Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that the government is ready to act against imports that can hurt India's interests. "An import surge of even three months can hurt us for an entire year. We are keeping a close eye on imports and exports," she said.

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India's exports in January declined by 6.5 percent, while the trade deficit was the lowest in 12 months. Imports also declined by 3.6 percent. The Finance Minister, while addressing industry bodies on Wednesday, warned that a recession and a slowdown in the global economy will be a challenge for Indian exporters going forward. "External shocks are possible and we should be prepared. We do keep ourselves some buffer to deal with external shocks", she said.

In response to questions from the industry on whether cost of foreign borrowings would go up, Sitharaman confirmed that from July 1, 2023, relief on foreign borrowings will not be available.

The Finance Minister reiterated that the government was looking at sustaining growth with fiscal consolidation. "We are completely aligning ourselves with the fiscal roadmap. We are fiscally responsiblem," she said.

Talking about the 10 lakh crore capital allocation in the Budget, Sitharaman said that increasing public capital expenditure has been a priority and this will have a multiplier effect across sectors and core industries. "For the first time, we have reached a double-digit amount for capex, this is the real focus of the Budget," she said.

The FM said that MSMEs continue to be a major focus area for the government as they are the backbone of the economy. She urged the industry to make payments to MSMEs within 45 days.

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