India a 'sweet spot' in the global economy: Jaitley

Finance minister says economy strong enough to weather global trends

Asserting that India was slowly emerging as an economic power, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said that it was competent to withstand any global trends.

“After the recent Brexit, there were apprehensions everywhere,” Jaitley said, at the two-day national mines and mineral conclave that started here on Monday. But its impact on India was very minimal and the situation returned to normal in a day, he averred.

The finance minister said the Indian economy was among the select few that were still growing, despite the current trend of global slowdown.

Also Read: GDP overstated, higher private investment needed: Ruchir Sharma

Describing India as a “sweet spot” in the global economy, he said the growth outlook this year looked much better because of good monsoon.

Also Read: 7th Pay Commission, good monsoon to aid consumption: BofA

India clocked 7.6 per cent growth in 2015-16, when there was a global slowdown and deficient rainfall for a period of two years on the trot.

Also Read: 25 Years Of Reforms

Jaitley said the Narendra Modi government had formulated policies that had been in the interest of the people. “The natural resources belong to the people and its price should be governed by the market,” he added. The policies had brought in greater transparency in allocation of mines, besides increase in revenue.