Piyush Goyal: India’s forex reserves are safe for the next 5-6 years, and FTAs will generate surpluses.

On Wednesday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that India’s foreign exchange position is ‘comfortable’ for the next five to six years.
“In the worst-case scenario,” Goyal said at the annual general meeting of the industry lobby group Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), “India is comfortable for the next five or six years, given (that) our forex reserves today will be able to meet our foreign exchange requirements.”
India’s forex reserves reached nearly $600 billion during the week ending May 12.

Mr. Goyal went on to say that many countries around the world are eager to accelerate the free trade agreement (FTA) with India right now. India is now negotiating FTAs with Canada, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)–consisting of four nations: Iceland, Switzerland, Norway, and Liechtenstein–the United Kingdom, and the European Union, indicating India’s increased importance in the global order.

“As a result, we will be an economy that reports surpluses in the coming years.” And these free trade agreements will only hasten that process, allowing us to generate surpluses and maintain a strong economy,” the minister said. FTAs, on the other hand, are a two-way street. “It saddens me when I am told that I (industry) want access to the EU market, but please do not allow them to enter our market,” he added.

Goyal also stated that the goal of achieving $1 trillion in goods and $1 trillion in services is modest, and that overall exports had been at $500 billion for nearly a decade before reaching $676 billion last year despite global economic disruptions.
In FY23, total exports were $776 billion, with $450 billion in merchandise exports and $326 billion in services exports.
He also stated that the expanded export basket will assist India in increasing surpluses and decreasing deficits.
He went on to say that businesses should look for dependable supply chain partners, focus on comparative advantage, acquire technology, and work collaboratively.