Mumbai, Feb 17 (FN Bureau) At a time when rising geopolitical tensions and the uncertainties about the impact of increase in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve on the equity markets continue to raise concerns, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh on Thursday said that there is no reason to panic. Speaking at the CII Real Estate Confluence 2022, Parekh said that major central banks have articulated a major unwinding of the stimulus measures, and there is a shift in the narrative that the rising inflation is no longer transitory but getting more entrenched.
“Of course there remains concerns of future action of the Fed (US Federal Reserve) on increase in interest rates and uncertainties of impact on emerging markets. As a result, equity markets across the globe have turned edgy and bond yields have moved up,\” he said, adding that this has been compounded by geopolitical tension as well.
“One agrees that there is a change in the tide but haven’t we all seen such a market cycle before. I personally don’t see any reason whatsoever for panic,\” Parekh added. He also noted that among all the major economies which are going through trouble currently, India is the fastest growing economy. Citing the global forecast in 2022 which point towards distinct slowdown in global growth, he said the lower forecast are led by slowing of the worlds two largest economies US and China. \”GDPs of advanced economies are expected to decline from 5 per cent in 2021 to 3.9 per cent in 2022. While emerging markets are also projected to chart a downward trajectory of 6.5 per cent in 2021 to 4.8 per cent in 2022. However, fortunately we in India continue to stand our being among the fastest growing major economies,\” Parekh added.