India not protectionist, RBI monitoring rupee closely: Finance Secretary Tuhin Pandey

India remains committed to being an open economy, despite concerns around global trade and rupee depreciation, said Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Finance and Revenue Secretary, during an interaction with CNBC TV18 at the Budget 2025: The Verdict event.“We recognise there are geopolitical headwinds. Geo-economic fragmentation has been ongoing for some time now,” Pandey stated, acknowledging the potential impact of escalating tariff wars on global growth and trade. He stressed, however, that India does not intend to adopt protectionist measures.A protectionist economy relies on trade barriers to restrict imports and shield domestic industries from international competition.”We are a very open economy,” he said, noting that US imports into India already face low tariffs. “Out of 8400 tariff lines, 6000 tariff lines are low, below 100%.”He further clarified that fears around potential tariffs against India are unsubstantiated. “We should not anticipate what has not been stated. India is not protectionist, and this apprehension is not warranted,” Pandey added.Regarding India’s tariff structure, he revealed that after reviewing the tariff schedule, it was found that for a large number of items, tariffs are well below the maximum rate. “We now only have one high tariff rate at 70% after 20%. This has been done after examining 8,000 tariff lines,” he said.Also Read:  Banks set for deposit surge; Budget’s tax, TDS relief could drive ₹42,000 cr inflowsAddressing concerns about the rupee’s depreciation, Pandey acknowledged that the movement of capital across borders poses challenges, with emerging markets facing capital outflows to safer havens, leading to pressure on the Indian rupee (INR).However, he assured that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is monitoring the situation and working to maintain macroeconomic stability, preventing unwarranted volatility.“We have a good prognosis for the dollar rate for oil. The way indications are, oil prices may not move much higher,” he said. Additionally, Pandey highlighted that a weaker INR could enhance the competitiveness of Indian exports, even though the depreciation of the rupee remains a concern in terms of its impact on global trade and growth in the medium term.“We are impacted by global developments and are watching the situation closely,” he added.

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