The escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine, and the resultant surge in crude oil prices is "worrisome", Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, adding that the government is constantly monitoring the situation.
After a post-Budget consultation with several stakeholders, Sitharaman said the Ukraine situation and the crude rates were discussed at the meeting of the Financial Stability Development Council (FSDC), which includes all the financial sector regulators.
"Crude oil is a worrisome situation...We actually voiced that we wanted a diplomatic solution for the situation that is developing in Ukraine, all these headwinds on the crude. It is one of the very important considerations. We'll have to see how it goes. We are keeping a watch on Brent," Sitharaman said.
The finance minister pointed out that Brent prices crossed $96 per barrel earlier in the day, and added that the oil marketing companies will take a call on the retail prices. "What oil marketing companies do (with fuel prices), I cannot answer," she added.
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Trade has "not been impacted" so far due to the geopolitical tensions but the government is keeping a close watch on the same, Sitharaman noted, adding that we are careful that the exporters should not suffer.
The recent fluctuations in the stock market is also a result of the same external factors, the finance minister said.
Sitharaman's press conference comes at a time when the fragile situation in eastern Europe has sent jitters to markets across the world.
The broader Euro STOXX 600 dropped by around 1.9 percent to a seven-month low, before recovering some of its losses. German stocks - considered more vulnerable due to the country's high dependence on Russian gas supplies - plummeted by over 2 percent.
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