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| Edited By: |Source: PTI |Updated: Apr 14, 2018, 02:00 AM IST
MUMBAI: JP Morgan India has said if India managed a 7.5 per cent GDP growth this fiscal, it could be considered as healthy, especially when compared to the flat growth expected in several other economies.
"When large parts of the globe are seeing negative or a flat growth, I am happy that my (India's) growth is at 7.5 per cent," JP Morgan India CEO Kalpana Morparia said.
On Friday, the Reserve Bank forecast a 7.5-8 per cent GDP growth for this financial year (FY'09).
"These are extraordinary circumstances the world over. There will be a (growth) slowdown," she said.
India has been growing at 8 per cent in the last three years. However, with the present global financial meltdown coupled with the world's largest economy, the US, witnessing a recession, India is expected to miss the 8 per cent target this fiscal.
The country needs to target 9-10 per cent growth over a period of time, she said.
"The long-term structural story of India is so strong that medium-term returns are going to be fairly significant," Morparia said.
India, which has emerged as a low-cost hub for many developed nations, would make a strong impact in the manufacturing sector, she said.
"The manufacturing sector in India will emerge in a big way because of its managerial talent," she said, referring to many global auto companies looking at India as a manufacturing hub for their small cars.
The events of the last six weeks, when major US investment banks collapsed, have shown that no "meaningful" player in the world can be decoupled because everyone is globally networked, Morparia said.
"Therefore, nobody can be completely decoupled," she said. However, India would be less impacted because of its lesser exports-driven economy, she said.
Morparia pitched in for a more liberal foreign direct investment policy and the need for relaxation of sectoral caps.
"FDI has shown strong trends and we can do with a lot more," she said.
"India has kept a tight control over sectoral caps and long-term debt flows into the country," she said.
"More liberal FDI, but with a strong conditionality on the tenure should be the approach," she said.
The Indian banking sector, one of the more conservative systems in the world, should go out of its way to advertise itself on the global stage.
"One-third of our banks' balance-sheets are risk-free instruments. In a time of uncertainty, I should advertise to the world that our banks' SLR is 25 per cent and CRR 6.5 per cent," she said.
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex tanked 1,000 points on Friday, falling below the 9,000-level. "Concern over the sentiment perspective is over-done. How many of us as individuals have a view on the stock market whether through mutual funds, stock-picking or unit policies," she asked.
