Donald Trump's tariffs, economic policies ‘self-destructive’: Ex-RBI governor C Rangarajan
C Rangarajan said that ‘Viksit Bharat’ has to be a transformative journey that requires the collective effort of government and society.
Former governor of the Reserve Bank of India C Rangarajan criticised United States President Donald Trump’s harsh tariff and economic policies on Friday and said that certain of those policies not only brought the global economic trends to a standstill but were also self-destructive for the US too.
Rangarajan made the remarks while addressing the 15th convocation of Icfai Foundation for Higher Education in Hyderabad. The economist also said that the emergence of different blocks of countries which allow freer trade is inevitable, while refraining from mentioning BRICS directly, reported news agency PTI. He added, however, that the larger goal must be freer trade across the entire world.
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The BRICS is a political and diplomatic coordination forum for countries from the Global South. It includes countries such as Brasil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran.
"The world today is in flux. The pursuit of certain economic policies by President Trump has brought world trade to a standstill. Hopefully, good sense will prevail and the policy makers in the US will realise the policies they want to pursue are self-destructive,” Rangarajan said.
He also highlighted that India is the “worst hit” country by Trump’s tariff and economic policies.
Rangarajan, who has also previously served as the chairman of Prime Minister’s economic advisory council, said that the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India) is not just a statistical goal, it has to be a transformative journey that requires the collective effort of government and society, according to the PTI news agency report.
Shashi Tharoor hits out at Trump tariffs
Congress MP and former global diplomat Shashi Tharoor also highlighted the impact of Trump’s steep tariffs on India on Friday and said that the Indian economy has been hit hard and the tariffs have led to large-scale job losses.
“Already, people are losing jobs. 1.35 lakh people in Surat have been laid off in the gems and jewellery business. The seafood and manufacturing sectors are also facing heavy losses,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
