Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asserted that the Indian economy will come out of the current global crisis and march on a sustained recovery path.
“I would think that the economy’s revival is on a sustained path,” PTI quoted Sitharaman as saying in the US. The government has already factored in the damaging impact that the global turmoil continues to have on demand, exports and the rupee movement against the dollar, she added. Credit availability is no longer an issue, as even small businesses are getting loans, she added.
The country’s economic expansion will be supported by a raft of measures, especially structural reforms, initiated by the government in the wake of the Covid outbreak and rapid digitisation, which has been well utilised to deliver public goods, she added.
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The minister was speaking to students of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies on India’s unique Digital Public Goods in Washington DC on Thursday.
Several international agencies have pared down their economic growth forecasts for the world as well as India in recent months, given the tightening of interest rates by key central banks and the Ukraine war. The International Monetary Fund has trimmed its FY23 growth projection for the country by 60 basis points to 6.8%, while the World Bank has presented the gloomiest forecast of 6.5%. However, they have acknowldged that the country still remains the world’s fastest-growing major economy and is better placed than most others to tide over the latest crisis.
“There is a sense of confidence in India that we will go through this and we will still be able to perform. It’s because of the way in which technology has been used for the public good,” she said.
The government had rolled out relief packages in the wake of the pandemic. They included guaranteed loans for businesses, limited cash transfer to the poor and free ration. It also bolstered its focus on capital expenditure to spur growth.