Indian economy will rebound in near future: Vice President

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday expressed confidence that the Indian economy would rebound in the near future, saying that the current slowdown was cyclical.

Inaugurating the 102nd annual conference of the Indian Economic Association organised at Pt Ravishankar Shukla University here, Naidu said: "Indian economy was facing some challenges due to the decline in growth this fiscal."

"However, the country had faced similar slumps in the past in the wake of the East Asian financial crisis and global slowdown but bounced back with a higher growth rate every time," he added.

Referring to the reforms initiated by the government including demonetisation, the introduction of GST, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the steps taken to curb black money, Naidu asserted that they were aimed at making the economy more robust and resilient.

Pointing out that 66 lakh new taxpayers have been registered under the GST regime since its launch, the Vice President said: "It indicated the rising trend of formalisation of the economy. The government has also taken measures to tackle the problem of NPAs and improve the health of the banking sector."

Asserting that it is our national resolve to double the farmers' income by 2022, Naidu called for making rural economy sustainable and remunerative.

He also stressed the need for agricultural products to have access to larger markets, strengthening rural infrastructure, storage, and supply chains, apart from promoting the village level in-situ food processing industry.

Referring to fiscal federalism as one of the themes of the conference, Naidu said: "While most of the states have retained their fiscal deficit around permissible 3 per cent, it has come at the cost of low capital expenditure."

"There has been a rise in committed liabilities towards payment of interest and pensions, thereby leaving only a small part of their budget for capital expenditure on infrastructure development," he added.