5% GDP growth a 'surprise', says RBI governor Shaktikanta Das
New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday termed the low GDP growth of 5 percent as a "surprise" but expressed confidence that the economy will look up with a host of measures taken by the government.
He further said that the RBI has been cutting rates to give a boost to the economy as slowdown was visible for past few months.
The RBI slashed benchmark interest rate four times consecutively since January 2019. The central bank reduced the repo (short term lending) rate by 1.10 percentage points during the year.
"I think with right measures taken, things should improve. It's a positive trend that the government is responding very fast and I don't think we have heard the last from the government with regard to dealing with the current economic situation ... My expectation is that it will be a continuous process and they would definitely be dealing with other challenges," he told news channels.
The government announced a slew of measures in three dosages which include a special window for real estate, export incentives, bank consolidation and sops for MSMEs and the automobile sector.
With regard to structural reforms, he said the RBI has already pointed out in its annual report.
"I think one major thing would be agriculture marketing. Definitely, I would expect some action from the government with regard to reforms in agricultural marketing," he said.
Expressing concern over the first quarter GDP numbers, the RBI Governor said the numbers definitely looked much worse because the RBI had projected 5.8 percent.
"I think almost everybody had projected not below 5.5 per cent or so, but the number 5 per cent is a surprise," he said.
He also said the second quarter growth of all advanced economies was lower than the first quarter so there is a deceleration.
"But again I am not trying to justify our slowdown through the prism of the global slowdown although global slowdown does impact growth and results in slowdown we have domestic issues also," he said.
Asked when will the economy see revival, Das said it is difficult to make an estimate as there are many things which are still playing out.
"Now for example the Saudi oil crisis it was something totally unanticipated. The trade issue between two largest economies some statements here it appears that they are going on the brink but then they pull back...so much of uncertainty happening all around," he said.
How various factors play out in the second quarter, the RBI will analyse and make assessment, he added.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
