IT would like RBI to look at interest rates: Gopalakrishnan

IT industry would like the RBI to look at the interest rates though such a momentum is building up, Infosys Co-Chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan said today.

"There is no conflict," he told reporters here when asked whether he sees any conflict in a scenario where reforms bills are being passed in Parliament on the one hand and the RBI is keeping interest rates unchanged.

Gopalakrishnan said IT industry would like the RBI to look at the interest rates, but
having said that he thought the momentum is building up.

The Reserve Bank in its mid-quarter monetary policy review had decided to keep key interest rates unchanged.

Gopalakrishnan expressed happiness that many reforms bills are being passed in Parliament which is a good sign for democracy.

He further said deceleration of growth in India has bottomed out and was looking forward to 7-8 per cent GDP growth next year which is required to get things back on track.

About his views on how IT has panned out this year and what India could expect next year, he said if nothing untoward happens in Europe and fiscal crisis in US is managed and taken care of, 2013 could be a better year but uncertainty would still exist.

"I think we are going to see a period of uncertainty probably for next three to five years where there will be some event or other which could trigger reaction or panic or may slow things down further, but from where we stand today, probably 2013 could be better," he said.

Gopalakrishnan said if rest of the world including India, China and US recovers from the slowdown, businesses will gain confidence to invest. "Europe is still a challenge."
He said IT still has the capability to improve productivity and quality of life especially with cloud computing and social networking.

"There is lot of opportunity for improved productivity, creating new start-ups and applications, and new investments to happen in IT," he said.