Economic impact of rising COVID-19 cases seems limited, says Nomura's Sonal Varma

It looks like there would be limited impact of the rising COVID-19 cases on the economy, said Sonal Varma, Chief Economist at global financial services group Nomura.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 on Monday (March 8), she said, "From economic standpoint the mobility numbers are continuing to normalise. We haven't seen any significant [impact] across India as government restrictions have not hit mobility nor consumers are getting apprehensive, which could hit mobility. As long as that is happening the overall economic impact at this stage looks limited."

Talking about US bond yields, she said, "Near-term it does look like volatility may continue because we are at a cusp of global pivot point in terms of growth because the stimulus that's coming up in the US -- and reopening the economy -- so there is going to be a strong burst in consumer demand."

"We are also getting into a quarter where inflation is going to pick up, not just because of base effects but the entire commodity cycle is starting to play out. So you do have macro environment of higher growth higher inflation," Varma added.

Nomura expects gross domestic products (GDP) growth of 13.5 percent in FY22 for India and yields to shift higher reflecting macroeconomic set up.