Private sector investment hasn't kept pace with public expenditure: FM

Says greater access to China may help economy, but sense of caution would have to be built in

India’s private sector investment has not kept pace with the growing public expenditure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. Healthy corporate balance sheets are sitting on passive investible funds, instead of companies engaging in capacity expansion, she said. Sitharaman stressed that growth was the topmost priority of the government. While stating that greater access to China may help the economy, she said a sense of caution would have to be built in.

 

Sitharaman was speaking at the launch of the book A World in Flux: India’s Economic Priorities, co-edited by Professor Amita Batra of Jawaharlal Nehru University and veteran