Terrorism poses risk to growth: PC

The Finance Minister says increased protectionism due to failed WTO talks too pose a threat to economic growth.

India on Monday warned the international community that growing threats of terrorism, which have potential to disrupt oil supply, and increased protectionism due to collapsed WTO talks posed a threat to the high global economic growth witnessed during the last few years.

HT Image

"There is no scope for complacency on the growth front because the current growth phase is fraught with several downside risks. These include inflationary pressures, high oil prices, a disorderly unwinding of global imbalances and a sudden slowdown of the US economy," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the policy making development committee meeting of the World Bank.

"Increased threats of terrorism, including that to oil installations which can cause supply disruptions, and increased protectionism due to the collapse of the WTO Doha Round, are added causes for concern," he emphasised.

He said the twin challenges facing the international financial community at this juncture were how to mitigate the specific downside risks that could act as dampeners to the otherwise bright medium-term growth prospects and how to leverage this benign growth scenario to advance the broader development agenda in general and remove capability deprivation in particular.