Fiscal deficit likely to be bigger than what Budget says: Kaushik Basu

He says if a full-scale tariff war breaks out, there will be a global economic slowdown and growth in the United States will be slower than in China

Kaushik Basu, Cornell professor, president of the International Economic Association, and former chief economist at the World Bank, tells Advait Rao Palepu that in the event of US-China currency war there will be a sideline effect on India and a depreciation of the rupee, which, if managed well by policymakers, will be good for the country. He was delivering a speech in Mumbai at the Independence lecture organised by JSW and Literature Live. Edited excerpts:
 
What are your thoughts on the beginnings of global tariff war and the possibility of a currency war?
Globally the scenario is worrying, but