Peru: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has emphasized on significance of International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the global economy.
Speaking at the Plenary Session of the International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Lima, Peru on Friday, Jaitley said IMF would be constrained in meeting its obligations if the IMF Quota and governance reforms are not implemented. He expressed concern at the unprecedented delay in implementation of the 14th General Review of Quotas.
On Indian economic situation, Jaitley emphasized that the Government of India is committed to a path of fiscal consolidation adding “the current account deficit (CAD) in the country has come down substantially to around 1.3 percent of GDP in 2014-15, which was around 4.8 percent two years earlier”.
A couple of years back, India was suffering from double-digit inflation; now the inflation has dipped to a low of 3.7 percent. He said that the country is utilizing the regime of lower oil and commodity prices to increase investments in infrastructure and irrigation.
He said that India is also undertaking comprehensive subsidy rationalization and has successfully rolled out the largest financial inclusion initiative in the world under which around 185 million bank accounts have been opened. Funds are being transferred under flagship schemes directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries. He observed that due to the large number of initiatives underway, encompassing multiple areas of intervention and reforms, he was optimistic that India would continue to record higher level of growth.
He highlighted that in the recent past, India has taken a number of measures to improve growth and increase resilience, viz., liberalization of the Investment policy, new policies and procedures to improve the business climate, a transparent policy on allocation of natural resources, etc. He informed that major taxation reforms are on the anvil, which require legislative action to become effective.
