balancing both priorities to address the dual challenges effectively.

The Indian economy is navigating a particularly turbulent phase, marked by high food inflation, foreign portfolio investor sell-offs, depleting foreign exchange reserves, frequent forex interventions to stabilise a weakening rupee, increasing incidents of bank fraud, and geopolitical tensions that cloud the global economic outlook. Additionally, the looming threat of a trade war between the US and China raises concerns about supply chain disruptions. The new incumbent, a seasoned bureaucrat with experience as Revenue Secretary and expertise in tax policy formulation, now faces the pressing need to shift gears from fiscal policy to managing complex monetary policy issues. His ability to successfully steer the economy will hinge on aligning with the government’s broader vision while addressing multifaceted challenges with prudence and foresight.

Srinivasan Velamur

Chennai

PLI for electronics sector

The refers to ‘MeitY to soon send to Cabinet ₹40,000-cr PLI plan for electronic parts’ (December 10). This has huge significance from the point of view of the electronics industry as well as to reduce the humongous electronic imports from China. This initiative is likely to transform the electronics industry from an import-dependent and assembling kind of “manufacturing” ecosystem to a real manufacturing ecosystem. The PLI scheme may give high priority for manufacture of components such as printed circuit boards, which form a major chunk of electronic component imports. Though India has skilled workforce in electronics, there has been a shortage of semi-skilled workforce. The skilling programmes at various levels should be utilised to plug this gap in semi-skilled manpower. The scheme would yield better results, if the scheme is made applicable to MSME units also.

Kosaraju Chandramouli

Hyderabad