Credibility of economy must be restored: Jaitley

Says there is huge amount of enthusiasm among investors as they see India picking up again

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the credibility of Indian economy has been partly restored and the momentum must be sustained over the next two years to win over world investors.

Jaitley, here to lead the International Day of Yoga, said there was “huge amount of enthusiasm” among investors as they see India picking up again after four-five years of slack.

“We have to continue to restore the credibility of the Indian economy. It is only then that investors are going to feel comfortable. The initial signs are good but this is momentum has to be sustained over a period of time,” he said.

Describing reasons for "huge amount of enthusiasm amongst investors", he said first "the reform process is clear, the government's thinking is clear. A lot of changes are in the pipeline."

Second, the world economy is not doing so well and investors are looking for the best place where they can put their money. "And in this they find that India seems to be growing faster," he said.

"If we can continue to grow faster at the pace, at which we have envisaged, keep our reforms in order, get investment, get a few problems off our back, hopefully have a better monsoon this year, start all the stalled projects then of course our aiming at a much higher growth rate would be much better," he told CNBC TV18.

Investors, he said, are clever, very wise men who look for better returns and in the midst of a global slowdown they are looking for faster economies and India is one of them.

“But a concern of investors which has registered very loud and clear is that investors hate unpredictability and uncertainties... therefore, our policy domain has to be predictable and certain. It cannot be full of surprises,” Jaitley said.