Will focus more on growth normalisation than inflation risks: Standard Chartered’s Abhilash Narayan

Focus more on growth normalisation rather than inflation risks, said Abhilash Narayan, senior investment strategist at Standard Chartered Wealth Management, on Friday.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Narayan said, “If you look at the inflation, big components of higher print were shelter, food and energy inflation and most of them are lagging indicators.”

According to him, persistently high oil prices pose an upside risk to the inflation trajectory for India. He said, “The most important thing to watch out for is energy prices because India imports a lot of oil and we have seen oil prices rise sharply this year. In fact, this year oil prices are up around 20 percent driven by strong demand but also geopolitical concerns around Russia and Ukraine. So, if we do see persistently high oil prices then that does pose an upside risk to inflation trajectory for India.”