IT Sector to wait and watch situation

KOCHI: The IT Industry in Kerala is on a “wait and watch” situation and is confident of withstanding a downturn even as the US crisis aggravated after the downgrading of its sovereign rating by Standard & Poor’s looms large over the Indian economy.“It is too early to say anything about the impact the U S downgrade will have on the IT sector,” Infopark Chief Executive Officer Gigo Joseph told Express. Though the industries throughout the country have expressed serious concerns, there is not much to worry with regard to the IT companies, he said. Asked if there was any alarming situation because of the downgrade, Joseph said there was no alarming situation as ups and downs were always expected in the IT sector.  As the companies have been dealing with the trade for more than 20 years, they are well aware of how to deal with the situation, he noted. The companies also had long time outlooks and as such nothing was going to hamper the demands, he said, adding that the companies were well aware of making arrangements if such crisis happens. Most of the IT companies that were contacted shared the same opinion as that of the CEO. They did not see any immediate threat to their business  and were quite confident of keeping up with the business demands.Another Infopark official K Kurian said that the impact, if at all, could be known only after a month. “There is no alarming situation as of now. It has been heard that the recession is being renewed and so let us wait and watch,” he said.Kurian pointed out that the recession was also reported to be speculative. Asked if the IT companies that get outsourcing works would be hampered by demands, he pointed out that there was a chance that the consumer index maycome down but there it is not a problem as of now.The Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the US government’s “AAA” sovereign credit rating for the first time since it was granted in 1917.