Finance Ministry: Economy is projected to contribute to global growth

Senior BJP leader and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is currently in Washington, USA to attend the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. The Finance Minister has called for 'concerted action' to mitigate the disruption on account of synchronous slowdown and to invoke the spirit of multilateralism for global growth. The Ministry of Finance's (MoF) official Twitter handle tweeted, "India projected to remain one of the fastest-growing economies of the world."

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'The Indian Economy is projected to contribute to global growth'

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Investors can find no better place

Investors can find no better place in the world than India that has a democracy-loving and capitalist respecting the environment, Sitharaman has said. She also assured international investors at an interaction session at the IMF's headquarters that the government was continuously working to bring reforms."It (India) is one of the fastest-growing (economies) even today. It has the best-skilled manpower and a government that is continuously doing what is required in the name of reforms, above all democracy and rule of law," Sitharaman said on October 16

Negotiations are going on in 'full speed'

.Sitharaman on October 20 said negotiations between India and the United States on a trade deal are going on in "full speed" and expressed hope that it will conclude soon. The ongoing trade deal negotiations briefly came up for discussion during a pull-aside between Sitharaman and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the IMF headquarters. Mnuchin is scheduled to visit India early next month. "In fact, I broadly mentioned it to Secretary Mnuchin, but that is something on which the Commerce minister and Mr (Robert) Lighthizer (US Trade Representatives) are working. My inputs are that the negotiations are going in full speed and there's a great intensity with which both sides are engaging and hopefully the deal will be structured soon," Sitharaman said.

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Cautioned against rushing into cryptocurrencies 

Many countries have cautioned against rushing into cryptocurrencies, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday, as Facebook's proposed virtual currency Libra became a buzzword during the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In fact, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shantikanta Das spoke about cryptocurrencies during one of the interventions this week. The RBI has banned the use of cryptocurrencies in India."On our side, the Reserve Bank Governor spoke about it during our turn to intervene. I got the sense that many countries were cautioning on rushing into this," Sitharaman told a group of Indian reporters in response to a question on the discussions on Libra, the proposed virtual currency from Facebook, which was one of the talked about topics this annual meeting.

Official tour to Washington DC

The Finance Minister is currently on an official tour to Washington DC to attend the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and other associated meetings. She is accompanied by Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and other officials from the Department. On Friday, Sitharaman led the Indian delegation to the Annual Meetings Plenary session of the IMF and the World Bank Group. During her address, Sitharaman said that increased trade integration, geopolitical uncertainties, and high accumulated debt levels necessitate strong global coordination.

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(WITH AGENCY INPUTS)