Past 24 months have
been really challenging for the currency (European) union’s survival. Country
after country the contagious economic situation is hampering the revival of
union out of this debt trap. It all began with the Greece’s catastrophic
economic conundrum followed by Italy’s banking difficulties lined up next by
Spain’s complex debt phenomenon, to join the queue was Cyprus reeling under the
same tough balancing act between the austerity plan (though thought of trying
something new with taxing the depositors) and the bail-out package and now
Portugal is feeling the same old debt trapped situation. And I personally feel
that this situation will prevail until a decisive political stance between the
troika (EU,ECB and IMF) is not reached soon! (Financial union is sustainable)
Now as the European
Union week after week highlights its vulnerable economic position it becomes
imperative for the growing economy like India to use this (slowing world
economy) event strategically and make our domestic market more potent. Though
we are globally connected but the cascading effect of the world’s economic
problems can be minimized if we cater our domestic burgeoning market
effectively and efficiently. Country with 1.3 billion people is a huge market
(literally BIG) and with growing interests of international brands to this
opportunity coupled with making our domestic industries more capable to cater
this humungous demand driven economy is a tough and complex task but this is
the sole panacea. To make this task little simpler for the industries it is
important for the Government to make the policies simpler although robust yet
operational in a speedy manner. Although it sounds theoretical but until the
private sector and the Govt. authorities wont function in tandem the desired
results cannot be achieved.
The present situation
of Indian capital markets where the FIIs have been the net sellers in the last
four trading session, on economic background our current account deficit has
reached an unprecedented level of 6.7% of GDP, INR hovering around 54 – 55/$
range and with inflation (CPI) still at unsustainable levels the government
intervention through right policies is need of the hour. The nearing Lok-Sabha
polls which are scheduled next year in May should not hamper the economic
mobility of the country as the investors’ sentiments may turn bearish with the
slow recovery of American economy on papers.
Be it the two
protagonist in Modi versus Rahul (in real terms aam aadmi’s Hand vs the Lotus) for
the next 12 months but the economic cycle for the progressive India should be
on the move and for this the government has to take some unpopular and tough
stance (FDI policies on retail, insurance and pension) keeping in view the
sustainability of these measures too.
Until we are internally
robust the external sentiments cannot be improved so introspection with not
just rhetoric but implementation is the priority for the progressive movement
ahead.
