Reserve Bank of India governor Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday gave a firm reply to Donald Trump’s ‘dead economy’ remark, assuring that India’s economy is “doing very well” and contributing more to global growth than the United States.Speaking to reporters at the RBI headquarters, Malhotra highlighted India’s resilience and strong performance even as Trump’s controversial remark stirred debate.“We are contributing about 18%, which is more than the US, where the contribution is expected to be much less — about 11% or something. We are doing very well and we will continue to improve further,” Malhotra was quoted by PTI.In FY25, India is projected to grow at 6.5%, exceeding the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) forecast of around 3% for global growth.Malhotra further stressed that India’s aspirational target should be even higher than the current projection, noting that the country has achieved an average annual growth of 7.8% in the past.The RBI chief’s comments came just days after Trump, during ongoing trade policy negotiations, criticised India’s energy ties with Russia. “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together,” Trump had reportedly said, describing India as a “dead economy”.The US President’s remarks have raised concerns about potential tariffs and penalties India might face for continuing to purchase discounted oil from Russia, a move that could strain India-US relations.Despite this, Malhotra assured that India’s inflation outlook remains stable. He said the RBI does not foresee any inflationary impact from tariff issues. Supporting this view, RBI deputy governor Poonam Gupta said there would not be any first-order impact of geopolitical tensions on domestic inflation.Even if India is compelled to reduce its dependency on Russian oil due to US pressure, Malhotra insisted that domestic inflation would remain unaffected. He added that authorities are prepared to intervene to protect consumers if global oil prices rise. “This fiscal year, authorities will step in to ensure that the purchase prices of petroleum prices do not pinch the common man,” he said, hinting at a potential duty cut if needed.
