India hopes the new administration of US President-elect Donald Trump could help keep global crude oil prices low, which would reduce the South Asian country’s import bill and support its faltering economic growth.
Analysts, including those at Citi Bank, predict that President Trump’s second term could put downward pressure on oil prices through 2025, driven by possible tariffs and a increase in oil supply.
“We believe that one of the possible benefits of the new US administration taking office in 2025 will be continued low energy prices,” V. Anantha Nageswaran, India’s chief economic adviser, said at the a press conference on Friday following the publication of quarterly GDP data.
He added that low crude oil prices would be a “very important ingredient” for India’s growth prospects, while higher prices could hamper growth.
India’s economy grew at a year-on-year rate of 5.4%, the lowest in seven quarters, between July and September, due to slowing growth in the manufacturing industry.
Officials, however, view low global crude oil prices as a positive factor, given that India depends on oil imports for more than 80% of its energy needs.
Crude oil imports account for almost a third of India’s total annual merchandise imports.
As the world’s third largest oil importer, India stands to benefit from lower oil prices.
Oil prices fell on Friday, heading for a weekly decline of more than 3%, on waning concerns about supply risks linked to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and expectations of an increase of supply in 2025, although OPEC+ is likely to extend production cuts.
Swiss
