Brexit: How it can give better market access to India

Mumbai: Volatility and decline in the financial markets were obvious after Britain decided to exit the European Union (EU) but there could be some advantages in it for India, chairman of India`s largest state-run lender SBI said here on Friday.

"Uncertainty of any sort results in volatility and Brexit will be no exception. As risk aversion sets in, there would be a decline in financial markets and India would see this impact along with other nations," State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said in a statement.

"However, as trade strategies are reworked there could be potential advantages in the form of better market access for India to EU and UK," she said.

Britain`s decision to opt out of the European Union (Brexit) rattled Indian financial markets on Friday, shaving at one stage some 1,000 points, or 4 percent, off a key equities index, while pulling the rupee around Rs 68 to a US dollar mark.

Both Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan sought to calm the markets and assured there was no cause for panic as India`s economic fundamentals remained strong and along with other macro indicators.

Around 1.08 p.m., the sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE was ruling at 26171.75 points, down 830.47 points, or 3.08 per cent, while the Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was trading at 7,990.10 points, down 280.35 points, or 3.39 percent.