FM Nirmala Sitharaman interacts with traders in Chennai, says economy is at 'robust-level'

Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman at an event titled 'Jan Jan ka Budget' said that the economy is at its 'robust-level' with macroeconomics at its best. She made the statement while interacting with the industry traders. The event was held in Chennai. Sitharaman also apprised about Centre's plans to increase the interaction of banking officials.

"Economy is at its robust level and macroeconomics is at its best. The fundamentals are strong. The foreign exchange reserves and FDI investments are at their maximum level," the Finance Minister said.

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"India will get back to 8 percent growth"

Sitharaman further addressed the issue of sanctioning loans and said that if the banks are denying loans without reason to the MSMEs they are welcome to send their complaints by mail to a special center which is to be announced shortly, and a copy of the same should be sent to the bank manager.  Furthermore, the Finance Minister exuded confidence that India will get back to 8 percent growth and said the government is making efforts to pursue the goals.

The year 2019 was strikingly a strenuous year for the global economy with the world output growth estimated to grow at its slowest pace of 2.9 percent since the global financial crisis of 2009, declining from a subdued 3.6 percent in 2018 and 3.8 percent in 2017. Although the uncertainties continue to decline, they are still elevated due to the protectionist tendencies of China and the United States, and rising US-Iran geopolitical tensions.

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Govt Has Taken Wide-ranging Measures To Boost Economic Growth: BJP

The BJP on Sunday, February 1 asserted that the government has initiated wide-ranging measures to kickstart the investment cycle and boost economic growth while maintaining fiscal discipline, as it hit back at the Congress over its criticism of the Union Budget 2020.  BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said when Congress was in power, it had failed to address the challenges facing the economy, leaving it in dire straits. He further said that the party is hardly qualified to comment on the Modi government's "successful" economic policies in the face of a global economic downturn. 

"The NDA government has initiated wide-ranging measures to kickstart the investment cycle and boost economic growth while maintaining fiscal discipline," Rao said. 

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(With Inputs from agencies)