Visiting US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke today met corporate India leaders and discussed the recent American policy measures, including quantitative easing and the economic climate in the country.
“We got briefed by both on the US economic situation. We briefed them on India and said we were very confident now that the reform process is taking place,” Godrej group Chairman Adi Godrej told presspersons after the breakfast meet arranged by industry lobby CII, which he heads.
A majority of the business leaders said the recent decision of the Federal Reserve to inject a third round of liquidity injection and its implications were discussed.
“He (Bernanke) explained what the strategy for QE3 (quantitative easing 3) is and assured us that the implications are not going to be as large as people fear,” Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of infra financier IDFC, Rajiv Lall, said.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, during interactions with Geithner yesterday, had expressed his concerns over the impact of the QE3 on commodity prices, as that will have a direct bearing on the Government’s and the RBI’s efforts at controlling inflation and boosting growth here.
To a question, Lall said contentious issues such as those surrounding visas to Indian IT professionals by the US and outsourcing were not raised by the Indian industry.
Mortgage major HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said the recent spate of reforms in the country, the need for the Government to reduce subsidies and boost growth were also discussed. “They (the US) are very positive (on the recent reforms),” he said.
Chanda Kochchar, Managing Director and CEO of the country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank said, “I think their outlook is positive. Of course, everybody recognises that much more needs to be done as well. But I think their initial reaction is very positive.”
