Advertisement

Updated December 18th, 2018 at 19:49 IST

Republic Summit 2018 | Sanjiv Goenka asks whether interest rates would come down, Here’s FM Arun Jaitley's reply

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave a keynote address at the inaugural Republic Summit wherein he touched upon the topic 'Silver bullet for the economy'. 

Reported by: Daamini Sharma
| Image:self
Advertisement

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave a keynote address at the inaugural Republic Summit wherein he touched upon the topic 'Silver bullet for the economy'. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in conversation with the chairman of Goenka Group Sanjiv Goenka and Republic's Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami spoke about a number of issues. When Sanjiv Goenka asked Mr Jaitley:

"We have many many reason to thank this government. We have seen many bold events. Recently I read that there is a case for reducing interest. What's your view on this?"

To which Mr Jaitley replied:

"The Principle economic advisor had said Government always want it to be done and therefore...it's within the domain of the RBI and I can tell you that this government's interest rate have not been an issue of any major consequence between the reserve bank and us for the simple reason that when we inherited a high inflation and after the first one or two policies the Reserve Bank itself, and in all fairness to them, with every policy, started to bring it down in (.25) and basic points or so. It's only when the US rates started hardening that they increased it. Therefore, the Reserve bank followed a pattern. Today, many people in India say that the interest rate in India, considering the inflation, is close to 2.3% last month. Even if you assume it to be around 3% now. The real interest rate, the difference between the policy rate and the inflation rate is a bit too wild. So, I am sure the RBI will take into consideration next time they take the policy".  

Furthermore, Mr Goenka asked: "In the last four years, we have seen many changes. We have seen bold steps, we have seen great steps. I would like to hear from you about the principle achievement of this government and what you think remains to be done next time when your government remains in power?" 

"If you compare the situation, and I am slightly digressing from the barrier that the honourable Prime Minister put in his speech and I had the opportunity to see it on the TV, were we on May 26, 2014, words used for India globally were that we were suffering from policy paralysis. Change, reform and improvement had also become impossible. Internationally respected journals and commentators had put us as the part of 'Fragile 5'. Our fiscal deficit had even touched 6%. Our current account deficits on 4.5-5%. UPA 2's 5-years combined inflation was 10.4%. The days of double-digit inflation was not a decade ago, they were just four year away", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley replied.  

Read: You Cannot Ignore The Ladies: Former Chief Justice Of India Dipak Misra Talks About Gender Justice At Republic Summit 2018

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at the inauguration of Republic TV Summit, speaking on the theme of Surging India. PM Modi then went onto highlight the growth of India in the past few years and underlined the importance of Surging India - the theme of the annual summit of Republic TV.

"Surging India - the two words - are the expression of 130 crore Indians. These are the feelings, vibrations which the world is witnessing. In the world society, India's growth is moving ahead in a very fast manner. India's image in front of the world is getting better with each passing day," he said.

Advertisement

Published December 18th, 2018 at 19:49 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Pooja Vastrakar
2 minutes ago
Congress Press Conference
18 minutes ago
Crew posters
23 minutes ago
Big Communication Gap Within the Congress: Sanjay Nirupam Targets Party Leadership | EXCLUSIVE
24 minutes ago
VST Tillers Tractors
25 minutes ago
High-net-worth women show a nuanced approach to wealth with interest in alternative investments and cautious risk tolerance.
25 minutes ago
Shreyas Iyer
30 minutes ago
France has approached 46 countries for the possible provision of over 2,000 police officers and several military personnel.
43 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo