India continues to be among world's fastest-growing major economies: FM Sitharaman
New Delhi, June 11
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday that India continues to be among the world's fastest-growing major economies, with GDP growth projected to remain robust at around 7 per cent over the medium term.
Highlighting India's remarkable economic progress in recent years through the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and India's commitment to the mantra of 'Reform, Perform, and Transform', Finance Minister said that our growth is primarily domestic-demand led, with a largely market-determined exchange rate.
Participating in the virtual meeting on 'Global Convergence for Growth Summit' from New Delhi, she said in today's interconnected world, prosperity and challenges are shared, but the consequences of conflicts and uncertainty fall disproportionately on developing countries and the Global South.
"The situation demands coordinated global action. We must strengthen multilateral cooperation to build resilient economies, accelerate sustainable development, and ensure inclusive growth that benefits all," she said.
The Summit was held to bring together leaders of advanced and emerging economies to discuss ways of supporting a balanced growth anchored in an efficient global framework. French President Emmanuel Macron presided over the Summit that witnessed participation of the top leadership from all the G7 nations, India, Brazil, China, Kenya, South Korea and IMF.
On the issue of global imbalances, the Finance Minister said, "Not all imbalances are alike, some reflect differences in demographics, development stages, resource endowments, or economic structures. Our focus should, therefore, remain on excessive and persistent imbalances while recognising that the scale of domestic needs varies significantly across countries."
Speaking for the Global South, she further said that "The burden of adjustment should not fall disproportionately on countries that are not the drivers of these imbalances. India, like many developing economies, remains largely peripheral to both the origination and propagation of global imbalances; yet, we continue to face their spillover effects."
She emphasised the need to strengthen confidence in multilateral institutions and ensure that they remain responsive to the needs of developing countries.
She called for better, bigger, more effective and more representative Multilateral Development Banks that can deliver significantly greater financing to developing countries and emerging economies, noting that enhancing their financing capacity, operational agility and responsiveness will be critical. Finance Minister stated that the recent developments have highlighted the importance of resilient, diversified and geographically distributed supply chains, particularly for critical minerals, and focus on circularity, recycling and urban mining can address some of the sourcing challenges being collectively faced by the world.
— IANS
Reader Comments
As a small business owner in Chennai, I can see the economic momentum. Domestic demand is indeed strong - our orders have been growing steadily. However, the FM's point about global imbalances affecting the Global South is very valid. We need fairer global trade rules. 🏭📈
Impressive how India is positioning itself as a voice for the Global South. The criticism of multilateral institutions being unresponsive to developing nations is spot on. But I'd like to see more concrete policy details on how India plans to address domestic inequality alongside this growth narrative.
The emphasis on supply chain resilience and critical minerals is very timely. With China's dominance in rare earths, India needs to focus on 'urban mining' and recycling as the FM suggested. Also, glad to see our government pushing for more representative MDBs - it's high time developing countries had more say! 💪
My son works in IT in Bangalore and he says the growth is real - lots of new projects and confidence in the market. But as a retired teacher, I worry about my pension not keeping pace with inflation. Hope the government balances growth with social security for senior citizens. 🙏
It's encouraging that India is maintaining such strong growth when many economies are struggling. The FM's call for coordinated global action makes sense. However, I hope the 7% projection isn't overly optimistic given geopolitical tensions and potential climate disruptions to agriculture.
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