Reforms necessary to defy slowdown: FM

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expressed confidence that the country will prove its resilience

India can defy global economic slowdown by continuing reforms and “responsible” economic planning, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.

Talking about uncertainty in the global economy, Jaitley said he was confident India will prove its resilience. Stating there is a mood of concern among the global leaders at the ongoing World Economic Forum annual meeting, the FM said India must carry on with structural reforms to defy global slowdown once again. “If India continues its reforms and responsible economic planning, we can stand out. The Indian economy in 2001, 2008 and 2015 has shown resilience to defy global slowdown and crisis. Today, we are better equipped to face that situation and show the resilience,” Jaitley said.

“A lot of challenges have surfaced simultaneously. Though China has said it is no longer possible for them to have double-digit growth and they consider seven per cent annual growth as their new normal. But there is still a lot of global worry about China,” he said.

“Money is being withdrawn from several markets and getting invested elsewhere. Investors are being cautious and averse to risk in an environment of uncertainty. So, stock markets across the world have been adversely impacted… the currencies in most parts of the world have also been adversely impacted. In fact, the impact on currency has been the least in case of India. Nonetheless, there is an impact,” Jaitley added.

In the last few days, the Indian rupee has been falling on foreign fund outflows. Touching a 29-month low against the US dollar, it closed at 68.02 on Thursday.