Piyush Goyal questions link between interest rates and rising prices of tomatoes, pulses

Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal called for policy changes to tackle food inflation and high interest rates.

Addressing the CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards (IBLA) in Mumbai on Saturday, the minister said that although he is not authorised to intervene in RBI’s decisions, he was simply repeating the views of the Chief Economic Advisor. Piyush Goyal also questioned how interest rates could impact the demand for items like tomatoes and pulses.

Goyal expressed confidence in India’s economic resilience, attributing the fiscal second quarter GDP slowdown to temporary election-related factors while emphasising the robustness of the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals.

“The Indian economy doesn’t operate from quarter to quarter like stock markets. All macro data suggests the economy’s basic strength remains intact,” he said.

The minister said that the economy is not driven by short-term quarterly trends like stock markets. Goyal also affirmed that macroeconomic data indicates the fundamental strength of India’s economy remains stable. Goyal said that India will continue to be the fastest-growing economy.

Goyal highlighted signs of a capex recovery emerging in the fiscal third quarter. “Green shoots of greater capex spending are already visible in Q3. The Prime Minister himself is monitoring large projects through the Pragati initiative, ensuring that any obstructions to investments are addressed promptly,” he said.