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Brexit: India prepared to deal with consequences, says Jaitley

by IBNS 24 Jun 2016, 08:02 am

New Delhi, June 24 (IBNS): Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the country is prepared well to deal with the short and medium term consequences of Briton leaving the European Union in a historic referendum.

"As regards, the Indian economy, we are well prepared to deal with the short and medium term consequences of Brexit. We are strongly committed to our macro-economic framework with its focus on maintaining stability," said Jaitley. 
 
"Our macro-economic fundamentals are sound with a very comfortable external position, a rock-solid commitment to fiscal discipline, and declining inflation. Our immediate and medium-term firewalls are solid too in the form of a healthy reserve position," he said. 
 
True to the prediction of a financial market shock that the Brexit will cause, stock markets across the globe remained bearish after Britons voted for the leave EU motion.
 
Despite a close battle, Britain has voted to leave the European Union in a historic referendum on Thursday as results were declared on Friday, thus severing a tie of decades and dealing a blow to the European unity. 

On Friday morning the BSE Sensex in India was down 1,039.11 points or 3.85 per cent at 25,963.11. National Stock Exchange’s NIFTY 50  was also trading down.
 
Jaitley said: "As investors look around the world for safe havens in these turbulent times, India stands out both in terms of stability and of growth. India, as you are all well aware, is amongst the fastest growing major economies in the world today. Our growth and inflation prospects are further improving in the wake of the good monsoons that are now moving well across India."
 
"The government and the Reserve Bank of India as well as other regulators are well prepared, and working closely together, to deal with any short term volatility. Our aim will be to smooth this volatility and minimize its impact on the economy in the short term. 
 
"At the same time, for the medium term, we will steadfastly pursue our ambitious reform agenda—including early passage of the GST—that will help us realize our medium term growth potential of 8-9% and help achieve our objective of development for all," he said. 
 
He said in this globalized world, volatility and uncertainty are the new norms. 
 
"This verdict will, obviously, further contribute to such volatility not least because its full implications for the UK, Europe and the rest of the world are still uncertain. All countries around the world will have to brace themselves for a period of possible turbulence while being watchful about, and alert to, the referendum’s medium term impacts," he said.
 
After the results were out, the British Pound crashed and was trading below the US Dollar 1.35 mark. The Indian Rupee too took a hit, crashing by 96 paisa.

The serious plunge have left some experts calling it a 'Black Friday'.

The Japanese  Nikkei Stock Average crashed nearly three percent and the same was seen in Australian stocks too despite strong openings earlier in the day.

While Prime Minister David Cameron, who campaigned hard urging voters to remain with EU, will make a statement soon, the financial markets across the world nosedived as the results reflected a 51.8 percent votes in favour of Leave and 48.2 percent to Remain in a referendum that is now famously called Brexit.