India can meet oil bill if war breaks: Jalan

March 10, 2003 14:25 IST

Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan said the country would have no problems in meeting its oil bill in the event of a war in Iraq.

"We can handle the problem. We have enough foreign exchange reserves," Jalan told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the impact on inflation of a possible US-led

war against Iraq would depend on the duration of hostilities.

Jalan also said there was no proposal to lower the trend-setting repo rate further. "Not to the best of my knowledge," he said when asked about chances of a repo rate cut.

"Nothing will be done (on the bank rate) before the end of the fiscal (year)," he added.

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